Which Zendesk content does AskVault import?

Help Center articles: each article's title and body text. Tickets, comments, community posts and attachments are not imported.

Does AskVault keep Zendesk articles in sync?

No. It's a one-time import. Run the import again to pick up new and edited articles. Articles you delete in Zendesk stay in AskVault until you delete them in the Knowledge page.

Does AskVault store my Zendesk API token?

No. The email and API token are used for the import you run and are not stored, so each import asks for them again.

Ingest knowledge from Zendesk

Written by Joseph Russo, Principal Architect, Networks and Tech, AskVault · Reviewed by Allison Chan

Last updated: September 26, 2026 · 3 min read

What gets imported

Help Center articles: the title and the body text of each article.
Each article becomes its own source in the Knowledge page, and answers cite the article's Help Center link.

What's not imported:

Tickets and ticket comments.
Community posts, attachments and images.
Articles with almost no text.

The import reads articles through Zendesk's Help Center API with the account you enter, so what it can see depends on that account's access. Check the imported list in the Knowledge page and delete anything you don't want your agent to use, or set it to internal.

Setup

In Zendesk Admin Center, open the Zendesk API settings, turn on token access and create an API token.
In AskVault, open Knowledge > Add Source > Zendesk.
Enter your Zendesk email, the API token, and your subdomain (the part before .zendesk.com).
Set how many articles to import (1 to 500; 100 by default) and click Import Articles.

Your email and token are used for this import only and are not stored.

Refreshing content

There is no background sync:

Run the import again to pick up new and edited articles. Articles are matched by their Help Center link, so unchanged ones are left alone and changed ones are re-indexed.
Deleted or archived articles are not removed automatically. Delete them in the Knowledge page.
Don't use Resync on this import. Resync all (and Resync selected or Force Resync on an imported row) re-reads imported sources as if they were public web pages. That can mark them as needing attention, or replace the imported text with whatever the public page shows. Run the import again instead, and when you resync website pages, select them and use Resync selected.

Audience

Imported articles default to public. Set a source's audience to internal to keep it out of the public chatbot.

Limits

Articles per import. 500 (100 by default).
Plan. Business and above.
Sync. None; re-run the import to refresh.
Languages and brands. Articles are imported as the API returns them; there's no language or brand selection.

Common pitfalls

"Zendesk authentication failed." Check the subdomain, that the email matches the account the token belongs to, and that token access is turned on in Zendesk.

"Couldn't reach yourname.zendesk.com. Check your Zendesk subdomain." AskVault couldn't look up that address, so it never contacted Zendesk. Re-enter the subdomain exactly as it appears in your Help Center's address, the part before .zendesk.com, and try again. In the dashboard this shows as a general import error; the full message is returned by the API.

"Zendesk API error: 404" (or another number). Zendesk answered the request with that error status. A 404 usually means there is no Help Center at that subdomain, so check it for a typo first.

"No readable articles found." The account can't see any articles, or the Help Center is empty.

Stale answers after editing in Zendesk. Run the import again.

FAQ

Does this require Zendesk Guide?

Yes. Without a Help Center there are no articles to import.

Does this connect to my Zendesk tickets?

No. This page is about importing Help Center articles as knowledge. There's no Zendesk ticket handoff today; conversations that need a person go to AskVault's Live Chat inbox.

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