# Automation (/docs/configure/automation) The **Automation** category controls how work moves through Sift after it arrives: which queue it lands in and how it routes to agents, the workflows that act on it, the macros agents reuse, and the org-wide action policies. It has four pages: **Queues**, **Workflows**, **Macros & Saved Responses**, and **Action Management**. ## Queues [#queues] The **Queues** page routes incoming conversations to the right people. Each queue matches items with a saved-search criteria, orders them by priority, and assigns them to the agents who work it. {/* screenshot */}
The Queues settings page showing prioritized queues with their assignees and criteria.
Queues in priority order, each with its assignees and saved-search criteria.
- **Criteria**: each queue is defined by a saved search; any item matching it lands in the queue. A live preview shows matching records before you save. - **Assignees**: the agents who can receive and respond to items. Access is granted by role, so the roles with access to a queue determine who can be assigned. - **Routing**: auto-assign on arrival hands new items to eligible assignees, routing skills match items to agents, workload-aware assignment balances against each agent's open load, and SLA targets set response and resolution goals. - **Priority and the Default Queue**: the highest-priority queue whose criteria match an item wins it. The **Default Queue** is the catch-all for anything unmatched, so nothing is lost. ## Workflows [#workflows] The **Workflows** page manages the automations that drive how content moves through Sift after it's ingested: classifying records, assigning them to queues and agents, applying tags, sending notifications, and triggering AI replies. A workflow is a visual flow of steps that runs against incoming events or on a schedule. The page has four tabs: **AI Goals** (autonomous AI-agent runs, abstains, and action outcomes), **Automations** (the library of fixed-step automations, with name, description, and run activity), **Schedules**, and **Notifications**. ## Macros & Saved Responses [#macros--saved-responses] The **Macros & Saved Responses** page manages reusable, templated replies your team applies to any message without retyping common answers. An agent can insert a macro into the composer, or a workflow can run one automatically. Each macro stores a title and body, can be shared org-wide or kept personal, and is searchable in the composer picker. See [Macros](/docs/automate/saved-responses) for the full workflow. ## Action Management [#action-management] The **Action Management** page configures the org-wide policies that govern how actions and conversations behave. It has three tabs. ### Support Settings [#support-settings] The operational behavior of actions and threads: a **maximum ticket limit** per customer (0 means unlimited), a self-service **unassign my actions** utility, and **close settings** - an auto-close timer for inactive actions and a thread-lock delay after a conversation closes. ### Statuses [#statuses] Custom action statuses and how they behave in the conversation workflow. Sift ships with defaults (Open, In Progress, Closed); you can add your own (for example "Waiting on Customer" or "Escalated"), give each a color and an open/closed state type, and choose the default status for new actions. The built-in Open and Closed statuses can be renamed and recolored but not deleted. ### Feedback & CSAT [#feedback--csat] The customer-satisfaction survey Sift sends when conversations close. Sift uses a two-step survey (a rating prompt, then an optional written-feedback prompt), both of which you can word yourself. A managed list of **close reasons** controls which closes fire a survey, so spammy or disengaged closes don't ask for feedback. ## Related [#related] Build automation flows with triggers and actions. Tags, rubrics, moderation, custom fields, and forms.