Overview
Once Zendesk is connected to Cevanos, your AI agent can look up a customer's tickets and read the conversation on them. It can also search your help centre, and open, reply to, solve and reopen tickets inside the helpdesk your team already uses.
Unlike a Custom Action, you do not define the actions yourself. Cevanos supplies a fixed set of 9: 5 reads and 4 that change something. You choose which of them your agent gets.
The journey at a glance
- 1Find ZendeskOpen Integrations, search for Zendesk and click Connect.
- 2Connect ZendeskType your subdomain, sign in to Zendesk and approve access.
- 3Check the Zendesk pageSee the Connected status, field mapping, permissions and health.
- 4Choose what it can doTick Workspace and This agent, then Save capabilities.
- 5Set up Actions and approvalsCheck what can run and which actions wait for approval.
- 6Try itTest in the Playground with a customer question.
Before you start
You need two things:
- Your Zendesk subdomain: the “acme” in acme.zendesk.com.
- A Zendesk sign-in that is allowed to approve the connection.
No API key
There is nothing to register and nothing to paste. Zendesk uses a sign-in and approve screen.
Step 1
Find Zendesk
- 1In the Cevanos dashboard, open your agent and click Integrations in the left sidebar.
- 2Type Zendesk in the search box, or look under the Helpdesk section.
- 3Check the badge on the card. Available means it is not connected yet.
Result
You are ready to connect. Click Connect to start the next step.
Step 2
Connect Zendesk
Connecting is done once for the whole workspace. The pop-up has two screens, Before you start and Approve access. The sign-in and approval happen on Zendesk's own page.
2a. Before you start
- 1Click Connect on the Zendesk card. The Connect Zendesk pop-up opens.
- 2Zendesk subdomain: type only the subdomain. For acme.zendesk.com, type acme, not the whole address.
- 3Click Connect Zendesk.
Nothing is saved yet
Nothing is saved until you approve access, and you can stop anywhere.
2b. Approve access in Zendesk
- 1Cevanos sends you to your own Zendesk page. Sign in with your email and password.
- 2On the next Zendesk page, approve the access Cevanos asks for.
2c. Connected
- After you approve, Zendesk sends you back to Cevanos.
- On the Integrations page, search for Zendesk. The badge now says Connected and the card shows Choose what it can do.
If it fails
Check that you typed only the subdomain and that you signed in with a Zendesk account that is allowed to approve the connection. Then click Connect Zendesk again.
Result
Zendesk is connected for the workspace, but nothing it can do is switched on yet.
Step 3
Check the Zendesk page
Click the Zendesk card on the Integrations page to open the Zendesk page.
- 1Read the header: the status (Connected), the category (Helpdesk) and the Choose what it can do button.
- 2Field mapping lists the Zendesk fields Cevanos is allowed to read, for example ticket.subject and ticket.status. If a field is not listed, it is never read.
- 3Permissions granted shows what Zendesk granted and what Cevanos requested. Both say “read, tickets:write”.
- 4Health shows the calls in the last 7 days. Click Test connection to check that Cevanos can still reach Zendesk.
- 5Activity shows the calls the agent has made, kept for 30 days. After connecting it shows one row, “Checked the connection”.
Result
You can confirm Zendesk is connected. Use Test connection at any time to check that Cevanos can still reach Zendesk.
Step 4
Choose what it can do
Click Choose what it can do on the Zendesk card or page. A pop-up lists the 9 capabilities. Each row has two checkboxes: Workspace and This agent.
Right after connecting, This agent is ticked for every row and Workspace is not. Only what is ticked in both columns actually runs.
- 1Workspace: tick it for each capability Zendesk is allowed to supply at all. This applies to every agent in the workspace.
- 2This agent: tick it for each capability this agent should use.
- 3Tick or untick under Reads (look something up) and Does (change something).
- 4Click Save capabilities, or Cancel to leave without changes.
Possible is not permitted
Turning something on makes it possible; a policy is what makes it permitted. Capabilities marked “Only once we've matched the customer” do not run until Cevanos has matched the person to a customer by email or phone.
Result
The capabilities you ticked in both columns can now run. If you leave Workspace unticked, the next step shows them as stopped by your administrator.
Step 5
Set up Actions and approvals
The Actions page shows what the agent actually has, and lets you decide which changes need a person to approve them first.
- 1In the left sidebar, click Actions. Under Helpdesk, find the Zendesk card. It shows how many actions are on, how many are Reads or Does, and how many cannot run.
- 2Click the card. A panel slides in from the right.
- 3Use the filter chips (All, On, Reads, Does, Waits for approval, Cannot run) to narrow the list.
- 4In the box “When this agent does something on Zendesk”, choose Run without approval or Wait for approval for the Does actions.
- 5Each action has its own switch. Each Does action also has a dropdown, which defaults to “Waits for approval — Same as the system”.
Right after connecting
Until you tick Workspace and save in the previous step, the card shows “9 cannot run” and each action carries a red “Stopped by your administrator” tag. The tags go away once Workspace is ticked and saved.
Result
You know which Zendesk actions can run, which wait for approval, and which are stopped.
Step 6
Try it
- 1Open the Playground for your agent.
- 2Make sure the conversation has a matched customer. The ticket actions need one.
- 3Ask something that should trigger a Zendesk action, such as the examples below.
- 4For an action that changes something, check the Pending actions list if you chose Wait for approval.
- 5Back on the Zendesk page, the Activity table shows each call and its result.
| Ask | What to check |
|---|---|
| “Where is my ticket?” | The agent looks up the matched customer's tickets, and the call appears in Activity. |
| “Please open a ticket for my broken charger.” | If you chose Wait for approval, the request appears in Pending actions before the ticket is opened. |
Result
Your agent works with Zendesk tickets for the customer it has matched, within the approvals you set.
Reference
What Zendesk can do
Zendesk supplies 9 capabilities: 5 reads and 4 that change something. Only searching the help centre is open to anyone; everything else needs a matched customer.
9 capabilities · 5 reads · 4 that change something
- Anyone can ask
Search the help centre
zendesk.search_articles - Matched customer
Find this customer's tickets
zendesk.list_my_tickets - Matched customer
Read one ticket
zendesk.get_ticket - Matched customer
Find this customer
zendesk.find_user - Matched customer
Read the conversation on a ticket
zendesk.get_ticket_comments
- Matched customer
Open a ticket
zendesk.create_ticket - Matched customer
Reply on a ticket
zendesk.reply_to_ticket - Matched customer
Mark a ticket solved
zendesk.close_ticket - Matched customer
Reopen a ticket
zendesk.reopen_ticket
These are the Zendesk fields Cevanos reads, as listed under Field mapping on the Zendesk page. The permissions granted and requested are “read, tickets:write”.
| In Zendesk | In Cevanos |
|---|---|
| ticket.id | Ticket reference |
| ticket.subject | What the request is about |
| ticket.status | Where the request stands |
| ticket.created_at | When it was raised |
| ticket.updated_at | Last activity |
| ticket.description | The customer's own words |
| ticket.requester.email | Contact email |
| article.title | Answer title |
| article.body | Answer text |
| article.html_url | Where the answer lives |
| user.id | Contact reference |
Troubleshooting
| Problem | What to check |
|---|---|
| Connecting fails | Check that you typed only the subdomain (for acme.zendesk.com, type acme) and that you signed in with a Zendesk account that is allowed to approve the connection. Then click Connect Zendesk again. |
| Actions say “Stopped by your administrator” or the card shows “9 cannot run” | Workspace is not ticked. Open Choose what it can do, tick Workspace for the capabilities you want and click Save capabilities. |
| A ticket action does not run | Ticket actions run only once Cevanos has matched the person to a customer by email or phone. Make sure the conversation has a matched customer. |
| Cevanos may not be reaching Zendesk | Click Test connection on the Zendesk page. |
Optional
Disconnect Zendesk
- 1Open the Zendesk page and scroll to the red Disconnect box. Click Disconnect Zendesk.
- 2A pop-up asks “Disconnect Zendesk?”. It says how many agents are affected.
- 3Click Yes, disconnect to continue, or Cancel to keep it connected.
- 4The Zendesk card goes back to Available with a Connect button. Repeat the Connect step to connect again.
Your data stays
Disconnecting removes Cevanos's access to Zendesk immediately. Nothing is deleted in Zendesk.
Ready to connect Zendesk?
Open your agent's Integrations and click Connect on the Zendesk card.