How to Connect Zendesk with Konvo
Deploy your AI as a Zendesk agent and bring WhatsApp escalations into your existing support workflow.
Konvo’s Zendesk integration lets you deploy your AI directly inside Zendesk, where it works like any other agent on your team — responding to tickets across Live Chat, email, and WhatsApp. When a WhatsApp conversation needs a human, Konvo sends it to Zendesk as a new ticket, no extra steps required.
What Zendesk Unlocks
Deploy Konvo AI as a Zendesk agent, handling tickets across Live Chat, email, and WhatsApp
Automatically escalate WhatsApp conversations to your Zendesk queue when a human is needed
Track AI-managed conversations through dedicated Zendesk tags
Keep your team in Zendesk — the AI fits into their existing workflow
What You'll Need
A Zendesk account on a plan that includes Sunshine Conversations API — this integration requires it (verify with your Zendesk account manager if unsure)
Zendesk admin access to create API credentials
Connecting Zendesk
Step 1: Start the connection
Go to Settings → Integrations and click Connect next to Zendesk. Enter your full Zendesk URL (e.g. yourcompany.zendesk.com) and click Connect. You’ll be redirected back to your Konvo profile page.
📸 [Image: Screenshot of Zendesk integration connection field]
Step 2: Create an API key in Zendesk
In Zendesk, go to Settings → Apps and integrations → APIs → Conversations API. Click Create API key, give it a name (e.g. “Konvo”), and click Next.
Zendesk will show you three values:
App ID — identifies your Zendesk account
Key ID — identifies the API user
Secret Key — used for authentication
⚠️ The Secret Key is only shown once. Copy all three values to a secure location (password manager or secure note) immediately — you cannot retrieve the Secret Key again after closing this screen.
📸 [Image: Screenshot of Zendesk API key creation showing the three values]
Step 3: Enter credentials in Konvo
Back in Konvo, go to Settings → Integrations → Zendesk → Enable messaging. Paste each value into its corresponding field:
App ID → App ID from Zendesk
API Key → Key ID from Zendesk (Konvo’s field is labelled “API Key” but corresponds to Zendesk’s “Key ID”)
Secret Key → Secret Key from Zendesk
📸 [Image: Screenshot of Konvo’s Enable messaging form with three credential fields]
Step 4: Confirm activation
Once you save, the Enable messaging section will show a checkmark — your integration is active.
📸 [Image: Screenshot showing Enable messaging checkmark]
💡 Tip: Save your API credentials in a password manager before clicking away from Zendesk. If you lose the Secret Key, you’ll need to create a new API key from scratch and re-enter all three values in Konvo.
Step 5: Deploy the AI
Go to Deploy inside your Konvo AI configuration and enable the Zendesk deployment option. Your AI will begin responding to Zendesk tickets across all your active channels.
📸 [Image: Screenshot of Deploy section showing Zendesk toggle]
What Gets Synced
Once connected, Konvo and Zendesk exchange ticket data in both directions. Tickets in Zendesk are available to the AI, which responds as a team member from within the platform. WhatsApp escalations from Konvo arrive as new Zendesk tickets. Conversation tags are written to every ticket the AI touches.
What makes this powerful is that your human agents work exactly as they always have in Zendesk — the AI simply adds capacity alongside them, on the same tickets, in the same view.
What Your AI Can Do
Respond to Zendesk tickets across Live Chat, email, and WhatsApp
Escalate conversations to human agents when it can’t resolve them
Tag every conversation it handles so your team can monitor its performance
Close tickets it resolves without any human involvement
How Konvo AI Uses Tags in Zendesk
Konvo manages conversations using three tags that mirror the Konvo inbox structure:
konvo_automated — Applied to every conversation the AI is actively handling. The AI is on it — no action needed.
konvo_unresolved — Applied when the AI escalates to a human. These need your team’s attention.
konvo_resolved — Applied when the AI closes a conversation without human help. Done.
Recommended Zendesk views to set up:
AI Handling — filter by
konvo_automatedNeeds Human Attention — filter by
konvo_unresolved(your escalation queue)AI Resolved — filter by
konvo_resolved(closed by AI)
These three views give your team instant visibility into what the AI is handling versus what needs a human — without any manual triaging.
Managing Your Integration
Configure — Go to Settings → Integrations → Zendesk → Settings → Configure to toggle WhatsApp conversation syncing. When enabled, open WhatsApp conversations are sent to Zendesk as tickets.
Disconnect — From the same settings screen, click Disconnect to remove the integration from both platforms.
✅ Done! Your AI is now active inside Zendesk — responding to tickets, tagging conversations, and escalating to your team when it needs to.