Before you start configuring, we recommend checking out our article on the overall logic of automation rules in Deskie or watching the quick video guide on rules.
Task: hand off first-line communication to the AI assistant
When a customer reaches out to support, the AI assistant jumps in first to handle their message. If the customer needs to speak with a human, they have clear instructions on how to request an agent, and when they do, a support specialist joins the conversation. Plus, if the AI runs into an error or can’t resolve the issue, a human agent steps in automatically. After the human interaction, if further AI assistance is needed, the case can easily be handed back to the assistant.
The flowchart outlines how the rules trigger this handoff process. To get everything running smoothly, you’ll need to set up 6 rules: 1 for new cases, 4 for updated cases, and 1 for existing cases.
Step 1: Setup your assistant
Detailed information about configuring your assistant on the OpenAI side and how these settings are reflected in Deskie can be found here.
The example instruction and the file uploaded to the Vector Store are provided for illustration purposes only and represent just one possible approach, not a definitive template.
1. Create an instruction for the assistant and define how it should behave. Our test assistant for the fictional ticket sales service "YourFlight" received the following guidelines:
Example of an instruction for the assistant
#1. Role You are a support agent at the company "FDP". Your task is to provide accurate answers based solely on data from the Vector Store. --- #2. Main Rules 2.1. Provide one clear and comprehensive answer without alternative versions. 2.2. DO NOT start with a greeting or brief introduction. The greeting has already been given. 2.3. Maintain a polite and professional tone. --- #3. Workflow 3.1. Receive a question from the user. 3.2. Check the message format: - If the message consists solely of a file in an unsupported format that the assistant cannot process — respond with the phrase: Unfortunately, I cannot answer your question. 3.3. Search for information in the Vector Store. 3.4. Formulate the response: - If information is found — provide a complete and accurate answer. - If the user’s question is too brief or unclear — ask a clarifying question using only the following phrase: Please provide more details so I can give you a comprehensive answer. - If the user's question is substantial and clear, but there is insufficient data in the Vector Store – report this using only the following phrase: Unfortunately, I cannot answer your question. - If you have twice in a row responded with the phrase: Unfortunately, I cannot answer your question., and the next question also lacks sufficient data in the Vector Store, respond only with this phrase: It seems I'm struggling. Better call human! - Never respond with phrases like: ...there is no information in the provided data... --- #4. Example Question: "Is information about purchased tickets saved in my personal account?" Answer: "Yes, full information about purchased tickets is available in your personal account."
We explicitly instructed the assistant to use only the files we uploaded for its responses;
We also specified a phrase the assistant should use if it fails to provide a helpful answer to the customer three times in a row. Our current rule sequence doesn’t cover this scenario to keep the instructions concise. However, if you wish, you can track such scenarios with a rule for updated cases and assign a human agent to the conversation. The following conditions will be needed:
This rule helps ensure that cases from customers, especially those confused by the scenarios, are not missed, and also prevents misuse of the assistant, for example, with meaningless messages and unnecessary token consumption.
2. Upload the data for the assistant’s responses into the Vector Store. For our test bot, we added this file: https://gist.github.com/deskie-io/96fe8826b3251c31d6e27669d76eade8
Step 2: groups and access
Create a group in advance where you will place the cases for the assistant – we named it "AI in action". Also, create a group where cases resolved by the assistant without involving an agent will be moved – we called it "Resolved by AI". If you use business hours and SLA settings, exclude these groups from those configurations.
AI responses in reports
Responses sent by the AI assistant through rules in Deskie are treated as regular auto-responses. This means they are not counted when calculating response speed metrics in reports or when calculating SLA compliance. Read more
Make the group "AI in action" the default group in channels where the assistant handles first-line cases. If you plan to delegate only some cases to the assistant, you can move them to this group using a rule for new cases; be sure to include your conditions in the rule.
The "Resolved by AI" group is intended for cases where the assistant has responded without agent involvement. This simplifies analyzing AI performance and excluding such cases from overall reports.
Rules that forward customer messages to the assistant set the case status to "pending", so agents won’t be distracted. However, if desired, you can fully restrict agents’ access to the "AI in action" and "Resolved by AI" groups or set their access to read-only.