> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.open.cx/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Zendesk troubleshooting

> Start at the Zendesk source row in Data Sources. If the latest sync failed, the error message appears there. For incremental issues (missing articles, wrong visibility), check AI Instructions —…

Start at the **Zendesk** source row in [**Data Sources**](https://platform.open.cx/data-sources). If the latest sync failed, the error message appears there. For incremental issues (missing articles, wrong visibility), check **AI Instructions** — filter by the **Zendesk** source.

## Common scenarios

| Symptom                                                               | Likely cause                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        | Fix                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       |
| --------------------------------------------------------------------- | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Sync keeps failing; "could not authenticate" or 401**               | The **Subdomain** field has the public Help Center URL (e.g. `help.yourcompany.com`) instead of the Zendesk instance name                                                                                                                           | Open the source, set **Subdomain** to just the instance name — `your-company` from `your-company.zendesk.com`. If you publish the Help Center on a custom domain, that custom domain is irrelevant — use the `*.zendesk.com` subdomain.   |
| **Article is public in Zendesk but shows as Internal in OpenCX**      | The article is assigned to a Zendesk <Tooltip tip="A Zendesk access control that restricts an article to authenticated support-portal users. Even if the article is 'published', a segment restriction makes it non-public.">user segment</Tooltip> | Either remove the segment restriction in Zendesk (article visibility refreshes on next sync), or override the visibility per-article in [AI Instructions](https://platform.open.cx/ai-instructions) using the eye icon.                   |
| **Archived article still appears in AI answers**                      | Archived articles still sync today — they're indexed as `INTERNAL` but the AI can still cite them in agent-facing surfaces                                                                                                                          | Delete the article in Zendesk (the next sync removes it from OpenCX), or bulk-delete from the Zendesk folder in AI Instructions. Tracked as a known gap — see the limits table on the [Connect page](/knowledge/sources/zendesk/connect). |
| **One Zendesk account hosts multiple Help Centers — only one synced** | Not supported today. The Airbyte Zendesk source ingests articles across all Help Centers in the account without a per-HC filter.                                                                                                                    | Use the [Website crawler](/knowledge/sources/website/overview) against the Help Center you **don't** want Zendesk-synced, with the Zendesk source covering the primary one. Escalate to support if you need proper multi-HC scoping.      |
| **Re-syncing doesn't pick up bulk edits**                             | Incremental sync cursors on `updated_at` — but bulk edits in Zendesk sometimes don't bump that field                                                                                                                                                | Use **Sync now** on the source. If items are still stale, remove and re-add the source to force a full pull.                                                                                                                              |
| **None of the above**                                                 | —                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   | Contact support with the source connection ID, a sample article URL, and what you expected vs. what you see.                                                                                                                              |

## Limits

|                                      | Value                                                           |
| ------------------------------------ | --------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Streams synced**                   | `articles` only                                                 |
| **Multi-Help-Center**                | Not supported today                                             |
| **Per-category/per-section scoping** | Not supported today                                             |
| **Archived articles**                | Still synced (marked internal)                                  |
| **Sync cadence**                     | Airbyte polling — typically every few hours                     |
| **Credential fallback**              | None — the subdomain + email + API token must be valid together |

***

## Related Documentation

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Connect Zendesk" icon="plug" href="/knowledge/sources/zendesk/connect">
    Re-check credentials, visibility rules, limits.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Zendesk overview" icon="headset" href="/knowledge/sources/zendesk/overview">
    What this source does.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Zendesk integration" icon="ticket" href="/integrations/zendesk/overview">
    Ticketing and control surface.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Website crawler" icon="globe" href="/knowledge/sources/website/overview">
    Fallback for multi-HC scoping.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>