Fin Procedures let you design clear, repeatable flows that guide Fin through handling complex queries. You define the structure using Steps, extend Fin’s abilities with Tools, and shape its behavior with Guidance.
Whether you’re collecting information, branching logic, connecting to external systems, or handing off to teammates, Procedures give you full control over how Fin handles a conversation from start to finish.
Note: Fin Procedures is currently in managed availability. Access is limited during this period and available only to select customers with a contract. Please contact your account manager to confirm eligibility or go to Fin AI Agent > Train > Procedures and click "Request Access".
Get started
To build a new Fin Procedure, navigate to Fin AI Agent > Train > Procedures in your workspace. Click + New procedure and choose your preferred creation method:
Option 1: Let AI draft your procedure
This is the fastest method if you already have a process in mind or documented.
Select Let AI draft your procedure.
Choose your starting point:
Describe your process: Write your process in natural language, or paste existing step-by-step instructions or Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) directly into the text box. Fin will automatically structure them into a proper procedure format for you.
Choose a template: Select an industry-specific template (e.g., SaaS, Ecommerce, Fintech, or Gaming) and pick a common scenario, like "Cancel or pause a subscription".
Note: There is a 5,000 character limit for the description field in Let AI draft your procedure.
Click Continue. Fin will then analyze your input and ground the draft in your workspace context by searching through your past customer conversations, existing documentation, and Data Connectors.
Answer the clarifying questions to help Fin flesh out specific logic and instructions. While these are optional, providing this information ensures a more accurate draft.
Review the generated steps and to further improve the draft.
Tip: If you already have step-by-step instructions, or a documented process, use Option 1: Let AI draft your procedure . Simply paste your existing instructions and let Fin structure them into a proper procedure format—no need to manually format each step yourself.
Option 2: Create from scratch
Use this method if you want to build a Procedure manually.
Select Create from scratch.
Name your procedure and enter the editor to begin adding steps manually.
Tell Fin when to use this procedure
At the top of the editor, you'll find the When to use this procedure section. This is crucial to telling Fin exactly when to utilise this Procedure. To ensure Fin triggers only when intended, you must provide clear trigger logic and high-quality conversation examples. These two components work together to improve reliability and reduce false positives.
1. Write the 'When to use this Procedure' logic
Describe exactly when this procedure should (and should not) start. A strong trigger includes specific criteria and exclusions.
Example of high-quality trigger logic:
When to trigger this procedure: Trigger this procedure when a customer reports that the software is not working correctly or is behaving unexpectedly.
Inclusion criteria (Trigger if):
The customer describes a specific technical problem or error.
The customer states that a feature is broken.
The customer mentions a bug, glitch, or malfunction.
Exclusion criteria (Do NOT trigger if):
The customer is requesting a new feature.
The customer is asking account-related questions (e.g., password resets).
Clear, comprehensive triggers ensure Fin activates your procedure for the right customer intents and avoids firing for unrelated queries.
2. Train Fin with examples
Once you have written your logic provide conversation examples to Fin.
Click the Train Fin on examples button.
When to use: Provide examples of phrases or scenarios where this procedure is appropriate.
When NOT to use: Provide examples of similar but unrelated queries to prevent false triggers.
Note: These examples are crucial for training the AI to distinguish between a "password reset" and "general login policy info" .
Add instructions to the procedure
You can tell Fin what to do when the procedure is triggered by writing instructions. On top of these instructions you can also add deterministic controls that give Fin more powers - such as conditions, or even tools to enable Fin to access external data, update attributes.
Steps define the flow. You add them by typing @ on a new line.
Tools give Fin powers (like checking APIs). You add them by typing @ inside an Instruction step.
Feature | What it does | When to use it |
Instruction | The default block. Plain natural language instructions. | For almost everything. "Ask the customer for their email." |
Condition | Adds branching logic (IF / ELSE). | Use for major, mutually exclusive paths that significantly change the flow (e.g., "IF the item is broken, do X. ELSE do Y.").
For small variations or minor clarifications, use natural language Instructions instead of branching. This keeps your procedures simpler and allows Fin’s AI to handle the conversation more naturally. |
Hand-off to sub-procedure | Hand-off to a sub-procedure. | To reuse a common flow (e.g., "Verify Identity") without rewriting it, or a complex flow you would like to hide from the main flow. |
Hand-off to workflow | Ends the Procedure and passes the user to a Workflow. | Use this to hand off to a reusable Workflow you’ve already built, such as a complex handover flow, a satisfaction survey, or a specialized routing path. |
End | Ends the Procedure immediately and passes back to Fin. | Use this to stop a Procedure once a specific goal or logic condition has been met, ensuring Fin doesn't continue following the procedure steps. |
Connect with system | Fetches live data from connected apps (Shopify, Stripe, etc.). | Inside a step when you need to check an order status or balance. |
Read an attribute | Looks up existing customer data. | Inside a step to check a user's plan or ID. |
Update an attribute | Saves information the customer gave you into an attribute | Inside a step to remember an answer for later. |
Escalate to team | Intentionally hands the conversation over to a team or teammate. | Inside a step when the bot can't solve the issue. |
Important:
No nesting: You cannot nest Condition steps inside other Conditions.
Single logic type: You cannot mix code and natural language conditions within a single step.
Unsupported attributes: Attributes like dates or decimals cannot currently be referenced in conditions.
Sub-procedures
Reuse: You can reuse a sub-procedure multiple times within the same parent procedure.
Scope: Sub-procedures are currently local and cannot be called by other unrelated procedures.
Transitions to Workflows
One-way handoff: When Fin passes a customer to a Workflow, the procedure ends.
No resumption: The procedure will not resume even after the Workflow is completed.
Learn more:
Note: Starting March 12, 2026, configured handoffs (using @handoff) are billed as successful Procedure handoff outcomes. Learn more about Fin Outcomes and billing.
@Look up content
The @Look up content tool directs Fin to search your Help Center or external knowledge base for specific information during a procedure conversation. Use this to tell Fin to reference up-to-date support content during a given procedure conversation, rather than using static text.
Supported content types
Public articles
Private articles (enabled for AI Agent)
Uploaded documents
Imported or synced content sources
Web-synced documents
Content snippets
Important requirements:
Check that the content source is still synced and active.
Ensure the article is AI agent enabled: To make a public article available, navigate to Knowledge, open the article, and use the Details panel to toggle the following:
Fin AI Agent: This setting allows the AI to use the article when responding to customers. It will automatically respect any established audience rules.
Example use cases
Ecommerce
In a returns or refund procedure, you can direct Fin to look up your latest returns policy instead of hard-coding it into the flow.
Eligibility
Use an internal eligibility article to help Fin determine whether a user qualifies for a discount, refund, or specific program.
Add guidance
Give Fin specific guidance on how to interact with customers while running a procedure. To add guidance, open a Fin Procedure and click Guidance in the top right corner of the Instructions editor.
Choose which workspace level guidance should apply to this procedure. Fin will combine all selected guidance:
Communication style
Context and clarification
Handover and escalation
Other guidances
You can also write custom procedure-specific guidance that apply only to this procedure. Fin will combine this with any workspace level guidance you selected. For example: "Never bring up a refund unless a customer mentions it first."
Select your Channels
To run a procedure on specific channels, such as Web, iOS, Android, Facebook, WhatsApp, Instagram, SMS, Email, or Slack use the Audience targeting settings within the procedure editor. Ensure the desired channel is selected in the Channels dropdown menu.
To run a procedure for specific audience use the Audience targeting settings within the procedure editor. Ensure the desired channel is selected in the Audiences dropdown menu.
Test and verify the procedure
Before you set your procedure live, you must verify that it works as intended. Click the Test button at the top of the editor to access two testing methods:
Preview
The Preview tab allows you to interact with Fin as a customer would. Use this to get a feel for the tone, greeting, and general flow of the conversation.
Simulations
The Simulations tab allows you to automatically test different logic paths within your instructions. This gives you confidence that Fin will behave as intended before you launch the procedure to real customers.
Choose a simulation type:
Happy path: Fin's AI automatically suggests a standard scenario to help you get started quickly and see how the feature works.
You can also create Custom Simulations: Create specific scenarios to test edge cases or technical integrations by defining:
The context: Set the opening customer message and how the conversation should proceed.
Mock data: Define custom inputs and mock Data Connector responses to simulate how Fin handles live data (e.g., a "Payment Failed" response from Stripe).
Success criteria: Specify the exact outcomes you expect, such as which tools should be triggered or what information Fin must provide.
Run and review:
Run the simulation to watch Fin execute your steps, trigger the mock APIs, and follow your logic.
Pass: The simulation met all defined criteria.
Fail: The simulation failed. Click into the simulation to see exactly where Fin deviated from the instructions.
Once you are satisfied with the results, click Set live to make the procedure available to your customers.
Switch between procedures intelligently
Agentic Switch is available for procedures. When enabled, Fin can automatically switch from the current procedure to another live procedure if it determines that the customer's intent has changed and a different procedure better suits the customer's situation.
Automatically adapt to changing customer needs:
Fin reviews the conversation and Procedure Trigger Descriptions to determine when switching procedures would better serve the customer.
Ask clarifying questions when needed:
If multiple procedures could suit the customer's situation, Fin may ask clarifying questions to disambiguate and select the best option.
Help Center takes priority:
Fin will continue to prioritize Help Center content over Agentic Switch when addressing customer questions.
Note: When enabled on a procedure, Fin can switch out of this procedure into any other live procedure. The destination procedure does not need Agentic Switch enabled. You can still use the @Switch command to manually switch procedures.
How Procedures differ from Workflows
Procedures and Workflows are two distinct automation features in Intercom. While both help you automate customer interactions, they work in fundamentally different ways.
Procedures
Procedures are AI-driven, multi-step processes where Fin follows natural language instructions. They're designed for complex tasks that need AI reasoning and the ability to adapt as conversations evolve.
Key characteristics:
Written in natural language, like training a teammate
Fin adapts dynamically if customers interrupt or change direction
Built using instruction steps, conditions, and @ tools
Best for complex, conversational tasks requiring AI reasoning
Currently in managed availability (limited access)
Workflows
Workflows are visual, automated conversation flows built on a canvas. You create predefined paths using reply buttons, branches, and actions to guide customers through structured interactions.
Key characteristics:
Built on a visual canvas with drag-and-drop interface
Use reply buttons to guide customers through predefined paths
Best for structured conversations with clear options
Include branches, actions, and rules for automation
Generally available to all customers
Tip: Use Procedures for complex, multi-step processes that need AI to adapt to customer responses. Use Workflows for guided conversations with reply buttons and background automations.
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