Auto-triage Cognito Forms requests into Zendesk tickets with Slack alerts

Every 15 minutes, pull new entries from my Cognito Forms support intake form using List Entries, triage each one, and open a Zendesk ticket for it with the right priority and routing. Cognito Forms is not a poll-trigger provider, so use a cron trigger and List Entries with pagination. Skip entries we have already processed by tracking the highest Cognito Forms entry number seen across runs.

For each new submission, read the issue description and any attached info and classify the category as one of: billing, bug, how-to, account, outage, or other. Set a priority of low, normal, high, or urgent based on signal words and stated impact (outages, payment failures, security reports, and paying customers blocked should be urgent). Draft a concise, descriptive ticket subject.

Before creating the ticket, use Zendesk Search Users to look up the requester by email so we do not create duplicates. If no match is found, use Zendesk Create User to add them with the name and email from the form. Then call Zendesk Create Ticket with the requester, subject, the cleaned-up body of the request, the inferred priority, and tags for the category.

If the triage flagged the issue as urgent, also Send a Message via Slack Bot to a dedicated #support-urgent channel. The message should be a one-paragraph summary including the requester's name and plan (if visible on the form), the inferred priority and the short reason why, and a deep link to the new Zendesk ticket so an on-call agent can jump in immediately.

Ask me which Cognito Forms form is the support intake, which Zendesk subdomain to file tickets in, and which Slack channel should get the urgent alerts. Use an agent workflow because category, priority, dedup-vs-create user, and the urgent summary all need judgement.

Additional information

What does this prompt do?

Checks your Cognito Forms support intake form every 15 minutes for new submissions and skips anything already processed.
Reads each request, classifies it as billing, bug, how-to, account, outage, or other, and sets a sensible priority based on impact signals.
Finds the requester in Zendesk by email so duplicates are not created, falls back to adding them as a new user, then opens a clean ticket with subject, body, priority, and category tags.
When something looks urgent, posts a one-paragraph summary in your on-call Slack channel with the requester, plan, reasoning, and a direct link to the ticket.

What do I need to use this?

A Cognito Forms account on a paid plan with API access, and the name of the form you use as your support intake.
A Zendesk account where you can create tickets and add end users.
A Slack workspace and a channel for urgent support escalations, such as #support-urgent.

How can I customize it?

Change how often it runs, for example every 5 minutes for a busy queue or hourly for a quieter one.
Tweak the rules for what counts as urgent, such as outages, payment failures, security reports, or paying customers being blocked.
Pick a different Slack channel for escalations, or send a direct message to your on-call lead instead.
Adjust which Cognito Forms fields drive the category, priority, or ticket subject so it matches the questions your form actually asks.

Frequently asked questions

Do I need a paid Cognito Forms plan?

Yes. API access to read form entries is included on the Pro, Team, and Enterprise plans, but not the free plan. Any of the paid tiers will work.

Will this create duplicate Zendesk users if the same person writes in twice?

No. Before opening a ticket the workflow looks up the requester in Zendesk by email. If they already exist, the ticket is filed against that user. Only brand new email addresses become new Zendesk users.

How does it decide what is urgent?

It reads the request and looks for signals like reported outages, payment failures, security concerns, or paying customers being blocked. You can adjust the rules to match what urgent means for your team.

Will the same form entry get filed as a ticket twice?

No. The workflow remembers the highest entry number it has already processed and only handles new submissions on the next run.

Can I send the Slack alert somewhere other than a channel?

Yes. You can point the urgent alert at any channel, a private group, or a direct message to your on-call lead. Just tell the workflow where to send it.