> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://docs.clearfeed.ai/clearfeed-help-center/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://docs.clearfeed.ai/clearfeed-help-center/clearfeed-helpdesk/rotations.md).

# Rotations

A **Rotation** is a reusable definition of who is on-call or who belongs to a responder group. You define a rotation once, then pick it from any Collection's Assignment Rules. Rotations can be used to [distribute requests with Round Robin](/clearfeed-help-center/clearfeed-helpdesk/assignment-rules.md#round-robin-assignment) or to [limit first-responder auto-assignment](/clearfeed-help-center/clearfeed-helpdesk/assignment-rules.md#limit-first-responder-assignment-to-a-rotation) to eligible members of the selected Rotation.

{% hint style="warning" %}
**Availability:** Rotations are used by Round-Robin Assignment and for limiting First-Responder Assignment to Rotation, which are available on Professional and Enterprise plans. See [Pricing](/clearfeed-help-center/pricing-and-billing/pricing.md) for plan details.
{% endhint %}

There are two types of rotations: **Native** and **Slack Group**.

## Native Rotation

A Native Rotation is made up of one or more **Shifts**. Each shift has:

* **Days of the week** the shift runs
* **Time window**: Start and End time
* **Timezone**
* **Members**: The agents active during that shift

A shift is "active" when the current time falls inside its window. For Round Robin assignment, only members of active shifts are eligible for assignment.

If no shift is active when a request comes in, no member is eligible. Make sure your shifts cover the hours you expect requests to be auto-assigned.

When a Native Rotation is used only to limit first-responder auto-assignment, ClearFeed checks whether the first responder is eligible under the Rotation. The responder's shift does not need to be live for this eligibility check.

## Slack Group Rotation

A Slack Group Rotation is backed by a Slack user group. The members of the rotation are the current members of that group, and ClearFeed always honors the live membership at the time of assignment.

{% hint style="info" %}
If you need to create a Slack user group first, [follow this guide](https://slack.com/intl/en-in/help/articles/212906697-Create-a-user-group).
{% endhint %}

## Unavailability Statuses

Both types of rotations carry a list of **Unavailability Statuses**: Slack statuses (like *OOO* or *On Holiday*) that mark a member as unavailable for availability-aware assignment rules, such as Round Robin. Members with a matching Slack status are skipped in those assignment flows, even if they would otherwise be eligible. For first-responder Rotation limits, the selected Rotation narrows who can be considered, but Native shift liveness is not required.

**Default Unavailability Statuses**

If a user's Slack status matches any of these (case-insensitive), ClearFeed skips them:

* Out of Office
* Off Sick
* On Holiday
* DND
* OOO

**Custom Unavailability Statuses**

You can also define your own custom Slack statuses that ClearFeed should treat as unavailable for availability-aware assignments, for example:

* *In a Meeting*
* *Traveling*

## Creating a Rotation

Rotations are managed from the **Rotations** section in the ClearFeed web app. To create one:

1. Open **Rotations** from the side menu, then click **New Rotation**.
2. Choose the rotation type:
   * **Native**: Define your own shifts. For each shift, configure a shift name, days of the week, start and end time (24-hour format), timezone, and the members on-call for the shift.
   * **Slack Group**: Pick the Slack user group that backs the rotation. ClearFeed uses the live membership of that group at the time of assignment.
3. Configure the rotation's **Unavailability Statuses** (see above).
4. Click **Save**.

Once created, the rotation can be picked from the **Round Robin Assignment** dropdown, or from **Only assign to people from the following rotation** when using first-responder auto-assignment, in any Collection's Assignment Rules. The rotation page also shows which collections use the rotation and which members are **On Now**.

<figure><img src="/files/TtBPNXuSRE1B1D2F6H9L" alt=""><figcaption></figcaption></figure>

## Set Custom Unavailability Statuses

Unavailability statuses live on the rotation, so the same list applies to every collection using that rotation for availability-aware assignment rules.

1. Go to **Rotations** and open the rotation you want to update.
2. In the **Unavailability Statuses** section, add new statuses or remove default ones that don't apply to your team.
3. Click **Save**.

## FAQs

1. **Can the same rotation be used across multiple collections?**\
   **Answer:** Yes. Any collection's Assignment Rules can point at the same rotation. Turn on **Enable Shared Rotation** in the collection's Round Robin setup to share the round-robin order across those collections, so the same person isn't picked back-to-back from different collections. This shared-order setting affects Round Robin assignment, not first-responder eligibility checks.
2. **Can a Rotation be used to limit first-responder auto-assignment?**\
   **Answer:** Yes. In a Collection's Assignment Rules, choose a first-responder assignment rule, enable **Only assign to people from the following rotation**, and select the Rotation. ClearFeed will assign only if the first responder is eligible under that Rotation.
3. **What happens if a Slack Group and its members change?**\
   **Answer:** For a Slack Group Rotation, if the Slack Group is renamed or its members change, we honor the new group members at the time of assignment.
4. **What happens to my existing Slack-group-based Round Robin setup?**\
   **Answer:** Collections that previously used a Slack group directly are migrated to a Slack Group Rotation with the same members.