How do I connect Zendesk to my chatbot?

To connect Zendesk to your chatbot, you can either use Zendesk’s own AI agents, plug in a third-party bot through the messaging Web Widget, integrate via Sunshine Conversations, or build a custom integration using the Conversations APIs. You can also use CustomGPT.ai as your chatbot, powered directly by your Zendesk Help Center.

Quick overview of Zendesk + chatbot connection options

Zendesk gives you several ways to use chatbots alongside Support and messaging:

• Zendesk AI agents (native bots). These run directly inside Zendesk messaging and can be added to the Web Widget or mobile SDKs. 
• Third-party chatbots via Marketplace. You can install chatbot apps and connect them to messaging, Web Widget, or other channels. 
• Sunshine Conversations. This provides a unified messaging API and is commonly used to connect custom or external bots across channels, then route them into Zendesk. 
• Custom APIs. Developers can use conversations integrations (webhooks) and messaging APIs to treat an external bot as an “agent” talking to customers. 

If you want a chatbot that answers from your Zendesk Help Center but lives on your website or help center, you can use CustomGPT.ai as the chatbot engine and Zendesk as its knowledge base.

How to do it with CustomGPT.ai

This section explains how to make your “chatbot” be a CustomGPT.ai agent powered by Zendesk Help Center content.

Step 1 — Confirm prerequisites

1. Make sure you have:
   • An active Zendesk account with a Help Center set up.
   • Admin access (email and API token) in Zendesk. 
   • A CustomGPT.ai account with permission to create agents. 
2. Note that this Zendesk integration currently indexes help articles only, not tickets or other objects. 

Step 2 — Create or select your agent

1. In CustomGPT.ai, go to your dashboard and click New Agent if you don’t already have one. 
2. Choose a suitable starting method (for example, Website or a basic project) and complete the creation flow.
3. Give the agent a clear name such as “Zendesk Help Center Bot” so you can recognize it later.
4. You can skip other data sources for now; you’ll connect Zendesk next.

Step 3 — Connect your Zendesk Help Center as a data source

1. Open your agent and go to the knowledge / sources area. 
2. Choose Zendesk Integration (or “Connect to Zendesk Help Center”). 
3. Enter:
   • Your Zendesk admin email.
   • Your Zendesk subdomain (for example, yourbrand.zendesk.com).
   • An API token generated from Zendesk.
4. Confirm the connection; CustomGPT.ai will crawl and index your Zendesk help articles. 
5. Wait for indexing to complete so the bot has content to answer from.

Step 4 — Enable Zendesk auto-sync

1. In your agent’s Zendesk integration settings, look for Enable Zendesk auto-sync. 
2. Turn the feature on so newly published or updated Zendesk articles are synchronized automatically.
3. Be aware this feature is documented as available on Enterprise-level plans; if you don’t see it, you may need to contact CustomGPT.ai sales. 
4. Confirm the sync frequency and any limits described in the docs.

Step 5 — Embed your CustomGPT.ai chatbot into your Zendesk help center or site

1. In your agent, open the Deploy or Integration tab.
2. Locate the iframe embed code and copy it. 
3. In your Zendesk help center (Guide) or associated website, add a custom HTML / embed block where you’d like the chatbot to appear.
4. Paste the iframe code and publish your theme or page.
5. Visit the help center or site to confirm that the CustomGPT.ai chatbot loads and responds using your Zendesk articles

CustomGPT.ai’s docs describe iframe embedding into any website; using an HTML block in your Zendesk help center theme generally follows the same pattern, though compatibility may depend on Zendesk’s support for custom HTML embeds.

Step 6 — Connect CustomGPT.ai events to your wider support stack

1. If you want to send leads or conversation activity into other tools, connect the CustomGPT.ai Zapier app. 
2. Use triggers like New Conversation, New Message, or New Lead to pass data into your CRM or ticketing stack (for example, to create tickets or log transcripts in a helpdesk). 
3. Keep workflows generic and tool-agnostic unless you have a tested Zap for Zendesk specifically.

Connect a third-party bot via Zendesk messaging and Web Widget

If your chatbot is a separate product (including CustomGPT.ai or another platform), you can connect it through Zendesk’s messaging Web Widget.

Step 1 — Enable messaging and Web Widget

1. In Zendesk Admin Center, go to Channels → Messaging and social → Messaging. 
2. Create or open a web messaging channel (Web Widget).
3. Configure basic settings like brand, language, and availability. 

Step 2 — Install or configure your bot integration

1. If your bot has a Zendesk Marketplace app, install it and follow its configuration steps. 
2. For bots built on Sunshine Conversations or similar platforms, follow their specific app or integration guide. 
3. Ensure the bot is associated with the correct brand or messaging channel.

Step 3 — Set the bot as the default responder

1. In Zendesk Admin Center, go to AI → AI agents → AI agents. 
2. Select Marketplace bots to see your installed third-party bots.
3. Assign your bot as the default responder for the relevant messaging channels (or switch back to Zendesk AI agents if needed). 

Step 4 — Embed the Web Widget on your website or help center

1. From the messaging channel’s Installation tab, copy the script snippet for the Web Widget. 
2. Add it to your website template, or tick the option to Automatically embed Web Widget in your Help Center. 
3. Save and publish. The widget now appears on your site or help center, with your third-party bot as the first responder.

Step 5 — Test end-to-end

1. Open your website or help center in a private window.
2. Start a conversation from the Web Widget and confirm your chatbot responds.
3. Trigger a hand-off or escalation and verify that a Zendesk ticket is created and routed correctly.

Connect your chatbot using Sunshine Conversations

Use Sunshine Conversations if you want a programmable, multi-channel messaging layer between your bot and Zendesk.

Step 1 — Understand what Sunshine Conversations does

1. Sunshine Conversations provides a unified messaging API and can connect external chatbots to Zendesk. 
2. It’s designed for advanced, custom experiences and multi-channel routing. 

Step 2 — Set up Sunshine Conversations access

1. Confirm your Zendesk plan includes Sunshine Conversations access or add the required plan. 
2. Follow the access / platform docs for your account type (legacy versus modern access).

Step 3 — Connect channels and your external bot

1. Use Sunshine Conversations to connect channels like WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, or web messenger. 
2. Configure your external chatbot (or bot platform) to talk to Sunshine Conversations via its APIs. 

Step 4 — Route messages into Zendesk

1. Follow the routing between Sunshine Conversations and Zendesk guide to ensure conversations reach the right Zendesk groups or agents.
2. Configure transfer groups, escalation rules, and failover behaviour as documented.

Step 5 — Fine-tune AI agent behavior

1. If you are also using Zendesk advanced AI agents, configure the integration section for Integrating Sunshine Conversations with advanced AI agents for form handling, metadata, and CRM actions. 
2. Test flows where Sunshine Conversations, your bot, and Zendesk agents all participate in the same conversation.

Connect your chatbot directly with Zendesk APIs

For maximum control, you can integrate your chatbot using the Zendesk Conversations APIs and integrations.

Step 1 — Review the messaging / Conversations API docs

1. Read Zendesk’s Conversations platform documentation to understand the messaging model and endpoints. 
2. Note that Sunshine Conversations platform access unlocks the conversations API for advanced customizations. 

Step 2 — Plan your bot’s role

1. Decide whether your bot will act like a full agent, a pre-support triage bot, or a background assistant. 
2. Map which events will trigger your bot (new messages, tickets, metadata changes) and which actions it will perform (replying, tagging, updating fields).

Step 3 — Create conversations integrations

1. In the Admin Center, open Conversations integrations to create webhooks that send conversation events to your bot service. 
2. Use curl or Postman (as shown in the docs) to test integration endpoints before wiring them into your application.

Step 4 — Implement bot logic against the API

1. In your service, receive webhook events and call the appropriate Zendesk messaging / ticket APIs to reply or update records.
2. Use metadata, tags, or conversation fields (as documented) to control routing and context. 

Step 5 — Test and harden

1. Test with real-world flows: high volume, edge cases, and escalations to human agents.
2. Monitor logs and Zendesk analytics to confirm that tickets and messages are created and updated as expected.

Example — ecommerce support bot connected to Zendesk

Imagine an online store with a Zendesk help center and a CustomGPT.ai chatbot:

1. The team connects Zendesk Help Center to a CustomGPT.ai agent so it can answer questions about orders, returns, and shipping directly from their existing articles. 
2. They enable Zendesk auto-sync so new and updated help articles automatically feed into the chatbot.
3. They embed the CustomGPT.ai agent as an iframe on their Zendesk help center home page. 
4. When a customer asks a question:
   • The bot answers instantly using the latest Zendesk documentation.
   • If the question is complex, the site offers a “Contact support” option that opens Zendesk’s messaging Web Widget, where a live agent takes over.

This gives customers fast, AI-powered answers while keeping Zendesk as the system of record for tickets and agent workflows.

Conclusion

Connecting a chatbot to Zendesk is really about choosing how much control you need versus how much integration work you want to own—from native AI agents to fully custom Conversations APIs.

CustomGPT.ai lets you skip the heavy lifting by indexing your Zendesk Help Center directly, auto-syncing updates, and dropping a Zendesk-powered bot into your site or help center with a simple iframe and optional Zapier handoffs.

Open CustomGPT.ai, spin up a Zendesk Help Center bot, and embed it on your support pages to test the full Zendesk + chatbot experience end to end.