Triage Channel
Use the Triage channel to manage and respond to requests from a centralized workspace icon: merge
What is a Triage Channel?
Triage Channels are dedicated Slack channels powered by ClearFeed. They serve as your team's central command center,enabling agents to efficiently manage, respond to, and track requests and tickets originating from various channels, including Slack, MS Teams, Email, Portal, Web Chat, and API. Learn more about Triage Channel here
Accessing Triage Channels
Triage Channels appear as regular Slack channels in your workspace. Once configured, ClearFeed automatically posts new requests to the triage channel as threaded messages, allowing your support team to collaborate and respond efficiently.
To find your triage channels, navigate to ClearFeed WebApp and Check Settings > Triage Settings in the ClearFeed WebApp to see all configured triage channels.
Responding to Requests from Triage
Public Replies (Visible to Customers)
The visibility of your replies depends on your Triage Comment Visibility setting:
If set to "Public" (default):
All messages you post in the triage thread are synced to the customer's channel
To keep a message internal, prefix it with the 🔒 emoji
Example:
🔒 This customer has been difficult in the past, handle with care
If set to "Private":
By default, messages stay internal to your team
To send a message to the customer, prefix it with the 📢 emoji
Example:
📢 Hi! We've resolved your issue. Please verify it's working.
Emoji visibility modifiers only work when added before sending the message - Editing a message to add 🔒 or 📢 after sending will not change its visibility
Handling Emails from Triage Channels
Deleting Emails
You will find a dedicated button for email tickets on the triage channel called
Delete Email.If a new Email ticket comes into triage - and you recognize that as spam, click on the
Delete Emailbutton to remove it from the triage channel.If you delete an email ticket from triage, any replies on that email thread will no longer sync to Slack and the ticket will not reopen.
Delete Emailbutton is only available in the Slack triage channel, not in the web app.
If there are existing responses from your team on the email ticket, the Delete Email button collapses the thread on triage and doesn't sync any future replies.
Internal Notes and Collaboration
For internal team discussions—such as asking clarifying questions, sharing background context, coordinating handoffs, or tagging teammates for their expertise—ClearFeed supports two ways to collaborate:
From the Triage Channel
From the Request Channel
Regardless of which option you choose, all comments sync to the connected ticketing system, ensuring consistent context across Slack and your ticketing tool.
Adding Private Notes From Triage Channel
Depending on your Triage Comment Visibility settings, you can collaborate internally by:
Prefixing your message with the 🔒 emoji, or
Simply typing and sending your message (if configured to treat all triage messages as private)
These notes stay within the triage workflow and do not sync back to the Request Channel.
Adding Private Comments from the Request Channel
When a Triage Channel is configured for a Collection, users can add Private Comments directly to the external ticketing system from the Request Channel.
To add a private comment:
Open the thread in the Request Channel.
Click the
...menu on the ticket message block.Select Add Private Comment.
Private comments appear only in the connected ticketing system and are not visible on the public Slack thread. This option is available only when a Triage Channel exists.
Managing Request Properties
You can update request properties directly from the triage channel using emoji reactions or by interacting with the ClearFeed bot message:
Status: Update using reactions or the status dropdown
Priority: Change priority level (Low, Medium, High, Urgent)
Assignee: Assign or reassign requests to team members
Custom Fields: Update any custom fields configured for your collection
Changes made in the triage channel are immediately reflected in the ClearFeed WebApp and synchronized with any linked external tickets.
Pro-tip: ClearFeed displays a vertical color bar on ticket messages in triage channels to visually indicate ticket status:
Red: Open
Yellow/Orange: In-Progress or Pending
Green: Closed/Solved
In rare cases, there may be a short delay in updating the color bar in Slack after a ticket's status changes.
Using AI Agents
If AI Agents is enabled for your collection, ClearFeed will automatically fetch the relevant answers from the attached Knowlede Sources and post it publicly or privately based on whether it has been set up as Virtual Agent or Agent Assistant. Learn more about this here.
Creating or Linking Tickets and Tasks
From a triage channel thread, you can:
Create tickets in external systems (Jira, Zendesk, Freshdesk, etc.) using configured emoji reactions
Link existing tickets to track work in your ticketing system
Create tasks in project management tools (Linear, GitHub, ClickUp, Asana) for follow-up work
Refer to Creating or Linking Tickets and Creating or Linking Tasks for details.
Proactively Starting Conversations
You can initiate conversations with customers directly from your Triage Channel using the /cf-start-thread command. This allows you to:
Reach out proactively with updates or check-ins
Follow up on previous conversations
Share important announcements
Initiate support before customers ask
Learn more about Creating Requests from Triage Channel
Syncing Private Comments with Ticketing Systems
If you're using an external ticketing system (Zendesk, Freshdesk, etc.), your triage channel can sync private comments bidirectionally:
From Triage to Ticketing System:
Private comments (🔒) can be synced to your ticketing system as internal notes
Configure whether all private comments sync, or only those reacted with 📝 emoji
From Ticketing System to Triage:
Internal notes from your ticketing system can be synced back to the triage channel as private comments
Currently supported for Freshdesk (as private notes) and Zendesk (as internal comments)
Triage Notifications and Digests
ClearFeed sends automatic reminders to keep your team on top of open requests:
Daily Digest: Notifies daily for requests that are 'Open' and require attention, highlighting those with High priority
Weekly Digest: Every Monday, reminds you of unsolved requests from the last month up to the most recent week
These digests are posted directly in your triage channel to keep the team informed. Learn more here
Setting Up or Configuring Triage Channels
For information about setting up, configuring, or managing triage channel settings, see Triage Channel Setup
FAQs
Could we make the default setting of the triage channel to have all messages treated as internal comments and only selected messages to go into customer channels? Answer: Yes, you can use the Comment Visibility option in Triage Settings to configure this. Setting Comment Visibility to Private will make messages internal by default, requiring users to prefix messages with the 📢 emoji to have them flow into the customer channels.
Can we edit any message and put the 🔒emoji to make it visible internally? Answer: No, once a message is sent in a thread, it will be public. Editing the message by placing emoji post sending will not make it internal/private.
Will customers see the triage channel or know we're using it? Answer: No, customers never see the triage channel. They only see replies sent to their original request channel (or via email/other channels). The triage channel is entirely internal to your support team.
Can I respond to requestsfrom both the triage channel and the original request channel? Answer: Yes, you can respond from either location. Responses are bidirectionally synced, so your team sees all replies in the triage channel regardless of where they were posted.
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