Using Custom Actions in Automation
Trigger Custom Actions automatically in Custom Bot workflows, Resolution Bot workflows, Fin Handover workflows, and Inbox Rules.
Beth-Ann Sher avatar
Written by Beth-Ann Sher
Updated over a week ago

Using Custom Actions, you can automate tasks such as:

Note: you must have a custom action set-up in order to use it in Automation. See Setting up a Custom Action article for more details.

Using Custom Actions in Workflows

  1. Create a bot workflow to collect needed information from the customer.
    Click the + button and then Collect data. You need to ensure all the data sent in the Custom Action request body are collected during or prior to the bot workflow.

  2. Trigger the Custom Action.
    After you’ve collected all the needed data, click on the + button, scroll down and choose Custom action (using API).

  3. Specify Custom Action fail path
    From the dropdown, choose your Custom Action and then add a fail path to give users some context in case your Custom Action fails to complete.

  4. Specify Custom Action success path
    You'll now be able to display data returned from the Custom Action in your bot messages. To do that, add a new message and then click on the attribute selector {..} button and choose the appropriate attribute you want to show.

Another example

Here's another example of a custom action used in Fin handover workflow to create a ticket in Zendesk for agents to respond to via email.

Using Custom Actions in Inbox Rules (legacy)

In Inbox Rules you can configure a Custom Action to trigger when certain conditions are met.

Note: Inbox Rules is a legacy product that is replaced by workflows.

  1. Navigate to the Inbox Rules section by clicking on Settings → Inbox Settings → Inbox rules.

  2. Click New rule or edit an existing rule.

  3. Under the Add action section of the rule configuration, select Custom actions (using API) from the dropdown menu.

  4. Choose the desired Custom Action from the list of available actions.

  5. Complete the rule configuration by defining triggers, conditions, and other settings.

  6. Save and close the Rule.

Example use case

You can use a Custom Action to create a new Jira issue whenever a Conversation meets certain criteria. For example, you can setup a Rule that triggers a Custom Action to create a new Jira issue whenever a Conversation is tagged with "Feature Request". The Custom Action can automatically populate the issue with the conversation details and assign it to a specific Jira project.


💡Tip

Need more help? Get support from our Community Forum
Find answers and get help from Intercom Support and Community Experts


Did this answer your question?