Zendesk integration

Overview

Zendesk Support / ITSM is the dominant customer-support ticketing platform. The Automize Zendesk connector covers tickets, users, organizations, comments, attachments, search, and satisfaction ratings.

• Regions: Each Zendesk account has its own sub-domain (e.g. yourcompany.zendesk.com). The connector uses your sub-domain on every call – pick it at connection time.
• Plans: Team, Growth, Professional, Enterprise – all expose the API. Some features (custom objects, Sunshine APIs) need Suite Professional or above.

Setting up the connection

Auth type: HTTP Basic.

1. Sign in to Zendesk Admin Center → Apps and integrations → APIs → Zendesk API.
2. Enable Token Access if it isn't already, then create an API token.
3. Copy the token. Username for the connection is the agent's email + '/token' suffix (e.g. alice@example.com/token).
4. In Automize, open Settings → Connectors → Zendesk → Add connection. Enter sub-domain, username (email/token), and password (the API token).

Find your credentials at https://yourcompany.zendesk.com/agent/admin/api/settings.

Rate limits

Zendesk enforces per-endpoint rate limits (typically 200–700/min depending on plan). The connector reads X-Rate-Limit-Remaining headers and pauses near the limit. For bulk operations use Job Status endpoint (not yet exposed) and incremental exports for full sync.

Data model

Support primitives:

    Organization ─┬─ Users (end-users + agents)
                  └─ Tickets ─┬─ Comments (public + internal)
                              ├─ Attachments
                              ├─ Tags
                              └─ Custom Fields
    Groups ── Agents (assignment groups)
    Brands (multi-brand accounts)
    Macros / Triggers / Automations (workflow rules)

Available operations

20 operations available. Click any row to jump to its detail.

Operations

Add ticket comment

Add a comment to a Zendesk ticket.

Create ticket

Create a Zendesk ticket.

Tips

• subject + comment.body required. requester: existing user_id OR {name, email} to create.
• priority: low / normal / high / urgent. type: question, incident, problem, task.

Create user

Create a Zendesk user.

Tips

• name + email + role required. verified=true to skip the verification email.

Delete ticket

Delete a Zendesk ticket.

Execute View

Execute a view and get matching tickets

Get ticket

Get a Zendesk ticket by ID.

Tips

• ticket_id (numeric). Returns ticket + requester + assignee + tags.

Get user

Get a Zendesk user by ID.

Tips

• user_id, email (via search), or external_id.

List groups

List Zendesk support groups.

No input parameters.

Tips

• Agent groups (assignment buckets). Use to route tickets via Update Ticket group_id.

List organizations

List Zendesk organizations.

No input parameters.

Tips

• Used for grouping users by company. Filter by external_id.

List ticket comments

List comments on a Zendesk ticket.

Tips

• Returns comments oldest first. Include public + internal (private).

List ticket fields

List Zendesk ticket fields.

No input parameters.

List ticket tags

List tags on a Zendesk ticket.

List tickets

List Zendesk tickets.

No input parameters.

Tips

• By default returns all tickets. Heavy – use Search Tickets for filtering.
• Use Incremental Tickets for sync (sorted by updated_at) – much faster than re-listing.

List users

List Zendesk users.

No input parameters.

Tips

• All users (end-users + agents). Filter by role: end-user, agent, admin.

List views

List Zendesk views.

No input parameters.

Search

Search across Zendesk tickets, users, and organizations.

No input parameters.

Tips

• Zendesk's unified search. query syntax: 'type:ticket status:open priority:high'.
• Use Search Tickets for ticket-specific filters.

Set ticket tags

Set tags on a Zendesk ticket.

Update ticket

Update a Zendesk ticket.

Tips

• PUT-style. To add a comment, send comment:{body, public}. status transitions: new → open → pending → solved → closed.

Update User

Update an existing user

Tips

• PUT-style. Set role=agent to promote an end-user (admin-only).

Upload attachment

Upload an attachment for use with Zendesk tickets.

No input parameters.

FAQ

API token vs OAuth vs password – which?

Token (with /token suffix on the username) is the recommended path for automation – same as API key in other systems, but you log in as an agent. OAuth is available but requires app registration. Password (no /token suffix) works for single-user automation but breaks if 2FA is enabled.

Why are comments showing as public when I wanted internal?

Default is public:true. Set comment.public=false on Update Ticket to make it an internal note (visible only to agents).

Sandboxes – how?

Suite Enterprise plans get a sandbox sub-domain (yourcompany-sandbox.zendesk.com). Create a separate Automize Zendesk connection for it.

Status flow – what does 'solved' vs 'closed' mean?

Solved = resolved, requester can re-open. Closed = locked, irreversible. Zendesk auto-closes solved tickets after a configurable period (default 28 days).

Related connectors

• Intercom
• Freshdesk
• Jira