Automation #7 - Auto-update Email Content to a Ticket

Automation #7 - Auto-update Email Content to a Ticket



This is a monthly series where 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.

Email is one of the most commonly used support channels and with Desk's easy setup you can easily convert your customer conversation into tickets. All you need to do is to forward the emails received at your support mailbox to Zoho Desk and every customer conversation is converted into tickets with a unique ticket ID.
 
The subject of the email is pulled and displayed as a tickets with a ticket ID in Desk. If you want to go a step ahead and pull the email content into the ticket description, then automations can come in handy. Using a simple custom script and a workflow rule you can create an automation to automatically update the email content in to the description field of the ticket in Desk. This helps you have all the context you need to resolve a ticket at one single place and avoid going back and forth between your inbox and help desk platform.
 
To create the workflow rule, perform the following steps:
  1. Go to Setup, and under Automation, click Workflows.
  2. Click "Create Rule" from top right corner.
    In the Basic Information section, perform the following steps:
  3. In the Module drop-down menu, select Tickets.
  4. Enter a name and description for the rule.
  5. 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.
  6. Click Next.
    In the Execute on section, perform the following steps:
  7. Select the Create checkbox to execute this rule every time a new ticket is created.  
  8. Click Next.
  9. In the Criteria section, add "Channel Is Email" and click "Next".
    In the Actions section, perform the following steps:
  10. Click the + icon under "Action" and select "New" next to Custom Functions
  11. Enter a name and description for the custom function.
  12. In the script window, input the Custom Function you find below:

    1. OrgID = Paste your OrgID here;
    2. getthreads = zoho.desk.getRelatedRecords(OrgID,"threads","tickets",ticketId,0,1);
    3. threadid = getthreads.getJSON("data").getJSON("id");
    4. getthreadcontent = zoho.desk.getRelatedRecordById(OrgID,"threads",threadid,"tickets",ticketId).getJSON("content");
    5. updateticket = zoho.desk.update(OrgID,"tickets",ticketId,{"description":getthreadcontent});
    6. info updateticket;

  13. Click "Edit Arguments"
  14. In the Name field type ticketId, and from the Value drop-down list select Ticket Id under Ticket Information
  15. Click "Save" to save the custom function.
  16. Click "Save" again to save the workflow.
Important Note: In line 1, replace your OrgId. You can get your OrgID by navigating to Setup > Developer Space > API > OrgId.

    • Sticky Posts

    • Register for Zoho Desk Beta Community

      With the start of the year, we have decided to take a small step in making the life of our customers a little easier. We now have easy access to all our upcoming features and a faster way to request for beta access. We open betas for some of our features
    • Share your Zoho Desk story with us!

      Tell us how you use Zoho Desk for your business and inspire others with your story. Be it a simple workflow rule that helps you navigate complex processes or a macro that saves your team a lot of time; share it here and help the community learn and grow with shared knowledge. 
    • Tip #1: Learn to pick the right channels

      Mail, live chat, telephony, social media, web forms—there are so many support channels out there. Trying to pick the right channels to offer your customers can get pretty confusing. Emails are most useful when the customer wants to put things on record. However, escalated or complicated issues should not be resolved over email because it's slow and impersonal.  When you need immediate responses, live chat is more suitable. It's also quick and convenient, so it's the go-to channel for small issues. 
    • Welcome to Zoho Desk Community - Say hello here!

      Hello everyone! Though we have been here for a while, it’s time to formally establish the Zoho Desk Community; we’re really happy to have you all here! This can be the place where you take a moment to introduce yourself to the rest of the community. We’d love to hear all about you, what you do, what company or industry you work for, how you use Zoho Desk and anything else that you will like to share! Here’s a little about me. I am Chinmayee. I have been associated with Zoho since 2014. I joined here
    • Webinar 1: Blueprint for Customer Service

      With the launch of a host of new features in Zoho Desk, we thought it’ll be great to have a few webinars to help our customers make the most of them. We’re starting off with our most talked about feature, Blueprint in Zoho Desk. You can register for the Blueprint webinar here: The webinar will be delivered by our in-house product experts. This is a good opportunity to ask questions to our experts and understand how Blueprint can help you automate your service processes. We look forward to seeing

    Nederlandse Hulpbronnen


      • Recent Topics

      • Import data into Multi-Select lookup field from CSV/Excel

        How to import data into a multi-select lookup field from the CSV/Excel Sheet? Let's say I have an Accounts multi-select lookup field in the Deals module and I want to import the Deals with Accounts field. Steps:- 1. Create/edit a multi-select lookup field
      • Script that deletes a record?

        We're using WP Plugin "Integration for WooCommerce and Zoho Pro", and have created a couple of Feeds to send data to Zoho. We are trying to create Contact records, but only based upon condition. Tried to make it with small Deluge function and Workflow,
      • A formula that capitalises the first letter of each word

        Hi all, is there a zoho formula that can capitalise the first letter of each word in a string? INITCAP only capitalises the first letter of the first word.
      • Quotes in Commerce?

        In Zoho Ecommerce, I need to be able to generate quotes, negotiate with customers, and then generate invoices. Currently, I plan to integrate Zoho CRM to generate quotes. After negotiation and confirmation, I will push the details to Zoho Ecommerce to
      • Zoho Commerce - Mobile Application

        Does Zoho Commerce have a mobile application for customers to place an order?
      • Register user through Phone Number by Generating OTP

        In zoho commerce , I am developing website on online food store Inilialy the user get verification code to their email for registering there account for login. But I need to login using phone number by generating OTP automatically rather than verification
      • Unable to change sales_order status form "not_invoiced" to "invoiced"

        I am automating process of creating of invoice from sales_orders by consolidated sales_orders of each customer and creating a single invoice per customer every month. I am doing this in workflow schedule custom function where i create invoice by getting
      • Custom Buttons for Mass Actions

        Hello everyone, We’ve just made Custom Buttons in Zoho Recruit even more powerful! You can now create Bulk Action Buttons that let you perform actions on multiple records at once, directly from the List View. What’s new? Until now, custom buttons were
      • Zoho Vault Passwords

        Is there a way to consume Zoho Vault Manager passwords using the API? Thanks in advance.
      • Is the ChatGPT Assistant integration capable of recognizing WhatsApp voice messages?

        I was wondering: if a visitor sends me a voice message on WhatsApp, would the assistant be able to transcribe it and reply to them?
      • Zoho Creator to Zoho CRM Images

        Right now, I am trying to setup a Notes form within Zoho Creator. This Notes will note the Note section under Accounts > Selected Account. Right now, I use Zoho Flow to push the notes and it works just fine, with text only. Images do not get sent (there
      • 【Zoho CRM】レポート機能のアップデート

        ユーザーの皆さま、こんにちは。コミュニティチームの藤澤です。 今回は「Zoho CRM アップデート情報」の中から、レポート機能のアップデートをご紹介します。 目次 1. レポートのエクスポート時のレコードIDの表示について 2. 通貨項目の表示について 3. レポートの削除の監査ログへの反映について 1. レポートのエクスポート時のレコードIDの表示について これまで、レポートをエクスポートするとファイルにレコードIDが必ず含まれていました。レコードIDが識別子として役立つ場合もありますが、実際には多くの企業で参照されることはありません。
      • Translation in zoho bookings

        We cant translate zoho booking emails. The general text we can change. But what about text like: ""Here a link to join the meeting online:"" and "Add to Zoho Calendar" and "Add to Google Calendar"? No professional business have mixed languages. Its looking
      • Is there any way to bill one client in different currencies on different invoices?

        I have some customers who have their currency set as USD and most of their billing is done in USD.   However, from time to time I have a need to bill them in my base currency GBP for some specific invoices, but there seems to be no way of doing this that I can see. The only workaround that I can see is to create two client records for the same client, one for USD billing and one for GBP billing, but this is not an ideal situation. Is it likely that the (hopefully!) soon to arrive multi-currency support
      • API name for all fields in Zoho Project (Standard or custom)

        Hi! I struggle to find easily all API name of all field in Zoho Project to build my API rest with other services. We can find them very fast in CRM but not in PRoject.   Could you share a function to get the list of all API Name of any field of an App
      • Disappearing Mouse cursor in Zoho Mail / Windows 11 (Chrome + Edge)

        I'm seeing an issue when writing mails with the light theme with the mouse cursor being white and the document area also being white - making it nearly impossible to see the mouse cursor. I see the problem on Windows 11 under Chrome and Edge. (Yet to
      • Zoho Assist not rendering NinjaTrader chart properly

        Hi everyone. Just installed and testing Zoho Assist. I want to display my laptop' screen (Windows 11) on a monitor connected to my Mac mini. The laptop is running a stock trading program called NinjaTrader. Basically, when running, this program displays
      • Link(s) between Notes

        Hello Everyone, It would be great if links could be created between notes. Let's say we have 5 Notes A, B, C , D, E. I would like to be able to link Note A to Note B but not in other way, so no link appears in Note B linking to Note A. An so on, linking
      • Zoho Books | Product updates | August 2025

        Hello users, We’ve rolled out new features and enhancements in Zoho Books. From the right sidebar where you can manage all your widgets, to integrating Zoho Payments feeds in Zoho Books, explore the updates designed to enhance your bookkeeping experience.
      • Feature Request: Assign Documents to Already Entered Bills, Expenses, Invoices, etc.

        Hi Zoho Team, We are regular users of the Documents module in Zoho Books and appreciate its ability to keep financial records well-organized. However, we’ve noticed a limitation: There is no way to attach a document from the "Documents > Files" section
      • I don't see any WITHDRAWL transaction at all

        Hi I manually imported my bank statement to Zoho books today and I am a complete newbie. I have been reading the knowledgebase but unable to fix this. I only see "Uncategorized 91 DEPOSIT transactions". I don't see any WITHDRAWL transaction at all. Also,
      • Shared inbox unable to see replies

        Hi we are a small company me and someone else, we have a shared inbox for our sale@ and contact@ however we have this issue where by if i reply to an email or the other person reply to the email, it does not show it to them and therefore we end up replying
      • 404 error at checkout

        Our customers are getting a 404 error at checkout. Anyone else with the same problem?
      • FONT Sizing in Notebook

        Hi Kishore - What is the status of adding font sizing to the application? I have several things that I have pasted directly into Notebook and the fonts are HUGE! I would like the ability to highlight them and reduce the font to a legible size. Nothing
      • Can managers Upload documents to their direct rapports?

        Admin employees have the ability to upload documents to employees' files; however, managers do not have add/manage button - is it possible for managers to upload their direct reports' documents, such as absence documents or 121 documents. Is there something
      • Leave balance display for next year

        Is there a way to not have a rollover or not limit the leave balance depending on the date. For example an employee has 10 days leave balance and wants to apply for January leave in December. They cant because the rollover doesnt show the leave balance
      • Please add an “Auto-Apply Unused Credits” toggle

        Hello — please add a simple org-level option to automatically apply unused credits (credit notes, excess payments, retainers) to new invoices and/or bills. An ON/OFF toggle with choices “invoices”, “bills”, or “both” would save lots of manual work for
      • Zoho Books not working/loading

        Hi! I haven't been able to access/load Zoho Books for the past hours. I get a time out (and it is not due to my internet connection). Could you please check this asap? Thank you!
      • Custom Fields with Data Types for Expense and Payments Received in Zoho Books

        Hi all, We are glad to present to you, the option to create Custom Fields for the Expense and Payments received modules in Zoho Books. This also comes with an icing on top of it - Yes, the custom fields can now be created with different data types. Types like Text, Number, Decimal, Amount, Auto Number and Check Box are supported as of now. Rush to the gear icon at the top right corner, select 'More Settings', choose 'Preferences' in the left pane. Click the Expense/Payment preferences where you can
      • Zoho Cliq - Incident alert (Server outage - IN DC) | August 28

        We've received server down alerts and are currently investigating the issue (IN DC) to find the root cause. Our team is actively working to restore normal operations at the earliest. Status: Under investigation Start time: 09:44:21 AM IST Affected location:
      • Claude + MCP Server + Zoho CRM Integration – AI-Powered Sales Automation

        Hello Zoho Community 👋 I’m excited to share a recent integration we’ve worked on at OfficehubTech: ✅ Claude + MCP Server + Zoho CRM This integration connects Zoho CRM with Claude AI through our custom MCP Server, enabling intelligent AI-driven responses
      • How can I see content of system generated mails from zBooks?

        System generated mails for offers or invices appear in the mail tab of the designated customer. How can I view the content? It also doesn't appear in zMail sent folder.
      • Limitations on editing a message in Cliq

        Hi I've checked the documentations and there's no mention of how many times a message can be edited. When trying with code, I get various numbers such as ~1000 edits or so. Please mention if there's a limit on how many times one can change a message via
      • Narrative 10: Assignment Rules - Streamlining Ticket Management

        Behind the scenes of a successful ticketing system: BTS Series Narrative 10: Assignment Rules - Streamlining Ticket Management In the complex world of customer support, a flood of incoming tickets can hit the help desk in seconds. Businesses must do more
      • Free webinar! Digitize recruitment and onboarding with Zoho Sign and Zoho Recruit

        Hello, Tired of being buried in onboarding paperwork? With the integration between Zoho Sign and Zoho Recruit, a powerful applicant tracking system, you can digitize and streamline the entire recruitment and onboarding process, all from one platform.
      • Custom form - Duplicate Value Present

        I am new to Zoho People. I create a new form on Zoho People quite simple. A date (by default the current date) and a radio button with 3 options (Yes, No, Not applicable) I defined the date as ‘No duplicate’ as only one entry by date is allowed. I added:
      • Zoho API connection issues

        Hi, Today at around 1930 GMT our application started experiencing intermittent timeouts from the Zoho API. These intermittent timeouts are not enabling our app to work properly. The API connection was working just fine before. HTTPSConnectionPool(host='www.zohoapis.com',
      • Query Regarding our Partnership between AIC-JKLU and Zoho

        Dear Zoho Team, I am writing to raise a concern on behalf of AIC-JKLU, one of Zoho’s incubator partners. Recently, our startups have been facing difficulties while trying to get themselves onboarded on Zoho through our dedicated partner link. Unfortunately,
      • Disputed Purchase Invoices

        We have recently moved to Zoho Books from Sage. In Sage we were able to post a purchase/vendor invoice but mark it as on dispute. This would usually be a pricing query or if something was damaged. It would show in their ledger, so we could agree their
      • Getting events in the future

        Hi I am trying to get events in the future by calling this API Endpoint https://www.zohoapis.eu/crm/v8/Events?fields=Event_Title,Created_By,Created_Time,Start_DateTime But that gives me all events in the database. How do I make a query that returns all
      • Next Page