Use this article to create Custom metrics in Reports, understand the three metric types, add them to charts, and manage your workspace's metric library.
Custom metrics let you build a metric once and reuse it across every custom report. Apply your own filters to a built-in metric, or divide one metric by another with different filters on each side — for example, an email closure rate, a reopen rate, or a count of conversations on a specific tag. Your metric appears in every chart in your workspace and covers your full history from day one.
Note: Custom metrics are available on Advanced and Expert plans. You'll need the Can edit reports permission in your workspace to create, edit, or delete metrics. Teammates with view-only access can use existing custom metrics in charts but can't open the Custom metrics management page.
How to create a custom metric
To get started, go to Reports > Custom metrics in the left-hand navigation. From there, select + New metric in the top right corner. This opens the metric builder in a side panel.
Go to Reports and open Custom metrics from the left-hand navigation.
Click + New metric in the top right. The metric builder opens in a side panel.
Enter a name for your metric. Names must be unique per workspace and can be up to 250 characters. Choose a name that reads like a metric — for example, "Email closure rate" rather than "Closure rate for email channel only".
Choose a Type — Percentage, Ratio, or Absolute. Not sure which to pick? See Which metric type should I use? further down this article.
Select a Measure — the built-in metric at the top of your formula. Where a metric can be counted against more than one date, each version appears as a separate choice.
Click + Add filter under Measure to narrow the conversations counted. You can filter by channel, conversation tag, topic, teammate, Fin AI Agent rating, and more.
For Percentage and Ratio types, select a metric in the Over field (the divisor). The Over dropdown only shows metrics from the same dataset as your chosen Measure — so if you picked a Conversation metric, only other Conversation metrics appear as divisor options. Click + Add filter under Over to apply separate filters to the divisor.
Set A good result is to Going up or Going down. This tells Intercom whether a rise represents an improvement when a chart compares two periods.
Click Create metric. The button stays disabled until the formula is complete.
The metric saves immediately. It's now available in the metric picker of every chart in your workspace under Custom — your workspace.
To use it straight away, open any custom report, hover over a chart, click Edit, and select your new metric from the picker.
Which metric type should I use?
Every custom metric has a type that controls how the formula is calculated and how the result is displayed. Choose the type that matches the relationship between the two metrics in your formula. Custom metrics are built on Intercom’s two datasets: Conversation (data about individual conversations) and Conversation actions (data about individual actions within a conversation, such as a message sent or an assignment). Both sides of a formula must come from the same dataset — the Over dropdown filters itself automatically to enforce this.
Percentage — one metric as a share of another
Use Percentage when every conversation counted in your top metric (Measure) is always a subset of those counted in your bottom metric (Over). The result is expressed as a percentage and stays between 0–100% when the formula is set up correctly.
The table below summarises how a Percentage metric is calculated and when to use it over a Ratio.
What it gives you | Formula | When to use it |
One metric as a share of another, expressed as a percentage | Measure ÷ divisor × 100 | Use when every conversation in your Measure is also in your Over metric. Example: email closure rate — every closed email conversation was first assigned, so closed is always a subset of assigned. |
Important: If your chart shows over 100%, your Measure isn’t a true subset of your Over metric, or your Measure counts one conversation more than once. Switch to Ratio in that case.
Ratio — one metric divided by another
Use Ratio when your top metric (Measure) is not necessarily a subset of your bottom metric (Over) — for example, when one conversation can be counted more than once in the Measure. The result is a plain number with no upper limit.
The table below summarises how a Ratio metric is calculated and when to use it over a Percentage.
What it gives you | Formula | When to use it |
One metric divided by another, expressed as a plain decimal with no upper limit | Measure ÷ divisor | Use when your Measure is not a subset of your Over metric. Example: participation ratio — several teammates can participate in one conversation, so participations can exceed assigned conversations. A Percentage would show over 100%, which is misleading. Ratio shows the correct number. |
Tip: Not sure whether to use Percentage or Ratio? Ask yourself: can one conversation appear in my Measure more than once, or can my Measure count be higher than my Over count? If yes, use Ratio.
Absolute — a single filtered metric
Use Absolute when you don’t need a rate — just a filtered count of conversations or actions that meet specific criteria. There’s no divisor and no second metric. The result is a plain number you can trend over time and break down by team, topic, or channel.
The table below summarises how an Absolute metric is calculated and when to use it instead of a rate.
What it gives you | Formula | When to use it |
A filtered count of conversations or actions — no divisor, no rate | Measure only | Use when you want to track a specific volume rather than a rate. Example: escalated conversations — count of conversations where the assignee changed from AI Agent to Human. This gives you an absolute number to trend over time and segment by team or topic. |
Tip: Absolute metrics are ideal for monitoring specific event volumes — escalations, reopens, or conversations on a tag — that don’t need to be expressed as a share of something else.
Report the complement — show the remaining share automatically
When you create a custom metric with the Percentage type, you can check Report the complement. This plots the remaining share of the divisor alongside your main number — for example, if your resolution rate is 62%, the complement (38%) appears automatically on the same chart, without you needing to define a second metric.
Note: Report the complement is available on Percentage metrics only. It's not available when the divisor counts unique values — pick a divisor that adds up counts instead.
How to add your custom metric to a chart
Once saved, your custom metric is immediately available in the metric picker of every chart in your workspace. To use it, open any custom report, hover over a chart and click Edit, then open the metric selector and look under Custom — your workspace, grouped by dataset.
The filters that belong to the metric definition travel with it. They appear on the chart as Numerator and Denominator chips — these show your Measure (top of the formula) and Over metric (bottom of the formula) respectively, so anyone reading the chart can see exactly which conversations were counted on each side. You can stack additional chart-level filters on top in the usual way.
Custom metrics are not limited to a time axis. Use View by to change the x-axis (for example, by day, week, or month) and Segment by to split the metric into groups (for example, by teammate, assignee type, tag, or topic).
Note: The + Create custom metric shortcut is hidden when a search term is active in the metric picker. Clear the search first to see it.
Editing and managing custom metrics
Go to Reports > Custom metrics to see every custom metric in your workspace, along with its formula, the dataset it uses, and how many charts rely on it.
You can edit a metric's name and its full definition at any time. Because a definition change updates every chart already using that metric, the builder shows you which reports use it before you save.
Important: Changing a Percentage or Ratio metric to Absolute isn't supported. Create a new Absolute metric instead.
To delete a metric, go to the Custom metrics page, hover over the metric you want to remove, and select Delete from the actions menu (⋯). A confirmation prompt shows how many charts use that metric — review this before confirming, as deletion can't be undone. Charts using a deleted metric will show an error until you replace the metric or rebuild the chart.
Note: Each workspace can hold up to 50 custom metrics.
Custom metric examples
The following examples show common custom metrics and how to build them. Each row shows a finished metric: its name, type, the Measure and Over settings to configure in the builder, and the direction a good result moves.
Metric name | Type | Measure (with filter) | Over (with filter) | A good result is |
Email closure rate | Percentage | Closed conversations, Channel is Email | Conversations assigned, Channel is Email | Going up |
First-response rate | Percentage | Conversations first replied to | New conversations | Going up |
Participation ratio | Ratio | Conversations participated | Conversations assigned | — |
Escalated conversations | Absolute | Conversations assigned, Current assignee type is Human, Previous assignee type is AI Agent | — | Going down |
Reopened conversation rate | Percentage | Reopened conversations | First closed conversations | Going down |
The participation ratio uses Ratio rather than Percentage because several teammates can participate in one conversation — a percentage would read over 100%. The reopened conversation rate and escalated conversations examples show two ways a "going down" metric works: one as a Percentage, one as an Absolute filtered count.
FAQs
Does my metric only cover data from after I created it?
Does my metric only cover data from after I created it?
No. Intercom calculates the metric when a chart loads rather than storing a pre-computed value, so a metric you create today covers your full history — including data from before you created it.
Where does my metric appear?
Where does my metric appear?
In the metric picker of every chart in your workspace, under Custom — your workspace.
How many custom metrics can I create?
How many custom metrics can I create?
Up to 50 per workspace.
Why is my chart showing more than 100%?
Why is my chart showing more than 100%?
A Percentage type assumes everything counted in the numerator is also counted in the denominator. If your two sides count different populations, or the numerator can count one conversation more than once, the result goes over 100%. Change the type to Ratio.
When should I use Ratio instead of Percentage?
When should I use Ratio instead of Percentage?
Use Ratio when the numerator is not a subset of the denominator. Conversations participated over Conversations assigned is the classic case, because several teammates can participate in one conversation.
Can I build a metric on top of another custom metric?
Can I build a metric on top of another custom metric?
No. Both sides of the formula must be built-in metrics.
Why can't I pick an average or median as my measure?
Why can't I pick an average or median as my measure?
Dividing one pre-computed average by another gives a number that doesn't mean what it looks like, so averages, medians, and percentiles aren't offered. Build on metrics that count things.
Can I combine metrics from different datasets?
Can I combine metrics from different datasets?
No. Both sides of a formula must come from the same dataset — either Conversation or Conversation actions. Cross-dataset metrics aren't supported.
Can I add, subtract, or use brackets in a formula?
Can I add, subtract, or use brackets in a formula?
Not yet. A formula today is one metric divided by one other (or one metric alone for an Absolute). More complex arithmetic formulas are on the roadmap.
What does 'A good result is' do?
What does 'A good result is' do?
It tells Intercom whether a rise is an improvement, so a period-over-period comparison colors the change correctly in charts.
Why can't I see Custom metrics in my Reports navigation?
Why can't I see Custom metrics in my Reports navigation?
Either the feature isn't switched on for your workspace yet, or you don't have the report-edit permission. Contact your workspace admin to check.
What happens if I delete a metric a chart is using?
What happens if I delete a metric a chart is using?
Deleting a custom metric doesn't remove it from charts that use it — those charts will show an error until you rebuild the metric and repoint the chart. Check the usage count on the Custom metrics management page before deleting, and note that deletion can't be undone.
Why do I see Numerator and Denominator chips on my chart?
Why do I see Numerator and Denominator chips on my chart?
Those chips show the filters that belong to the metric definition. They travel with the metric so the chart states exactly what the number is made of. You can add chart-level filters on top.
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