Automate ticket handling

Automation rules run actions on a ticket when an event occurs, at regular intervals or at the click of a button: assign, change a field, notify someone, add a comment, create a linked ticket, call an external service… Variables enrich their conditions and actions. The Automation rules and Variables tabs of Service Desk settings are restricted to Administrators and Service Desk administrators.

The rule list

The list shows each rule with its Event, its number of Actions and its Status; a rule with no event (manual button or scheduled) shows the Manual button badge instead of the event. Search a rule… filters the list; double-click a row to open it.

Rules run in the order of the list: drag a row to change that order.

Create a rule

New rule asks for a Name, a Trigger mode and, depending on the mode, a Trigger event:

• Event only: the rule fires when the chosen event occurs on a ticket. Events carry their technical name, for example Created (creation), StatusChanged (status change), Assigned (assignment), Commented (new comment) or Resolved (resolution);
• Manual button only: the rule only fires from a button shown on the ticket;
• Event and manual button: both;
• Scheduled (time-based trigger): the rule is re-evaluated every fifteen minutes against tickets that are neither resolved nor closed. Express the time threshold in the conditions (for example "pending for more than 72 hours"). Do not repeat on the same ticket within (minutes) avoids repeating the action on every pass: 1440 for a reminder at most once a day per ticket.

Save creates the rule and opens its edit page, where you set up the rest.

Set up the rule

• If an action fails: Continue with the next actions or Stop the rule.
• Stop evaluating further rules if this one matches: when the rule applies, the rules placed after it in the list are not evaluated for this event.
• Enabled: untick to suspend the rule without deleting it.

Conditions: add conditions (a field, an operator, a value), combined with AND / OR and grouped if needed. The value can be typed or picked among the variables (Value or variable): "The requester", "The assignee", "Today", "Start of month"… or a variable defined on the Variables tab; a date field also accepts a Fixed date. A rule with no condition applies to every ticket.

Manual trigger (modes with a button): for the Agent back office and for the User portal, tick Enabled, enter the button label in each language and, if needed, the Allowed groups (none = everyone). The button appears on the ticket page when the conditions are met. Each context has its own Save button.

The Save button at the bottom of the page saves the general information and the conditions.

Actions

Choose a type in the list, then Add action. Each action is set up on its row and saved with its own Save button; drag the rows to change their order. Types carry their technical name:

The + Variable button inserts a variable into a text (title, value, comment). View/edit raw JSON gives access to the action's full configuration.

Execution history, at the top of the page, shows the rule's 50 most recent executions, with their result: Success, Partial failure or Failed, and any error message.

Variables

The Variables tab lists the Built-in variables (provided by Portail ZAPP, read-only) and the ones you define. New variable asks for a Variable type, a Technical name (lowercase letters, digits and "_") and a Label; the type and the technical name cannot be changed afterwards.

• CMDB path (follows relations): starts from a Starting point (the requester, the assignee, an asset linked to the ticket…) and follows CMDB relations, hop by hop (Add a hop), to the object you want. Final value sets what the variable resolves to: the linked user, the reached object or its name. Example: the head of the requester's department. Requires the CMDB module.
• Computed date: a Base (today, now), an optional Anchor (start or end of month, start of week, first Monday of month) and an Offset (days), positive or negative.
• SQL query (read-only): a SELECT query run read-only; the variable takes the first column of the first row. @Column injects the value of a ticket column; only the columns listed under the field are accepted. This kind is reserved for members of the ADMINS group (the query runs against the whole database): other managers do not see it in the list, and see an existing variable's query read-only — they can only change its label.

Deleting a variable is refused if a rule condition uses it ("This variable is used by at least one rule and cannot be deleted."). This check does not cover actions: a variable cited only in an action, for example inserted with + Variable in a comment, can be deleted, and the action text then keeps a token that is no longer resolved. Before deleting a variable, check that no action cites it.

See also

• "Prepare replies and announcements": macros and correspondence templates.
• "Configure escalation": move a late ticket up without writing a rule.
• "Manage message templates": the templates used by the SendNotification action.