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Widget conversations route through . When the AI hands off a chat, your rep picks it up as a live chat inside the Zendesk — no ticket created, no context lost.

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Pre-requisites

Install the AI Chat Widget on your site first. Zendesk handoff has nothing to route until the widget is live — start with Install Widget and come back here.

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How conversations land in Zendesk

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Setting up

1

Confirm the widget is live

Open the page where you embedded the widget and send a test message. You should see the AI respond. If the widget doesn’t load, walk through Install Widget first.
2

Confirm Sunshine is connected

In your OpenCX dashboard, open Zendesk → Messaging. The status should show Active. If not, complete the Sunshine Conversations setup.
3

Trigger a test handoff

Send a message like “I want to talk to a human” in the widget. The AI should hand off the conversation.
4

Verify in the Zendesk Agent Workspace

Open your Zendesk Agent Workspace. The conversation should appear as a live chat — not a ticket. Reply from Zendesk and confirm the message lands in the visitor’s widget within a couple of seconds.
If the conversation created a ticket instead of a live chat, Sunshine credentials are likely missing or inactive. Re-check Settings → Integrations → Zendesk Messaging status.

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What the rep sees

  • A live chat in the Agent Workspace on the same screen they work tickets from.
  • The full AI-to-visitor transcript attached to the conversation.
  • opencx_channel_web in Zendesk’s view filters and reports.
  • opencx_org_id, opencx_contact_id, and opencx_session_id on the conversation’s — the session ID is the trace key back to OpenCX.
  • Replies typed in the Agent Workspace land back in the visitor’s widget within a couple of seconds.

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Channel-specific details

When the widget passes a verified email via widget authentication, OpenCX merges the Sunshine messaging contact with the existing Zendesk support user on that email — no duplicate contact records. Anonymous visitors get a fresh Sunshine contact until they identify themselves.
Files uploaded in the widget appear as attachments on the Sunshine conversation in the Agent Workspace. File-size limits follow your Zendesk plan.
When an AI action returns data rendered by a custom component, the visitor sees the richer UI. Your rep sees the underlying text and data in the Agent Workspace — pick copy that reads well in both surfaces.
If your workflow triggers , the rating and comment land on the OpenCX session (visible via the View session in OpenCX link), not as a Zendesk satisfaction rating.

AI Chat Widget

The channel itself — install, configure, authenticate.

Sunshine Conversations setup

Credentials, webhook, and user merge.

Zendesk overview

What else Zendesk lights up across every channel.

Troubleshooting

Widget handoff creating a ticket instead, missing rep replies.