Macros: automating sequences of actions in a conversation

Overview

A macro is a predefined sequence of actions you run on a conversation with one click. Instead of assigning, labeling, replying and changing the status by hand, you bundle it all into a macro and run it when you need. It's the simplest way to standardize repetitive support tasks.

Inside a conversation there are three ways to trigger the same macro, all equivalent:

1. From the macros panel in the conversation sidebar, using the run button.
2. By typing # in the composition box and picking the macro from the list that opens.
3. From the command palette, with Cmd + K (macOS) or Ctrl + K (Windows/Linux).

All three use the same macro order and the same execution engine, so the result is identical.

Prerequisites

• Any agent can create their own private macros in the account settings. Publishing a macro as Public or Specific group requires the administrator role; editing or deleting an already published macro requires the administrator role or an access role with Manage macros.
• Any agent can run the available macros inside a conversation.
• The Macros feature has to be enabled on the account. It ships enabled; when it is off, the # trigger and the palette's "Execute a macro" command simply do not appear.
• The # and palette shortcuts only offer macros while you are inside a conversation or on the inbox view — not on settings or report screens.

Step by step

1. In Administration & Settings, open the Macros area.
2. Create a macro, give it a clear name and set the visibility (public, private or specific group).
3. Add the actions in order — for example: assign to a team, apply a label, send a message, change the status to resolved.
4. Save the macro.
5. In a conversation, open the macros menu and run the one you want. The actions are applied in order.
6. Review the result before moving on to the next conversation.

Running it with # in the composition box

1. With the conversation open, click the composition box and type #.
2. The macro list opens anchored to the spot where you typed, with a search field of its own.
3. Keep typing to filter by macro name (this search looks at the name, not at the actions).
4. Each row shows the name and the macro's action count.
5. The preview panel next to it lists every action in the order they will run, with each value already resolved (the agent, the team, the label or the file you picked).
6. Press Enter or click to run it. The # and whatever you typed after it are removed from the composition box before the macro runs, so nothing is left behind in your message.

The # trigger works in both Reply and Private note mode — unlike the / used by canned responses, which only opens in Reply mode.

Running it from the command palette

1. With the conversation open, press Cmd + K (macOS) or Ctrl + K (Windows/Linux). This works even with the cursor inside the composition box.
2. Look for Execute a macro, under the Conversation section.
3. Open the command: the palette then lists your macros under the Execute Macro section.
4. Pick the macro. It runs on the open conversation, exactly like from the sidebar panel.

Keyboard navigation (in both lists)

Settings & options

• Action order: actions run top to bottom — arrange them to match the flow you want.
• Action types: assignment (agent/team), labels, priority, status, sending a message/attachment, send an email to the team, add SLA (requires the SLA module) and other integrations available in the account.
• Visibility: pick one of three options when creating or editing the macro.
• Messages with variables: use variables (e.g., the contact's name) in the text when supported.
• Attachments: the send-attachment action uses the files saved on the macro itself, not the ones in the conversation.

The three visibilities

For specific group you choose by role (Administrators, Agents) and/or by agent, and at least one of the two is required. An agent without administrator permission can only ever create private macros: public and specific-group audiences are administrator-governed.

Macro order across the lists

The order macros appear in is the one you dragged into place in the conversation sidebar. That order is personal, is stored in your preferences and applies to every surface at once: the sidebar panel, the # list and the command palette. Macros you never dragged stay at the end, in their original order.

Required attributes when resolving

If the account requires mandatory custom attributes to resolve conversations and the macro contains an action that resolves the conversation, this is what happens:

1. Before running, the platform checks whether the conversation's required attributes are filled in.
2. If any is missing, a dialog opens asking for those fields.
3. If you fill them in and confirm, the values are saved on the conversation and the whole macro runs.
4. If you dismiss the dialog, the macro still runs — but the conversation is not resolved, and the notice reads "Macro executed. The conversation was not resolved because required attributes are missing."

The same guard applies on the server: even when the macro is triggered through another path, the step that resolves the conversation is skipped while a required attribute is blank. Every other action in the macro is still applied normally.

Use cases

• Standard closing: reply with a thank-you message, apply the label and resolve.
• Triage: assign to the right team and set the priority based on the topic.
• Hand-off: change the status to pending and leave a standardized internal note.
• Team macro: publish an approved procedure to a single role or a group of agents, using the Specific group visibility.

Tips, limits & best practices

In ConversaLabs, actions that operate outside the conversation only run in macros saved by an administrator. Ask an administrator to save a macro containing these actions; conversation actions remain available to agents. If the administrator who saved the macro leaves the account, another administrator must save it again before restricted actions can run again.

• Name macros by the outcome ("Close case", "Forward to Billing") so they're easy to find — # filters by exactly that name.
• Keep the macros you use most at the top of the sidebar panel: that order is reused by # and by the palette, so you type less.
• Review the message text before trusting auto-send — avoid out-of-context replies.
• Use the # preview before running a macro on a sensitive conversation: it shows each action with the real value that will be applied.
• Keep a few well-designed macros rather than many similar ones.

Troubleshooting

• I don't see the macros menu: there may be no macros created — ask an administrator.
• # doesn't open the list: confirm you are inside a conversation and that the Macros feature is enabled on the account. Outside a conversation the shortcut has nothing to offer.
• The list opens empty or says "No results found": the filter matches the macro name; searching for an action's name returns nothing.
• I can't find a macro a colleague uses: it may be private to them, or published to a specific group you are not part of.
• The macro ran but the conversation is still open: required attributes are probably missing — see the section above and fill in the requested fields.
• The macro didn't apply everything: review the order and action types; an action may depend on a field that doesn't exist on the conversation.
• I can run but cannot edit a public macro: this is expected — public macros are administrator-governed.

See also

• Canned responses with shortcuts
• Assignment, status, priority and labels
• Snooze, resolve and reopen conversations