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An email escalation can create a Zendesk ticket and pause the agent on that conversation. Your team answers in Zendesk. When the ticket becomes Solved or Closed, Centillion can answer future messages in the original email conversation again.

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Before connecting

You need administrator access to your Centillion workspace and Zendesk account, a working email channel, and Centillion Helpdesk enabled for the agent. Zendesk handoff requires Standard or above. New ticket creation and message relay stop when the workspace loses that plan access. Configure Zendesk’s support address and requester notification triggers so public agent replies reach the customer. Zendesk sends those replies. Centillion records public comments in its conversation history.

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Connect with Zendesk

  1. Open Tools and create or edit a Create ticket tool.
  2. Expand General and choose Zendesk under Helpdesk destination.
  3. Enable Centillion Helpdesk if prompted.
  4. Enter your Zendesk subdomain, such as acme for acme.zendesk.com.
  5. Choose Connect with Zendesk. Sign in to Zendesk as an administrator and review the permissions on its authorization screen.
  6. Choose Allow. Centillion returns you to the connection page and displays Connected with Zendesk after setup succeeds.
  7. Return to Tools, finish the tool’s When to use instructions, select Email, and choose Save & enable.
You do not need to create a token or share a client secret for this flow. Centillion encrypts the authorization credentials and renews them automatically, including when the connection is idle. Save tool edits before leaving for Zendesk authorization. Centillion creates a webhook and a trigger limited to this agent’s Zendesk tickets. Keep both active so updates reach Centillion. If setup is incomplete, disconnect the incomplete connection and try again. If you choose Deny, no connection is created. An expired authorization or a workspace switch requires starting again from the intended workspace.
A self-hosted installation’s operator must configure Zendesk sign-in. An installation serving multiple companies needs a global OAuth client approved by Zendesk. A development client can authorize only its own Zendesk account.
The Zendesk destination supports email. Use Centillion Helpdesk for an action that also needs website chat or other messaging channels.

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Internal and self-managed installations

If your operator enables Use your own credentials for an internal installation, you can connect your organization’s confidential OAuth client. Create it in Zendesk Admin Center under Apps and integrations → APIs → OAuth clients, choose Confidential, and use an administrator as its owner. Allow these scopes:
Copy the Identifier and one-time Secret into the connection panel and choose Connect Zendesk. This internal client-credentials flow does not need a redirect URL. It is separate from the customer sign-in flow above. API token (legacy) is available only when the installation allows internal credentials and your Zendesk account still supports it. New accounts cannot use API tokens from July 28, 2026. New-token creation ends for existing accounts on October 27, 2026, and all API tokens are deactivated on April 30, 2027. Inactivity can deactivate a token sooner. Use OAuth for new connections.

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What happens during a handoff

When the agent runs the action, Centillion pauses automatic replies on that email conversation and cancels unsent delayed drafts. It creates one Zendesk ticket with the customer’s email address, the escalation details, and a text transcript. The Centillion ticket records the Zendesk ticket link. Your team can reply publicly from Zendesk. Centillion copies public ticket comments into its conversation history. Further customer emails arriving on the original Centillion thread are relayed to the active Zendesk ticket while the handoff owns the conversation. Automatic replies stay paused. Messages that arrive while the Zendesk ticket is being created wait for that ticket, then relay through the background scheduler. Centillion checks the ticket’s current status before resuming. New, Open, Pending, and On-hold keep the conversation paused. Solved and Closed release the Zendesk handoff. The agent can then answer future messages, provided automatic replies are enabled for the email channel. A newer manual takeover remains in effect. Resolving an older Zendesk ticket does not release a conversation that a teammate has taken over since then, and an ended conversation or a customer who opted out stays without automatic replies. Messages held during the handoff do not receive retroactive AI answers. Attachments stay in the Centillion conversation; the Zendesk ticket gets the message text.

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Test the handoff

  1. Send an email from a test account to your configured support address.
  2. Request help that matches the action’s instructions.
  3. Confirm the Zendesk ticket contains the customer address and transcript, and that the Centillion email conversation is paused.
  4. Reply publicly in Zendesk. Check that the customer receives the email and that the comment appears in Centillion.
  5. Send a follow-up on the original email thread and confirm it reaches the active Zendesk ticket without an AI reply.
  6. Mark the Zendesk ticket Solved. Confirm Centillion shows that AI replies have resumed, then send another message on the original thread.
  7. Repeat with Closed and with a newer manual takeover to check the cases your team uses.
The Email Playground previews formatting. It does not create a Zendesk ticket or exercise the status callback.

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Troubleshooting

When ticket creation or relay delivery is uncertain, Centillion keeps the conversation paused for review. This avoids creating duplicate tickets or answering alongside your support team. To recover a failed handoff, inspect Zendesk and the Centillion conversation first. When it is appropriate for the agent to answer again, choose Allow AI replies in the Centillion ticket, or resume the conversation. The next scheduler run completes the old handoff locally. Zendesk’s ticket is kept, and later updates from that old ticket cannot release a newer manual takeover.

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Disconnect or change accounts

Resolve the agent’s open Zendesk handoffs first. Then return to the connection panel and choose Disconnect Zendesk. Centillion removes its webhook and trigger and revokes the customer authorization; existing Zendesk tickets remain in Zendesk. If access was already revoked in Zendesk, the local connection is removed, and an administrator can remove any remaining webhook and trigger there. Connect again to use another account, rotate the client secret, or migrate a legacy API token to OAuth. Disconnecting is blocked while unresolved handoffs still depend on that connection. After a manual recovery, allow the next scheduler run, normally within a minute, before disconnecting.
Last modified on October 17, 2026