Connectors: Zendesk

Create a bi-directional connection between issues in Slack and tickets raised in Zendesk

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What is Zendesk?

Zendesk is a cloud-based help desk management solution that offers customizable tools to build customer service portals, like knowledge bases and online communities.

Who would Benefit from this Integration?

The Thena <> Zendesk Integration is built for:

  • Product Support Agents who want to work and live in Zendesk, but need better visibility of requests that originate in Slack. Thena creates a bi-directional flow of information from Slack to Zendesk, so context of the conversation & status updates are tracked accordingly.
  • Customer Success Managers who want to more easily re-direct issues, bugs, etc to their support team that uses Zendesk.

Join Bitrise, Mixpanel, and others as companies that use the Thena <> Zendesk integration!

How does it Work?

At a high-level, using Zendesk and Thena will enable a workflow where requests that are determined to be better suited for the Support Team to handle will be bi-directionally synced across the two platforms (Slack and Zendesk). The flow looks something like this:

  • A customer reaches out to the vendor (you) in Slack.
  • From the channel, the vendor (likely a CSM or someone related) determines this requires the support team in Zendesk. They create a ticket using the workflow from Slack, the Web App, or the Triage Channel. They are able to add tags, if set up in Thena, to automate triggers in Zendesk.
  • The ticket gets created in Thena & Zendesk. The Support Team will see a new ticket in Zendesk, and can work to solve and prioritize accordingly.
  • All context that is shared by the customer (files, links, etc) are also sent through to Zendesk.

Integrate with Zendesk

  1. Generate an API Token
  2. Setup the Zendesk credentials in The Thena Web App
  3. Create a Zendesk Webhook and Trigger for Ticket Comments
  4. Create a Zendesk Webhook and Trigger for Ticket Status

Generate an API token

Generate a new API token. Follow the steps listed in the Zendesk documentation here. We do not recommend using an existing token as that can lead to issues if the token is ever removed.

Setup the Zendesk credentials in The Thena Web App

Go to the The Thena Web App and click on 'Add Integration' under Zendesk. You should see the following model (below)

  • The Username will be your login email that you use to access Zendesk.
  • The Token comes from the first step.
  • The Base URL will follow the format of: https://[workspace name].zendesk.com/api/v2. If your workspace is named acme it will be: https://acme.zendesk.com/api/v2

Webhook and Trigger for Ticket Comments

In order to create a Webhook and corresponding Trigger, you must first make sure you are a Zendesk Admin. For more information on Zendesk's roles & permission, read their documentation here.

Once you're logged in, go to your Admin Center in order to setup Webhooks and Triggers. The Admin center is accessible from the Zendesk Products Icon (top right corner).

Webhook: Ticket Comments

We'll start off by creating the Ticket Comments Webhook. Once created, this Webhook will allow you to send all public responses to Zendesk tickets back into their corresponding Slack thread.

  • Please reach out to the team at Thena, if you wish to disable this post set up

Step 1: Go to Admin Center --> Apps & Integrations --> Webhook --> Create Webhook

Step 2: Add the details as shown below

  • Name: Thena - Ticket Comments
  • Description: Push public comments on Zendesk Tickets back to their corresponding Slack thread by way of Thena
  • Endpoint: https://thena-bolt.herokuapp.com/v1/ticket/comment/zendesk
  • Request method: POST
  • Request format: JSON
  • Authentication: None

Step 3: Click "Create webhook" to save the Webhook

Trigger: Ticket Comments

Once you've created the Webhook you'll want to add the Trigger. We recommend building a new Trigger using the information below to make sure the right information is forwarded from Zendesk to Slack.

Step 1: Go to Admin Center -> Objects and Rules -> Business Rules -> Triggers -> Create Trigger

Step 2: Add the details as shown below

  • Trigger name: Thena - Ticket Comment Update
  • Category: Add New Category --> Thena
  • Conditions: Meet ALL of the following:
    • Status Category: --> Not changed
    • Update via: Is --> Web form
    • Comment: Is --> Public
    • Priority:--> Not changed

Step 3: Go to Actions and include the Webhook you created, Thena - Ticket Comments

  • Actions: Notify active webhook -> Thena - Ticket Comments

Step 4: Include the snippet below into the JSON body

  • JSON Body
    {
    "id": "{{ticket.id}}",
    "status": "{{ticket.status}}",
    "comment": "{{ticket.latest_public_comment_html}}",
    "agent_name": "{{ticket.assignee.name}}",
    "agent_email": "{{ticket.assignee.email}}",
    "author_email": "{{current_user.email}}",
    "priority": "{{ticket.priority}}",
    "url" :"{{ticket.url}}",
    "external_id" :"{{ticket.external_id}}"
}

Step 5: Click "Create" to finish setting up the Trigger

Webhook and Trigger for Ticket Status

In order to create a Webhook and corresponding Trigger, you must first make sure you are a Zendesk Admin. For more information on Zendesk's roles & permission, read their documentation here.

Once you're logged in, go to your Admin Center in order to setup Webhooks and Triggers. The Admin center is accessible from the Zendesk Products Icon (top right corner).

Webhook: Ticket Status

The second Webhook is for the Ticket Status. The Ticket Status Webhook will sync the status of a ticket between Zendesk and Slack. For example, if the ticket is closed in Zendesk then Thena will notify Slack and let the customer know it's resolved.

  • Please reach out to the team at Thena, if you wish to disable this post set up

Step 1: Go to Admin Center --> Apps & Integrations --> Webhook --> Create Webhook

Step 2: Add the details as shown below

  • Name: Thena - Ticket Status Update
  • Description: Sync ticket status from Zendesk with Slack
  • Endpoint: https://thena-bolt.herokuapp.com/v1/ticket/status/zendesk
  • Request method: POST
  • Request format: JSON
  • Authentication: None

Step 3: Click "Create webhook" to save the Webhook

Trigger: Ticket Status

Now let's set up the correct Trigger to recognize ticket status changes/updates in Zendesk and sync them back to Slack. We recommend building a new Trigger for this.

Step 1: Go to Admin Center --> Objects and Rules --> Business Rules --> Triggers --> Create Trigger

Step 2: Add the details as shown below

  • Trigger name: Thena: - Ticket Status Update

  • Category: Thena

  • Conditions: Meet ALL of the following conditions

    • Update via: Is --> Web form

  • Conditions: Meet ANY of the following conditions

    • Status Category Changed
    • Priority: Changed

Step 3: Go to Actions and include the Webhook you created, Thena - Ticket Status Update

  • Actions: Notify active webhook -> Thena - Ticket Status Update

Step 4: Include the snippet below into the JSON body

  • JSON Body: 
    {
    "id": "{{ticket.id}}",
    "status": "{{ticket.status}}",
    "comment": "{{ticket.latest_public_comment_html}}",
    "agent_name": "{{ticket.assignee.name}}",
    "agent_email": "{{ticket.assignee.email}}",
    "author_email": "{{current_user.email}}",
    "priority": "{{ticket.priority}}",
    "url" :"{{ticket.url}}",
    "external_id" :"{{ticket.external_id}}"
}

Step 5: Click "Create" to finish setting up the Trigger

:ski:Thena is now setup to work seamlessly with Zendesk :ski:

Updated about 2 months ago