The scenarios you build now act on live chat and email conversations: when a conversation matches, Aide runs the scenario's actions and follows its instructions in its replies.
How it behaves
- When they run: on each customer message, chat or email, and again once Aide has tagged the conversation's topics, so topic triggers work on email too. Every inbound email is now tagged with topics on arrival, whether or not Aide answers it.
- Which run: enabled scenarios for the conversation's agent. "Apply always" scenarios run, plus the first matching high-priority one, otherwise every matching medium one, otherwise every matching low one. A delay holds the actions until the message is that many minutes old, and a scenario with a delay is checked again when it ends even if it didn't match before, such as on a tag a helpdesk rule adds a minute or two after the message.
- Once per conversation: each scenario runs at most once per conversation. A scenario whose reply was held (see "Send a reply" below) doesn't count; it is held once per message, with one note, and can run on a later message.
- Actions that run on their own: collect a field (with its collection mode and "can't skip"), add a tag, assign to a group, close, post an internal comment, and run a macro (its Aide actions: status, priority, team, tags, internal note, reply and subject). Assigning never replaces a teammate's choice of assignee or team.
- Replies: a matched scenario's instructions, reply text and macro reply guide what Aide writes. "Pre-write a reply" prepares a shared Copilot draft for your team ahead of time.
- "Send a reply" on a connected helpdesk (Gorgias, Zendesk, Front): the scenario's text is sent to the customer exactly as written, at any AI level and without Aide writing a reply, unless a matched scenario has Aide write the reply. It goes out with the scenario's other actions once the scenario's delay has passed, not when Aide first reads the message, and the scenario's order tag is added first: if the order can't be tagged, the reply isn't sent. It also goes out when the scenario only matches once its delay has passed, such as on a tag a helpdesk rule adds after the message, as long as Aide sent nothing on that message. A scenario that sends a reply and tags the order never tags it without sending the reply: if Aide already answered the message, the scenario doesn't run and an internal note says so. When a matched scenario has instructions, Aide checks them against the conversation as it is then, later messages included; if they say a person should handle it, or Aide can't check, nothing of that scenario runs and your team gets an internal note with the reason, even on a topic at AI level none, and the conversation goes back to your team. A scenario without instructions is sent without a check. If a teammate has replied or taken the conversation in the meantime, or Aide already answered a later message, the scenario doesn't run and an internal note says so. If Aide was paused or turned off for the conversation in the meantime, the scenario doesn't run, a note says why and the conversation goes back to your team; nothing is tagged without the customer getting the reply. A scenario held this way can still run on a later message. If the scenario no longer matches when its delay ends, nothing is sent. The inbox's own sending settings still apply: where it only drafts, the text is drafted; in a shadow rollout it is kept in Aide as a draft and nothing reaches the helpdesk. On Aide's own chat and email the text still guides what Aide writes.
- "Write a reply" sends where the topic only drafts: on a message where a scenario that has Aide write the reply matches, Aide acts as on a fully automated topic for that message, whatever the topic's AI level, and a customer's tap confirming an order change offered on that message runs without approval. Other messages of the topic follow the topic's level. A scenario that escalates with a hand-off message doesn't raise the level.
- Escalating: "Escalate with a hand-off message" hands the conversation to your team straight away. With "Escalate with an internal comment" Aide replies as usual; only when it can't answer does its reply go to your team as an internal note instead. (Until 2026-10-16 this option always held the reply back for the team.)
- Order actions: listed to Aide as guidance only. They still happen only through the order action rules you've set: AI level per topic, customer confirmation and approval. On a message where a "Write a reply" scenario raised the level, Aide offers only the order changes the scenario's automation names (for "Update shipping address": the address change), within the inbox's order action settings; with no automation, none.
- Run an automation: "Update shipping address for Shopify order" is offered in every account's scenario editor. (Until 2026-10-18 it was offered to no account, so a scenario carried over from the old app showed its automation action without a type.)
- Suggest a macro: the suggestion appears in the thread under the customer's message.
- Custom regex conditions: work. Invalid patterns, and patterns that could run for too long, are refused when you save.
- Message or subject patterns: add a "message or subject" condition in the scenario editor, name
it and write a regular expression, then test it on a pasted message and subject before saving. It
checks the customer's message, then the subject, ignoring case, so
\| KITSCH$catches subjects ending in "| KITSCH". Only the first 2,000 characters of the two together are checked, so a very long message can push the subject out of reach. The name shows on conversations the scenario ran on, and a pattern refused on save says why under it. - In the thread: scenario runs show which actions ran and which were skipped, alongside routing, SLA, status, assignment and handoff activity. None of it reaches the customer's chat.
- Run counts: scenario and macro run counts and analytics now reflect live runs.
- Helpdesk macros: a macro's Front actions apply on Front conversations, and a Zendesk macro applies on Zendesk tickets, through their connectors. On any other conversation they're skipped, and the thread says so.