Routing Settings

You can use this API to get or modify chat routing settings. For more information, see Setting up chat routing in the Chat Help Center.

JSON Format

Account Routing Setting Payload

Account-level routing settings are represented as a nested JSON object.

Field Name	Type	Read-only	Description
routing_mode	string	no	Routing mode of the account. Possible values: "broadcast", "assigned" or "hybrid"
chat_limit	object	no	See Chat limit property
skill_routing	object	no	See Skill routing property
reassignment	object	no	See Reassignment property
auto_idle	object	no	See Auto idle property
auto_accept	object	no	See Auto accept property

Chat limit property

Field Name	Type	Read-only	Description
enabled	boolean	no	Enable chat limit
limit	integer	no	Number of concurrent chats each agent can take at once. Possible values: Integers from 0 to 20
limit_type	string	no	The scope to which the chat limit is applied to. When set to "agent", each agent will have their own individual chat limit. Possible values: "account" or "agent"
allow_agent_override	boolean	no	Allow each agent to set their own chat limit under Personal settings

Skill routing property

Field Name	Type	Read-only	Description
enabled	boolean	no	Enable skill routing
max_wait_time	integer	no	Maximum time in seconds to wait before assigning the chat to an agent with matching skills. Only applicable if routing_mode is not "broadcast" and skill_routing.enabled is true. Possible values: Integers from 5 to 300

Reassignment property

Field Name	Type	Read-only	Description
enabled	boolean	no	Enable reassignment
timeout	integer	no	Time (in seconds) with no response before a chat is assigned to another agent. Possible values: Integers from 10 to 120

Auto idle property

Field Name	Type	Read-only	Description
enabled	boolean	no	Enable automatic idle
reassignments_before_idle	integer	no	Number of chats reassigned before the agent's status is changed. Possible values: Integers from 1 to 20
new_status	string	no	Status when being idle. Possible values: "away" or "invisible"

Auto accept property

Field Name	Type	Read-only	Description
enabled	boolean	no	Enable auto accept. This property is applicable only if the account has Agent Workspace enabled

Example payload:

{
  "routing_mode": "broadcast",
  "chat_limit": {
    "limit": 3,
    "enabled": false,
    "allow_agent_override": false,
    "limit_type": "account"
  },
  "auto_accept": {
    "enabled": false
  },
  "auto_idle": {
    "enabled": true,
    "reassignments_before_idle": 3,
    "new_status": "away"
  },
  "skill_routing": {
    "enabled": true,
    "max_wait_time": 30
  },
  "reassignment": {
    "enabled": false,
    "timeout": 30
  }
}

Agent Routing Setting Payload

Agent-level routing settings are represented as a nested JSON object.

Field Name	Type	Read-only	Description
skills	array/object	no	Skill IDs assigned to the agent. See skills property
routing	object	no	See Routing property

Routing property

Field Name	Type	Read-only	Description
chat_limit	integer	no	Agent's chat limit if account's chat_limit.limit_type is "agent" or chat_limit.allow_agent_override is true. Possible values: Integers from 0 to 20

Example payload:

{
  "skills": [1, 2, 3],
  "routing": {
    "chat_limit": 3
  }
}

skills property

With agent routing settings, you can update agents' skills incrementally so you have more flexibility when adding or removing skills.

The API always returns skills as an array of skill IDs as integers. Example:

{
  "skills": [1, 2, 3],
  "routing": {
    "chat_limit": 3
  }
}

To replace all existing skills of an agent with a new set of skill ids, provide a skills array of skill IDs in the request payload.

For example, the payload below will remove all existing skills and set skill IDs to be 1, 2 and 3.

{
  "skills": [1, 2, 3]
}

To add to or remove skills from an agent's existing skills, you can provide skills as an object. Use skill IDs as keys (see the Skills API for instructions on how to fetch skill IDs). Provide true as the value if you want to add the skill ID to the existing skills or null if you want to remove the skill ID.

The following example adds one skill and removes another.

Existing skills:

{
  "skills": [1, 2, 3]
}

The following payload adds the skill with ID 5 and removes the skill with ID 3 from the existing skills:

{
  "skills": {
    "5": true,
    "3": null
  }
}

Updated skills:

{
  "skills": [1, 2, 5]
}

Show Account Routing Settings

• GET /api/v2/chat/routing_settings/account

Gets the routing settings of the account.

Allowed for

• Agent

Code Samples

curl

curl https://{subdomain}.zendesk.com/api/v2/chat/routing_settings/account \
  -v -H "Authorization: Bearer {token}"

Go

import (
	"fmt"
	"io"
	"net/http"
)

func main() {
	url := "https://subdomain.zendesk.com/api/v2/chat/routing_settings/account"
	method := "GET"
	req, err := http.NewRequest(method, url, nil)

	if err != nil {
		fmt.Println(err)
		return
	}
	req.Header.Add("Content-Type", "application/json")

	client := &http.Client {}
	res, err := client.Do(req)
	if err != nil {
		fmt.Println(err)
		return
	}
	defer res.Body.Close()

	body, err := io.ReadAll(res.Body)
	if err != nil {
		fmt.Println(err)
		return
	}
	fmt.Println(string(body))
}

Java

import com.squareup.okhttp.*;
OkHttpClient client = new OkHttpClient();
HttpUrl.Builder urlBuilder = HttpUrl.parse("https://subdomain.zendesk.com/api/v2/chat/routing_settings/account")
		.newBuilder();

Request request = new Request.Builder()
		.url(urlBuilder.build())
		.method("GET", null)
		.addHeader("Content-Type", "application/json")
		.build();
Response response = client.newCall(request).execute();

Nodejs

var axios = require('axios');

var config = {
  method: 'GET',
  url: 'https://subdomain.zendesk.com/api/v2/chat/routing_settings/account',
  headers: {
	'Content-Type': 'application/json',
  },
};

axios(config)
.then(function (response) {
  console.log(JSON.stringify(response.data));
})
.catch(function (error) {
  console.log(error);
});

Python

import requests

url = "https://subdomain.zendesk.com/api/v2/chat/routing_settings/account"
headers = {
	"Content-Type": "application/json",
}

response = requests.request(
	"GET",
	url,
	headers=headers
)

print(response.text)

Ruby

require "net/http"
uri = URI("https://subdomain.zendesk.com/api/v2/chat/routing_settings/account")
request = Net::HTTP::Get.new(uri, "Content-Type": "application/json")
response = Net::HTTP.start uri.hostname, uri.port, use_ssl: true do |http|
	http.request(request)
end

Example response(s)

200 OK

// Status 200 OK

{
  "data": {
    "auto_accept": {
      "enabled": false
    },
    "auto_idle": {
      "enabled": true,
      "new_status": "away",
      "reassignments_before_idle": 3
    },
    "chat_limit": {
      "allow_agent_override": false,
      "enabled": false,
      "limit": 3,
      "limit_type": "account"
    },
    "reassignment": {
      "enabled": false,
      "timeout": 30
    },
    "routing_mode": "broadcast",
    "skill_routing": {
      "enabled": true,
      "max_wait_time": 30
    }
  }
}

Update Account Routing Settings

• PATCH /api/v2/chat/routing_settings/account

Updates the routing settings of the account. You may include only the fields you want to modify. Absent fields will not be changed.

Auto accept can't be enabled in broadcast routing mode, when reassignment is enabled, or auto idle is enabled.

Allowed for

• Administrator

Code Samples

curl

curl https://{subdomain}.zendesk.com/api/v2/chat/routing_settings/account \
  -d '{
    "routing_mode": "broadcast",
    "chat_limit": {
      "enabled": true
    },
    "reassignment": {
      "enabled": true,
      "timeout": 60
    }
  }' \
  -v -H "Authorization: Bearer {token}" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" -X PATCH

Go

import (
	"fmt"
	"io"
	"net/http"
)

func main() {
	url := "https://subdomain.zendesk.com/api/v2/chat/routing_settings/account"
	method := "PATCH"
	req, err := http.NewRequest(method, url, nil)

	if err != nil {
		fmt.Println(err)
		return
	}
	req.Header.Add("Content-Type", "application/json")

	client := &http.Client {}
	res, err := client.Do(req)
	if err != nil {
		fmt.Println(err)
		return
	}
	defer res.Body.Close()

	body, err := io.ReadAll(res.Body)
	if err != nil {
		fmt.Println(err)
		return
	}
	fmt.Println(string(body))
}

Java

import com.squareup.okhttp.*;
OkHttpClient client = new OkHttpClient();
HttpUrl.Builder urlBuilder = HttpUrl.parse("https://subdomain.zendesk.com/api/v2/chat/routing_settings/account")
		.newBuilder();
RequestBody body = RequestBody.create(MediaType.parse("application/json"),
		"""
""");

Request request = new Request.Builder()
		.url(urlBuilder.build())
		.method("PATCH", body)
		.addHeader("Content-Type", "application/json")
		.build();
Response response = client.newCall(request).execute();

Nodejs

var axios = require('axios');

var config = {
  method: 'PATCH',
  url: 'https://subdomain.zendesk.com/api/v2/chat/routing_settings/account',
  headers: {
	'Content-Type': 'application/json',
  },
};

axios(config)
.then(function (response) {
  console.log(JSON.stringify(response.data));
})
.catch(function (error) {
  console.log(error);
});

Python

import requests

url = "https://subdomain.zendesk.com/api/v2/chat/routing_settings/account"
headers = {
	"Content-Type": "application/json",
}

response = requests.request(
	"PATCH",
	url,
	headers=headers
)

print(response.text)

Ruby

require "net/http"
uri = URI("https://subdomain.zendesk.com/api/v2/chat/routing_settings/account")
request = Net::HTTP::Patch.new(uri, "Content-Type": "application/json")
response = Net::HTTP.start uri.hostname, uri.port, use_ssl: true do |http|
	http.request(request)
end

Example response(s)

200 OK

// Status 200 OK

{
  "data": {
    "auto_accept": {
      "enabled": false
    },
    "auto_idle": {
      "enabled": true,
      "new_status": "away",
      "reassignments_before_idle": 3
    },
    "chat_limit": {
      "allow_agent_override": false,
      "enabled": true,
      "limit": 3,
      "limit_type": "account"
    },
    "reassignment": {
      "enabled": true,
      "timeout": 60
    },
    "routing_mode": "broadcast",
    "skill_routing": {
      "enabled": true,
      "max_wait_time": 30
    }
  }
}

List Agents' Routing Settings

• GET /api/v2/chat/routing_settings/agents

Gets the routing settings of all agents.

Pagination

This endpoint uses cursor-based pagination. See Pagination in List Agents.

Allowed for

• Agent

Parameters

Name	Type	In	Required	Description
limit	integer	Query	false	Number of records that will be returned by the endpoint. Default to 10.
max_id	integer	Query	false	Use the max_id parameter to paginate backward through the recordset
since_id	integer	Query	false	Use the since_id parameter to paginate forward through the recordset

Code Samples

curl

curl https://{subdomain}.zendesk.com/api/v2/chat/routing_settings/agents \
  -v -H "Authorization: Bearer {token}"

Go

import (
	"fmt"
	"io"
	"net/http"
)

func main() {
	url := "https://subdomain.zendesk.com/api/v2/chat/routing_settings/agents?limit=20&max_id=20&since_id=10"
	method := "GET"
	req, err := http.NewRequest(method, url, nil)

	if err != nil {
		fmt.Println(err)
		return
	}
	req.Header.Add("Content-Type", "application/json")

	client := &http.Client {}
	res, err := client.Do(req)
	if err != nil {
		fmt.Println(err)
		return
	}
	defer res.Body.Close()

	body, err := io.ReadAll(res.Body)
	if err != nil {
		fmt.Println(err)
		return
	}
	fmt.Println(string(body))
}

Java

import com.squareup.okhttp.*;
OkHttpClient client = new OkHttpClient();
HttpUrl.Builder urlBuilder = HttpUrl.parse("https://subdomain.zendesk.com/api/v2/chat/routing_settings/agents")
		.newBuilder()
		.addQueryParameter("limit", "20")
		.addQueryParameter("max_id", "20")
		.addQueryParameter("since_id", "10");

Request request = new Request.Builder()
		.url(urlBuilder.build())
		.method("GET", null)
		.addHeader("Content-Type", "application/json")
		.build();
Response response = client.newCall(request).execute();

Nodejs

var axios = require('axios');

var config = {
  method: 'GET',
  url: 'https://subdomain.zendesk.com/api/v2/chat/routing_settings/agents',
  headers: {
	'Content-Type': 'application/json',
  },
  params: {
    'limit': '20',
    'max_id': '20',
    'since_id': '10',
  },
};

axios(config)
.then(function (response) {
  console.log(JSON.stringify(response.data));
})
.catch(function (error) {
  console.log(error);
});

Python

import requests

url = "https://subdomain.zendesk.com/api/v2/chat/routing_settings/agents?limit=20&max_id=20&since_id=10"
headers = {
	"Content-Type": "application/json",
}

response = requests.request(
	"GET",
	url,
	headers=headers
)

print(response.text)

Ruby

require "net/http"
uri = URI("https://subdomain.zendesk.com/api/v2/chat/routing_settings/agents")
uri.query = URI.encode_www_form("limit": "20", "max_id": "20", "since_id": "10")
request = Net::HTTP::Get.new(uri, "Content-Type": "application/json")
response = Net::HTTP.start uri.hostname, uri.port, use_ssl: true do |http|
	http.request(request)
end

Example response(s)

200 OK

// Status 200 OK

{
  "data": {
    "19174": {
      "routing": {
        "chat_limit": 3
      },
      "skills": [
        1,
        2,
        3
      ]
    },
    "19175": {
      "routing": {
        "chat_limit": 5
      },
      "skills": [
        5,
        6
      ]
    }
  }
}

Show Agent Routing Settings

• GET /api/v2/chat/routing_settings/agents/{agent_id}
• GET /api/v2/chat/routing_settings/agents/me

Gets the routing settings of an agent. An authenticated agent can get their own settings by replacing {agent_id} with me.

Allowed for

• Agent

Parameters

Name	Type	In	Required	Description
agent_id	integer	Path	true	The ID of the agent

Code Samples

curl

curl https://{subdomain}.zendesk.com/api/v2/chat/routing_settings/agents/{agent_id} \
  -v -H "Authorization: Bearer {token}"

Go

import (
	"fmt"
	"io"
	"net/http"
)

func main() {
	url := "https://subdomain.zendesk.com/api/v2/chat/routing_settings/agents/1"
	method := "GET"
	req, err := http.NewRequest(method, url, nil)

	if err != nil {
		fmt.Println(err)
		return
	}
	req.Header.Add("Content-Type", "application/json")

	client := &http.Client {}
	res, err := client.Do(req)
	if err != nil {
		fmt.Println(err)
		return
	}
	defer res.Body.Close()

	body, err := io.ReadAll(res.Body)
	if err != nil {
		fmt.Println(err)
		return
	}
	fmt.Println(string(body))
}

Java

import com.squareup.okhttp.*;
OkHttpClient client = new OkHttpClient();
HttpUrl.Builder urlBuilder = HttpUrl.parse("https://subdomain.zendesk.com/api/v2/chat/routing_settings/agents/1")
		.newBuilder();

Request request = new Request.Builder()
		.url(urlBuilder.build())
		.method("GET", null)
		.addHeader("Content-Type", "application/json")
		.build();
Response response = client.newCall(request).execute();

Nodejs

var axios = require('axios');

var config = {
  method: 'GET',
  url: 'https://subdomain.zendesk.com/api/v2/chat/routing_settings/agents/1',
  headers: {
	'Content-Type': 'application/json',
  },
};

axios(config)
.then(function (response) {
  console.log(JSON.stringify(response.data));
})
.catch(function (error) {
  console.log(error);
});

Python

import requests

url = "https://subdomain.zendesk.com/api/v2/chat/routing_settings/agents/1"
headers = {
	"Content-Type": "application/json",
}

response = requests.request(
	"GET",
	url,
	headers=headers
)

print(response.text)

Ruby

require "net/http"
uri = URI("https://subdomain.zendesk.com/api/v2/chat/routing_settings/agents/1")
request = Net::HTTP::Get.new(uri, "Content-Type": "application/json")
response = Net::HTTP.start uri.hostname, uri.port, use_ssl: true do |http|
	http.request(request)
end

Example response(s)

200 OK

// Status 200 OK

{
  "data": {
    "routing": {
      "chat_limit": 3
    },
    "skills": [
      1,
      2,
      3
    ]
  }
}

Update Agent Routing Settings

• PATCH /api/v2/chat/routing_settings/agents/{agent_id}
• PATCH /api/v2/chat/routing_settings/agents/me

Updates the routing settings of an agent. An authenticated agent can update their own settings by replacing {agent_id} with me.

Allowed for

• Administrator
• Agent (using /me)

Parameters

Name	Type	In	Required	Description
agent_id	integer	Path	true	The ID of the agent

Code Samples

curl

curl https://{subdomain}.zendesk.com/api/v2/chat/routing_settings/agents/{agent_id} \
  -d '{
    "skills": [5, 6],
    "routing": {
      "chat_limit": 5
    }
  }' \
  -v -H "Authorization: Bearer {token}" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" -X PATCH

Go

import (
	"fmt"
	"io"
	"net/http"
)

func main() {
	url := "https://subdomain.zendesk.com/api/v2/chat/routing_settings/agents/1"
	method := "PATCH"
	req, err := http.NewRequest(method, url, nil)

	if err != nil {
		fmt.Println(err)
		return
	}
	req.Header.Add("Content-Type", "application/json")

	client := &http.Client {}
	res, err := client.Do(req)
	if err != nil {
		fmt.Println(err)
		return
	}
	defer res.Body.Close()

	body, err := io.ReadAll(res.Body)
	if err != nil {
		fmt.Println(err)
		return
	}
	fmt.Println(string(body))
}

Java

import com.squareup.okhttp.*;
OkHttpClient client = new OkHttpClient();
HttpUrl.Builder urlBuilder = HttpUrl.parse("https://subdomain.zendesk.com/api/v2/chat/routing_settings/agents/1")
		.newBuilder();
RequestBody body = RequestBody.create(MediaType.parse("application/json"),
		"""
""");

Request request = new Request.Builder()
		.url(urlBuilder.build())
		.method("PATCH", body)
		.addHeader("Content-Type", "application/json")
		.build();
Response response = client.newCall(request).execute();

Nodejs

var axios = require('axios');

var config = {
  method: 'PATCH',
  url: 'https://subdomain.zendesk.com/api/v2/chat/routing_settings/agents/1',
  headers: {
	'Content-Type': 'application/json',
  },
};

axios(config)
.then(function (response) {
  console.log(JSON.stringify(response.data));
})
.catch(function (error) {
  console.log(error);
});

Python

import requests

url = "https://subdomain.zendesk.com/api/v2/chat/routing_settings/agents/1"
headers = {
	"Content-Type": "application/json",
}

response = requests.request(
	"PATCH",
	url,
	headers=headers
)

print(response.text)

Ruby

require "net/http"
uri = URI("https://subdomain.zendesk.com/api/v2/chat/routing_settings/agents/1")
request = Net::HTTP::Patch.new(uri, "Content-Type": "application/json")
response = Net::HTTP.start uri.hostname, uri.port, use_ssl: true do |http|
	http.request(request)
end

Example response(s)

200 OK

// Status 200 OK

{
  "data": {
    "routing": {
      "chat_limit": 5
    },
    "skills": [
      5,
      6
    ]
  }
}

Batch Update Routing Settings for Multiple Agents

• PATCH /api/v2/chat/routing_settings/agents

Batch updates the routing settings for multiple agents.

The payload must be an object with agent IDs as keys and the agent settings updates as values. You may include only the fields you want to modify in the settings update. Absent fields will not be changed.

Rate Limit

This API has a different rate limit. When batch updating agents, every 5 agents in the request body count as 1 request for the purpose of rate limiting. Please adjust the number of agents in one request to avoid getting rate limited.

Example:

Number of agents in one batch	Request count
2 agents	1
5 agents	1
6 agents	2
51 agents	11

Allowed for

• Administrator

Code Samples

curl

curl https://{subdomain}.zendesk.com/api/v2/chat/routing_settings/agents \
  -d '{
    "19174": {
      skills: [8, 9]
    },
    "19175": {
      "routing": {
        "chat_limit": 7
      }
    }
  }' \
  -v -H "Authorization: Bearer {token}" \
  -X PATCH -H "Content-Type: application/json"

Go

import (
	"fmt"
	"io"
	"net/http"
)

func main() {
	url := "https://subdomain.zendesk.com/api/v2/chat/routing_settings/agents"
	method := "PATCH"
	req, err := http.NewRequest(method, url, nil)

	if err != nil {
		fmt.Println(err)
		return
	}
	req.Header.Add("Content-Type", "application/json")

	client := &http.Client {}
	res, err := client.Do(req)
	if err != nil {
		fmt.Println(err)
		return
	}
	defer res.Body.Close()

	body, err := io.ReadAll(res.Body)
	if err != nil {
		fmt.Println(err)
		return
	}
	fmt.Println(string(body))
}

Java

import com.squareup.okhttp.*;
OkHttpClient client = new OkHttpClient();
HttpUrl.Builder urlBuilder = HttpUrl.parse("https://subdomain.zendesk.com/api/v2/chat/routing_settings/agents")
		.newBuilder();
RequestBody body = RequestBody.create(MediaType.parse("application/json"),
		"""
""");

Request request = new Request.Builder()
		.url(urlBuilder.build())
		.method("PATCH", body)
		.addHeader("Content-Type", "application/json")
		.build();
Response response = client.newCall(request).execute();

Nodejs

var axios = require('axios');

var config = {
  method: 'PATCH',
  url: 'https://subdomain.zendesk.com/api/v2/chat/routing_settings/agents',
  headers: {
	'Content-Type': 'application/json',
  },
};

axios(config)
.then(function (response) {
  console.log(JSON.stringify(response.data));
})
.catch(function (error) {
  console.log(error);
});

Python

import requests

url = "https://subdomain.zendesk.com/api/v2/chat/routing_settings/agents"
headers = {
	"Content-Type": "application/json",
}

response = requests.request(
	"PATCH",
	url,
	headers=headers
)

print(response.text)

Ruby

require "net/http"
uri = URI("https://subdomain.zendesk.com/api/v2/chat/routing_settings/agents")
request = Net::HTTP::Patch.new(uri, "Content-Type": "application/json")
response = Net::HTTP.start uri.hostname, uri.port, use_ssl: true do |http|
	http.request(request)
end

Example response(s)

200 OK

// Status 200 OK

{
  "data": {
    "19174": {
      "routing": {
        "chat_limit": 3
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}