Claim a conversation
What claim means
A conversation has three ownership states:
- Unclaimed. No agent assigned. Lives in the shared inbox.
- Claimed by you. You're the assigned agent. Appears in your "My conversations" view.
- Claimed by another agent. Someone else is on it.
Claim prevents collision: two agents typing replies to the same customer in parallel.
How to claim
Two paths.
Click Claim. Use the Claim button on an unassigned conversation in the inbox list, or the Take over button in the conversation header. One click.
Command palette. Press Cmd/Ctrl+K and choose Take over (pause AI).
What happens after claiming
- The conversation moves from "Unclaimed" to "My conversations".
- Other agents see you as the assignee. They can still view but not reply (UI shows a warning).
- Notifications target you. Customer's next reply pings you specifically.
- SLA clock applies to you (your average response time tracks).
If another agent needs to take over, they can either reassign (with your permission) or you release.
Releasing a claim
Three reasons to release:
- Ending your shift. Release so the next agent can pick up.
- Realizing you're not the right person. Engineer claimed by mistake; needs to go to a billing agent.
- Customer didn't reply. After a long wait, release to free the slot.
To release:
- Open the conversation.
- Click "Release" (next to your name in the assignee field).
- Confirm.
- Conversation returns to "Unclaimed".
Reassign to another agent
Instead of releasing, assign directly to a teammate:
- Click the assignee dropdown.
- Pick a team member.
- Optionally add a note explaining the handoff context.
- Confirm.
The new assignee gets a notification with the conversation link and your handoff note.
Auto-routing on claim
When you claim a conversation:
- The customer doesn't see who claimed. From their side, the conversation continues without disruption.
- Bot replies pause if your team uses the "Pause bot on human claim" setting. The bot won't reply until you explicitly hand back.
- Internal notes still allowed from anyone on the team for context-sharing.
Pause-on-claim is the default. Toggle under Workspace Settings > Bot Behavior.
Handing a chat back to the AI
Rolling out (not yet switched on): Resume AI hands the conversation back to your AI assistant in the same thread. Before it does, the Help Desk asks you to confirm, because it unassigns the agent and the assistant replies to the customer from then on. The customer is told: in the website widget they see that the agent left and that they're back with the AI assistant, and on WhatsApp, Telegram and Intercom they get one short message, "You're now chatting with our AI assistant again." SMS, email and API conversations get no message. If a teammate hands back a chat that was assigned to you, you get a notification that links to it. Each hand-back is recorded in the audit log.
Rolling out (not yet switched on): only the agent a chat is assigned to can resume the AI on it today. Workspace owners and admins will also be able to hand a teammate's chat back to the AI. The Help Desk names the teammate being unassigned and asks you to confirm first, and that teammate gets a notification that links to the chat. Members and other roles still can't resume the AI on a chat assigned to someone else.
Claim many at once
At shift start, filter the inbox to unclaimed conversations, select the ones you will take (up to 200), and choose Assign to me from the bulk actions. Take only what you can handle, so teammates can pick up the rest.
API access
There is no public API for claiming today. An API key can't claim or release a conversation. Claims are made from the Help Desk inbox.
When two agents claim at once
Only one claim succeeds. The second agent gets a "claimed by another agent" message and the conversation stays with whoever got there first. There is no stale-claim timer: a claimed conversation stays with its agent until they release it, reassign it or resolve it.
Limits
- Plan. Growth and above, where the live chat inbox is included.
- Bulk actions. Up to 200 conversations per action.
Common pitfalls
Customer reply not notifying me. Notification settings off. Check Settings > Notifications > Conversation activity.
Conversation re-appears in unclaimed despite my claim. A teammate or an admin reassigned or released it. Check the conversation's activity.
Can't claim a conversation. Someone else already holds it, or your plan is below Growth.
Two agents both think they claimed. Only one did; the other's screen is out of date. Refresh to see who holds it.
FAQ
Can the bot claim conversations?
No. The bot operates without claim; "claim" is a human-agent concept. The bot handles unclaimed conversations until a skill or rule escalates.
Can I claim while the bot is replying?
Yes. Claim suspends bot replies on the next turn (if pause-on-claim is enabled). The bot's in-flight reply still sends.
What if I claim and the customer doesn't reply for a week?
The conversation sits in your queue until either: customer replies, you release, or auto-resolve fires for stale conversations.
Can I claim from Slack?
No. Notifications link to the conversation, and you claim it in the inbox.
Is claim across channels (one customer on widget + WhatsApp)?
Conversations are channel-scoped, but the contact is unified. You claim per conversation, not per contact.