# Using an External Ticketing System

This guide helps you set up ClearFeed to manage customer conversations in Slack while keeping everything synced with your existing ticketing platform.

## Sign Up & Connect

1. Go to [ClearFeed Web App](https://web.clearfeed.app/)
2. Sign up with **Google, Microsoft, or Email** (use your Slack workspace email)
3. During onboarding, select:
   * **Primary use case:** Supporting Customers
   * **How to use ClearFeed:** Integrate with External Ticketing System
4. **Authorize ClearFeed** when prompted to connect to your Slack workspace

### Connect Your Ticketing System

Choose your external ticketing system and complete the authorization flow:

* Zendesk
* Jira Service Management
* Salesforce
* Linear
* Freshdesk
* And more...

## Understanding Your Setup

ClearFeed asks you to create two key channels during signup:

### Request Channel

Your **request channel** is where customers post questions and issues. When a message is posted:

* ClearFeed automatically creates a ticket in your external system
* The ticket syncs bi-directionally between Slack and your ticketing platform
* Customers see their conversations in Slack without technical ticket details

### Triage Channel

Your **triage channel** is your team's command center. Here you'll see:

* All incoming requests with status, assignment, and ticket IDs
* Real-time updates from your external ticketing system
* AI-powered answer suggestions from your knowledge base

> **Note:** Most teams can start working immediately with these default channels. Only add more channels or collections if you need to separate different customer segments or support queues.

## Create and Manage Requests

### From Slack

**Create a request:**

1. Post a message in your request channel (e.g., "How do I reset my password?")
2. ClearFeed automatically creates a ticket in your external system
3. Add 🎫 emoji to manually ensure ticket creation if needed

**Manage requests:**

* Reply in the triage channel thread → syncs to your ticketing system
* Update status, priority, or assignment → reflects in external system
* Add internal notes (prefix with configured emoji) → visible only to your team in both Slack and external system

**FAQ: How do I stop creating requests from my own messages?** You can configure ClearFeed to ignore messages from specific users or turn off auto-responders for team members. Go to Settings > Request Settings to configure responder exclusions.

### From Email

If you've configured email support:

* Customers can email your support address
* ClearFeed creates tickets in your external system
* Email threads sync with Slack conversations
* Responses from Slack appear as email replies to customers

### Convert Requests to Tickets

Requests automatically become tickets in your external system. Use the 🎫 emoji on any message to manually trigger ticket creation if auto-creation is disabled.

## AI Agent Setup

ClearFeed comes with an AI Agent pre-configured with ClearFeed documentation:

### How It Works

* The AI Agent monitors your triage channel
* When it finds relevant answers in your knowledge sources, it posts suggestions privately to your team
* Your team can review and send the answer to customers with one click

### Try It Out

Type this in your triage channel: **"What is a collection in ClearFeed?"**

Watch the AI Agent provide a helpful answer from the documentation!

### Customize AI Agent for Your Use Case

Make the AI Agent more helpful by adding your own documentation. You can either create a new AI Agent or edit the existing one.

**Step 1: Connect Your Knowledge Sources** First, add your documentation as knowledge sources. ClearFeed supports various Knowledge Sources. Learn more [here](https://github.com/clearfeed/new-docs/blob/main/answers/knowledge-sources/README.md)

**Step 2: Configure Your AI Agent**

1. Go to **Settings > AI Agent**
2. Either create a new AI Agent or edit the existing one
3. Select the knowledge sources you connected in Step 1
4. The AI will now suggest answers from your content

## Additional Setup

Once you're comfortable with the basics, explore these features:

### Customize Your Workflow

* **Modify Triage Settings** - Show only tickets (hide non-ticket messages)
* **Set up SLA rules** - Configure response time targets
* **Create automation rules** - Auto-assign, escalate, or respond based on conditions
* **Configure forms** - Collect structured information with custom fields
* **Setup Out of Office Responses** - Automatic responses when your team is unavailable or outside business hours

### Integrate More Tools

* **Web Chat Widget** - Add live chat to your website that flows into Slack
* **Custom Email Domain** - Use <support@yourdomain.com> for customer emails
* **Customer Portal** - Give customers a self-service portal to view their tickets
* **Task Management Integration** - Create tasks in tools like Asana or Monday.com from tickets

### Expand Your Channels

* **Add more Slack channels** to handle different customer segments or product lines
* **Create collections** to group related channels together
* Each channel can map to different queues or projects in your external system

## Next Steps

Your ClearFeed setup is ready to use! Start by:

1. Inviting your team to the triage channel
2. Testing a few customer requests
3. Exploring the AI Agent suggestions
4. Customizing settings to match your workflow

Need help? [Contact our team](https://clearfeed.ai/contact) for personalized onboarding.