Automation #4 - Auto Delete Tickets based on Rules

This is a monthly series in which we pick some common use cases that have been either discussed or most asked about in our community and explain how they can be achieved using one of the automation capabilities in Zoho Desk.

Unwanted tickets spamming your inbox and messing with your help desk reports? There is a way you can automatically delete such tickets, based on their subject lines or email IDs or a combination of both. The rules totally depend on your use case, but we have a simple script that can help you achieve this easily. Initiate this automation today and clear unwanted tickets easily and keep your reports accurate.

Let's begin by establishing two components: a connection and a workflow rule linked to a custom function. Initially, we'll create the connection, followed by configuring the workflow rules to trigger the custom function.

To create connection, perform the following steps:

Go to Setup > Connections under Developer Space
Click "Create Connection"
Select "Zoho OAuth" under "Default Connection"
Give the connection name as "autodeletetickets"
Under Scope below values
Desk.tickets.READ
Desk.tickets.DELETE
Click "Create and Connect"
Click "Connect" and click "Accept"

Connection is created successfully.

To create workflow rule and associate custom function, perform the following steps:

Go to Setup, and under Automation, click Workflows.
On the left panel, under Workflows, click Rules > Create Rule,
In the Basic Information section, carry out the following steps:
In the Module drop-down menu, select Tickets.
Enter a name and description for the rule.
If you want to activate the rule right away, select the Active checkbox. Else, you can just create the rule now and activate it later, on the Rules page.
Click Next.
In the Execute on section, perform the following steps:
Select the Create checkbox to execute this rule every time a new ticket is created.
In the Criteria section, perform the following steps:
If you want to delete tickets based on the content in the Subject field, add this criteria:

Subject contains <keywords separated by commas.
If you want to delete tickets based on the content in the Subject field and the email ID of the contact, add this criteria:

Subject contains <keywords separated by commas>

AND/OR

Email contains <email ids separated by commas>
If you want to delete all tickets except the ones that have a specific content in the Subject field and/or were sent by a particular sender, add this criteria:

Subject doesn't contain <keywords separated by commas>

AND

Email doesn't contain <email ids separated by commas>
Click "Next".
In the Actions section, carry out the following steps:
Click the + icon under "Action" and select "New" next to Custom Functions
Enter a name and description for the custom function.
In the script window, input the Custom Function you find below:
1. deskDomain = "https://desk.zoho.com";
2. //Replace your zoho desk URL accordingly
3. jsonString = {"ticketIds":{ticketID}};
4. deleteTicket = invokeurl
5. [
6. url :deskDomain + "/api/v1/tickets/moveToTrash"
7. type :POST
8. parameters:jsonString.toString()
9. connection: "autodeletetickets"
10. ];
Click Edit Arguments
In the Name field type ticketID, and from the Value drop-down list select Ticket Id under Ticket Information.
Click "Save" to save the custom function
Click "Save" again to save the workflow.

Important Note: Please make sure to add the accurate criteria, based on which the custom function must be executed. If you do not add any criteria, the rule will execute and delete all tickets in the department.

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