Automation rules that run on ticket creation check new tickets for specific conditions and take action accordingly. This article provides a comprehensive set of examples of automation rules that run on ticket creation. For a general overview, see Setting up automation rules to run on Ticket Creation.

Automate ticket management

These are common use cases to reduce the tedium of managing new tickets.

Assign tickets

You can use automation rules to assign tickets to specific groups and agents when they are created, based on conditions you specify. For example:

  • Assign tickets in a specific language to the appropriate global team
  • Assign tickets based on properties such as Priority, Type, and Status
  • Assign tickets based on requester email and subject

When assigning tickets, either manually or via automation, always assign Group first and then Agent.


If you're on the Pro plan or above, we recommend using automatic routing instead. See Understand Automatic Ticket Assignment.


To create these rules:

  1. Go to the automations page.
    • Freshdesk: Admin > Workflows > Automations
    • Customer Service Suite: Admin Settings > Configuration and Workflows > Ticket Automations
  2. Go to the Ticket Creation tab and click New rule.
  3. Provide an appropriate name for your rule.
  4. Set your conditions in the On tickets with these properties section.

    Use CaseCondition
    Assign tickets based on languageIn Contacts > if Requester language > Is or Is not > languages
    Assign tickets based on ticket propertyIn Tickets > if Priority or Type or Status or other > Is or Is not > values
    Assign tickets based on requesterIn Tickets > if Requester email > Is > value
    Assign tickets based on subject or descriptionIn Tickets > if Subject or Description or Subject or description > Contains > phrase
    You can chain multiple conditions together by clicking Add new condition. Choose whether ALL or ANY conditions are enough. In this example, this rule affects a ticket if it has the "Urgent" priority OR if it has any of the shown words in its subject.
    A complex condition to capture tickets with the "urgent" priority OR a subject that contains common urgent words.
  5. Set your assignment rules in the Perform these actions section.
    1. Select Assign to Group and then choose the group.
    2. Select Assign to Agent and then choose the agent.
      Assignment actions as described in the surrounding text.
  6. Click Preview and save.
  7. After you review your rule, click Save and enable.

Your rule is created and is visible on the Ticket Creation tab. Remember that automation rules are executed in order from top to bottom. If you have multiple rules enabled, reorder them to make sense for your workflow.

Modify ticket fields

You can use automation rules to change ticket properties based on conditions you specify. For example:

  • Look for keywords in a ticket and set the type of the ticket
  • Update a custom field

To create these rules:

  1. Go to the automations page.
    • Freshdesk: Admin > Workflows > Automations
    • Customer Service Suite: Admin Settings > Configuration and Workflows > Ticket Automations
  2. Go to the Ticket Creation tab and click New rule.
  3. Provide an appropriate name for your rule.
  4. Set your conditions in the On tickets with these properties section. For example:
    • Search the ticket for key phrases: In Tickets > if Subject or description > Contains > specify your phrases.
      Sample of key phrases for a refund: "refund", "money back", "reimburse", "compensate".
  5. Set your field modifications in the Perform these actions section. For example:
    • Change Type: Set type as > choose a value.
      Set type as Refund. Described above.
    • Change a custom field: Set [field name] as > choose a value.
      Custom field called "Issue date" is set to a particular value.
  6. Click Preview and save.
  7. After you review your rule, click Save and enable.

Your rule is created and is visible on the Ticket Creation tab. Remember that automation rules are executed in order from top to bottom. If you have multiple rules enabled, reorder them to make sense for your workflow.

Manage spam

To prune your list of tickets, you may want to create automation rules to handle spam. For example:

  • Identify and mark tickets with spammy keywords
  • Close tickets from known offender contacts
  • Delete tickets from known offender domain names


Tip: When processing tickets, often the first decision is whether a ticket is spam or not. To reflect this, place your spam rules at the top of your list of automations.


To create these rules:

  1. Go to the automations page.
    • Freshdesk: Admin > Workflows > Automations
    • Customer Service Suite: Admin Settings > Configuration and Workflows > Ticket Automations
  2. Go to the Ticket Creation tab and click New rule.
  3. Provide an appropriate name for your rule.
  4. Set your conditions in the On tickets with these properties section.
    • Based on keywords: In Tickets > if Subject or description > Contains > specify words or phrases.
      Sample of spam keywords - "free offer", "win a prize", "limited time offer".
    • Based on contacts: In Contacts > if Requester name or Requester email > Is > type a name or choose an email.
    • Based on email domain: In Tickets > if Requester email > Contains > specify values.
  5. Set 1 or more actions in the Perform these actions section based on your workflow.
    • Mark a ticket as spam: Mark as spam
    • Close a ticket: Set status as > Closed
      The "mark as spam" and "set status as > closed" actions
    • Delete a ticket: Delete the ticket
      The "delete the ticket" action
  6. Click Preview and save.
  7. After you review your rule, click Save and enable.

Your rule is created and is visible on the Ticket Creation tab. Remember to place your spam rules at the top of your list.

Add notes

You can add private notes as soon as tickets are created using automation rules.


To create these rules:

  1. Go to the automations page.
    • Freshdesk: Admin > Workflows > Automations
    • Customer Service Suite: Admin Settings > Configuration and Workflows > Ticket Automations
  2. Go to the Ticket Creation tab and click New rule.
  3. Provide an appropriate name for your rule.
  4. Set your conditions in the On tickets with these properties section.
  5. Use the Add note action in the Perform these actions section and type a tag to search for it.
    • Select an agent to notify in the Notify to field.
    • Customize your note in the Description field. Use dynamic placeholders to insert ticket properties and other values.
  6. Click Preview and save.
  7. After you review your rule, click Save and enable.

Your rule is created and is visible on the Ticket Creation tab. Remember that automation rules are executed in order from top to bottom. If you have multiple rules enabled, reorder them to make sense for your workflow.

Add and use tags in your tickets

Ticket tags are useful for organizing tickets and filtering in the ticket list view or in analytics.


For example, a travel company might use the Type property for values such as "Transport", "Tourism", "Events", "Lodging", and "Billing". They can use tags such as "flights_international", "flights_domestic", "rail_interstate", and "local" to further categorize tickets with the "Transport" Type.


Automation rules can help tag tickets as soon as they're created, reducing overhead and maintenance.


Important: You will need to create your tags before you use them in automation rules. Go to Admin > Agent Productivity > Tags to manage your tags.


To create these rules:

  1. Go to the automations page.
    • Freshdesk: Admin > Workflows > Automations
    • Customer Service Suite: Admin Settings > Configuration and Workflows > Ticket Automations
  2. Go to the Ticket Creation tab and click New rule.
  3. Provide an appropriate name for your rule.
  4. Set your conditions in the On tickets with these properties section.
  5. Use the Add tag action in the Perform these actions section and type a tag to search for it.
  6. Click Preview and save.
  7. After you review your rule, click Save and enable.

Your rule is created and is visible on the Ticket Creation tab. Remember that automation rules are executed in order from top to bottom. If you have multiple rules enabled, reorder them to make sense for your workflow.

Delete tickets

If you have unwanted tickets such as spam or test tickets, use the Delete the ticket action to automatically delete them. Deleted tickets are visible in the Trash view on the Tickets page.


If you want to delete tickets from unwanted domains and are on the Pro plan or above, consider Domain whitelisting instead.


To create this rule:

  1. Go to the automations page.
    • Freshdesk: Admin > Workflows > Automations
    • Customer Service Suite: Admin Settings > Configuration and Workflows > Ticket Automations
  2. Go to the Ticket Creation tab and click New rule.
  3. Provide an appropriate name for your rule.
  4. Set your conditions in the On tickets with these properties section.
    • Based on keywords: In Tickets > if Subject or description > Contains > specify words or phrases.
      Sample of spam keywords - "free offer", "win a prize", "limited time offer".
    • Based on contacts: In Contacts > if Requester name or Requester email > Is > type a name or choose an email.
    • Based on email domain: In Tickets > if Requester email > Contains > specify values.
  5. Set the Delete the ticket action in the Perform these actions section based on your preference.
    The "delete the ticket" action
  6. Click Preview and save.
  7. After you review your rule, click Save and enable.

Your rule is created and is visible on the Ticket Creation tab. Remember that automation rules are executed in order from top to bottom. If you have multiple rules enabled, reorder them to make sense for your workflow.

Forward tickets

You may want to forward tickets to other teams or vendors. For example, if a ticket contains the phrase "technical escalation", you may want to send it to your technical team. You can automate this process.


Note: You can configure forward mail actions only once per email in an automation. You cannot configure conditions based on forwarding.


To create these rules:

  1. Go to the automations page.
    • Freshdesk: Admin > Workflows > Automations
    • Customer Service Suite: Admin Settings > Configuration and Workflows > Ticket Automations
  2. Go to the Ticket Creation tab and click New rule.
  3. Provide an appropriate name for your rule.
  4. Set your conditions in the On tickets with these properties section. For example:
    • If using a custom status, such as "Waiting on third party": In Tickets > if Status > Is > Waiting on Third Party.
    • If using keywords: In Tickets > if Subject or description > Contains > provide your phrases.
  5. Use the Forward action in the Perform these actions section.
    • Provide the target email addresses in the To, CC, and BCC fields.
    • Customize the forward request in the Subject and Description fields. Use dynamic placeholders to insert ticket properties and other values.
    • Optionally, toggle on Include recent conversation(s) and attachments.
      Sample forward action as described in the surrounding text.
  6. Click Preview and save.
  7. After you review your rule, click Save and enable.

Your rule is created and is visible on the Ticket Creation tab. Remember that automation rules are executed in order from top to bottom. If you have multiple rules enabled, reorder them to make sense for your workflow.

Automate email notifications

These are common use cases to keep your team and customers informed.

Add watchers and CC emails

You may need to notify specific team members every time a particular type of ticket is created and is henceforth updated. For example:

  • When tickets come from a particular customer, you notify their assigned CSM or representative.
  • When tickets have the a Type called "Technical Issue", you notify a designated engineer or program manager.
  • When tickets have the "Urgent" Priority, you notify a designated Supervisor.
  • When tickets pertain to a particular Product, you notify the designated product manager.

You can use automation rules to either add the required person as a Watcher on the ticket or add their email address as a CC. They will receive a notification every time a ticket is updated.


To create these rules:

  1. Go to the automations page.
    • Freshdesk: Admin > Workflows > Automations
    • Customer Service Suite: Admin Settings > Configuration and Workflows > Ticket Automations
  2. Go to the Ticket Creation tab and click New rule.
  3. Provide an appropriate name for your rule.
  4. Set your conditions in the On tickets with these properties section.

    Use CaseCondition
    Based on languageIn Contacts > if Requester language > Is or Is not > languages
    Based on ticket propertyIn Tickets > if Priority or Type or Status or Product or other > Is or Is not > values
    Based on requesterIn Tickets > if Requester email > Is > value
    Based on subject or descriptionIn Tickets > if Subject or Description or Subject or description > Contains > phrase
    Based on companyIn Companies > if Company Name > Is > value
    You can chain multiple conditions together by clicking Add new condition. Choose whether ALL or ANY conditions are enough. In this example, this rule affects a ticket if it has the "Urgent" priority OR if it has any of the shown words in its subject.
    A complex condition to capture tickets with the "urgent" priority OR a subject that contains common urgent words.
  5. Set 1 or more notification rules in the Perform these actions section.
    • Add watchers: Add watcher > select agents.
    • Add a CC email: Add a CC > provide email ID.
      Add watcher and Add a CC actions as described in the surrounding text.
  6. Click Preview and save.
  7. After you review your rule, click Save and enable.

Your rule is created and is visible on the Ticket Creation tab. Remember that automation rules are executed in order from top to bottom. If you have multiple rules enabled, reorder them to make sense for your workflow.

Send custom email replies

Based on your business needs, you may need to send an automatic customized email to customers, agents, and groups. For example:

  • You have different products and brands and have an automated reply for each one reflecting the brand's voice.
  • You have VIP clients and you have a specific message for when they create a ticket.
  • You need to ping multiple teams when a request comes in. For example, when a refund request comes in, you email the billing team to process the request and the QA team to investigate the customer behavior.


Note: If you create a custom conditional reply for customers, you may want to turn off the default automatic reply. Go to Admin > Workflows > Email Notifications > Requester Notifications and toggle off the New Ticket Created option.

To create these rules:

  1. Go to the automations page.
    • Freshdesk: Admin > Workflows > Automations
    • Customer Service Suite: Admin Settings > Configuration and Workflows > Ticket Automations
  2. Go to the Ticket Creation tab and click New rule.
  3. Provide an appropriate name for your rule.
  4. Set your conditions in the On tickets with these properties section.

    Use CaseCondition
    Based on ticket propertyIn Tickets > if Priority or Type or Status or Product or other > Is or Is not > values
    Based on requesterIn Tickets > if Requester email > Is > value
    Based on subject or descriptionIn Tickets > if Subject or Description or Subject or description > Contains > phrase
    Based on tagIn Tickets > if Tag > Contains all/any of > tag value

    Important: If using this condition, ensure that a rule to add the tag is placed higher in your list of automation rules.
    Based on companyIn Companies > if Company Name > Is > value
    You can chain multiple conditions together by clicking Add new condition. Choose whether ALL or ANY conditions are enough. In this example, this rule affects a ticket if it has the "Urgent" priority OR if it has any of the shown words in its subject.
    A complex condition to capture tickets with the "urgent" priority OR a subject that contains common urgent words.
  5. Create your email replies in the Perform these actions section.
    • Email the customer: Use the Send email to requester action.
    • Email a colleague or team: Use the Send email to group and/or Send email to agent actions.
    • Select the agent or group, if applicable.
    • Customize the forward request in the Subject and Description fields. Use dynamic placeholders to insert ticket properties and other values.
    • If necessary, click Add new action and repeat for the requester or other agents and groups.
      A sample of two "Send email to group" actions with default instructions for the Billing and Customer Support teams.
  6. Click Preview and save.
  7. After you review your rule, click Save and enable.

Your rule is created and is visible on the Ticket Creation tab. Remember that automation rules are executed in order from top to bottom. If you have multiple rules enabled, reorder them to make sense for your workflow.


Video guides:
  1. Custom Email Notifications: Sending Emails Automatically to Requesters from a Specific Company
  2. Custom Email Notifications: How to Automatically Convey SLA Expectations to High-priority Customers
  3. Custom Email Notifications: Automatically Inform Customers to Email Another Support Email Address

Notify customers when agents are unavailable

If you have configured business hours and holidays, you can set up an automation rule to reply to a customer when they reach out during non-working hours, i.e. when your agents are OOO (out-of-office).


To create these rules:

  1. Go to the automations page.
    • Freshdesk: Admin > Workflows > Automations
    • Customer Service Suite: Admin Settings > Configuration and Workflows > Ticket Automations
  2. Go to the Ticket Creation tab and click New rule.
  3. Provide an appropriate name for your rule.
  4. Set your conditions in the On tickets with these properties section.
    • For OOO agents: In Tickets > if Created > During > Non-Business hours or Holidays > select a configuration.
  5. Use the Send email to requester action in the Perform these actions section.
    • Customize the reply in the Subject and Description fields. Use dynamic placeholders to insert ticket properties and other values.
      Sample OOO message as described in the surrounding text.
  6. Click Preview and save.
  7. After you review your rule, click Save and enable.

Your rule is created and is visible on the Ticket Creation tab. Remember that automation rules are executed in order from top to bottom. If you have multiple rules enabled, reorder them to make sense for your workflow.

Send messages to Slack channels

You can create automation rules to send custom messages to internal Slack channels based on ticket properties.


Important: Integrate the Slack app before creating these rules.


These automation rules push messages to Slack with the following layout:

  1. The first element is the Message you defined, with the dynamic placeholders replaced with actual values.
  2. The second element is the standard Freshdesk data snippet, which contains: 
    1. Ticket ID and Subject as the header with a link to the ticket in Freshdesk
    2. Requester Name
    3. Priority
    4. Assigned agent name
    5. Description of the ticket abbreviated to 120 characters
    6. The Slack message will also be color-coded in the sidebar based on Status.

You can use dynamic placeholders to send any other information from the ticket as necessary. To create these rules:

  1. Go to the automations page.
    • Freshdesk: Admin > Workflows > Automations
    • Customer Service Suite: Admin Settings > Configuration and Workflows > Ticket Automations
  2. Go to the Ticket Creation tab and click New rule.
  3. Provide an appropriate name for your rule.
  4. Set your conditions in the On tickets with these properties section.
  5. Select the Push to Slack action in the Perform these actions section.
    • Select the Slack channel from the Push to dropdown.
    • Customize the message in the Message field.
    • Optionally, use dynamic placeholders to insert ticket properties and other values. Keep in mind the following 3 substitutions to send plain text instead of HTML to Slack.
    • Use {{ticket.description_text}} instead of {{ticket.description}}
    • Use  {{ticket.latest_public_comment_text}} instead of {{ticket.latest_public_comment}}
    • Use {{ticket.latest_private_comment_text}} instead of {{ticket.latest_private_comment}}
  6. Click Preview and save.
  7. After you review your rule, click Save and enable.

Your rule is created and is visible on the Ticket Creation tab. Remember that automation rules are executed in order from top to bottom. If you have multiple rules enabled, reorder them to make sense for your workflow.

Turn off notifications and break notification loops

You may need to turn off notifications based on different conditions. For example:

  • For particular sources such as chat
  • For particular contacts that reply from a different ticketing system that creates a loop

To create these rules:

  1. Go to the automations page.
    • Freshdesk: Admin > Workflows > Automations
    • Customer Service Suite: Admin Settings > Configuration and Workflows > Ticket Automations
  2. Go to the Ticket Creation tab and click New rule.
  3. Provide an appropriate name for your rule.
  4. Set your conditions in the On tickets with these properties section.
    • For a particular ticket property: In Tickets > If Product or Source or Type or other > value
    • For a particular contact: In Tickets > if Requester email > Is > support@domain.com (use the customer's support email)
    • For keywords: In Tickets > If Subject or description > Contains > keyword or phrase (such as "Ticket Received")
  5. Use the Skip new ticket email notifications action in the Perform these actions section.
    • Optionally, add the Mark as spam action.
  6. Click Preview and save.
  7. After you review your rule, click Save and enable.

Your rule is created and is visible on the Ticket Creation tab. Remember that automation rules are executed in order from top to bottom. If you have multiple rules enabled, reorder them to make sense for your workflow.