Actions
Automatically update tickets after a Response Workflow generates a response — set status, add tags, and more.
Actions are changes that are applied to the ticket after a Response Workflow successfully generates and sends a response. They automate the follow-up steps agents would normally do manually — setting the status to "solved," adding a tag for tracking, or updating a custom field.
Available actions
| Action | What it does | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Set status | Changes the ticket status | Set to "solved" after a resolution response |
| Set priority | Changes the ticket priority | Downgrade to "low" after initial response |
| Add tags | Adds one or more tags to the ticket | Add "auto-responded" for tracking |
| Remove tags | Removes tags from the ticket | Remove "needs-response" after replying |
| Set group | Assigns the ticket to a support group | Route to "billing" group after identifying a billing issue |
| Set custom field | Sets a Zendesk custom field value | Set "response_type" to "automated" |
When actions run
Actions run after the response is successfully generated and either:
- Sent automatically (internal note or public reply mode) — actions are applied as part of the send step
- Accepted by an agent (cache mode) — actions are applied when the agent accepts the draft
Actions do not run if:
- The workflow's escalation rules trigger (no response generated)
- The quality check fails (public mode only)
- The ticket becomes stale (agent or customer replied during the delay)
- The agent dismisses the suggestion (cache mode)
Setting up actions
- Open your workflow and go to the Actions section
- Click to add an action
- Select the action type and configure its value
- Add multiple actions if needed — they all run together when the response is sent
Actions are executed in order, but they all apply in a single ticket update to avoid triggering multiple Zendesk webhooks.
Common patterns
Auto-close after resolution:
- Set status to "solved"
- Add tags: ["auto-resolved"]
- Best for: Simple, high-confidence workflows like order status or FAQ responses
Track automated responses:
- Add tags: ["stylo-responded"]
- Set custom field "response_source" to "automated"
- Best for: Monitoring and reporting on AI-handled tickets
Route after classification:
- Set group to the appropriate team based on the workflow's purpose
- Remove tags: ["needs-triage"]
- Best for: Workflows that classify tickets and route them
Escalation cleanup:
- Add tags: ["escalated"]
- Set priority to "high"
- Best for: Used in combination with escalation rules — when a workflow decides to escalate instead of respond, apply these actions to ensure the ticket gets agent attention
Custom field classification
A powerful pattern is using actions to classify tickets by setting custom field values. For example:
- A "Sentiment Detection" workflow sets a custom dropdown field to "positive", "neutral", or "negative"
- An "Issue Category" workflow sets a custom field to "billing", "shipping", "product", or "other"
- A "Priority Assessment" workflow sets priority based on order value or customer tier
This enriches your ticket data for reporting and routing without agents needing to manually classify each ticket.
Tips
- Keep actions reversible. Prefer adding tags over removing them, and setting fields over clearing them. This makes it easier to audit what happened if something goes wrong.
- Use tags for tracking. Adding a unique tag (like "stylo-refund-workflow") to every ticket processed by a workflow makes it easy to report on workflow performance in Zendesk.
- Don't over-automate status changes. Setting status to "solved" is powerful but risky if the response doesn't fully resolve the issue. Start with just adding tags, and add status changes once you're confident in the workflow's quality.
- Combine with conditions. If a workflow's actions include setting status to "solved," add a condition that the ticket must be in "open" status — this prevents the workflow from re-solving tickets that agents have already handled.