Why automation matters
Studies show 30–50% of B2B support tickets are automatable — routing, tagging, escalating, acknowledging. Every one of those is a manual click a human doesn't need to make. Yet most help desks charge premium-tier prices for the privilege: Zendesk's advanced triggers sit at $115/agent/month, Freshdesk's full automations at $49/agent/month.
Kora includes automation free. Not because it's a lesser version — because charging per-seat for "let the computer do the clicking" is the most per-seat thing in an already per-seat industry.
What you can build
Critical ticket created
→ Set In Progress + assign to on-call engineer
SLA breached
→ Raise priority to Critical + email workspace admins
No response for 4 hours
→ Add comment "Checking in — any update?" + notify assignee
Ticket from API
→ Set priority High + add comment from triage snippet
Reporter from @bigclient.com
→ Set priority Critical + assign to account manager
Status changed to Waiting for Team
→ Fire webhook to Slack #escalations
How it works
- Triggers: ticket created, status/priority/assignee changed, comment added, ticket claimed/merged, SLA breached, no response for N hours, waiting for N hours
- Conditions (ALL must match): category, priority, status, title contains, description contains, reporter email, reporter email domain, assignee, ticket source (dashboard/API/widget)
- Actions: set priority (recalculates SLA), set status (validates workflow transitions), assign (mode-aware), add comment, fire webhook, send email to members, re-run AI structuring
- Safety: dry-run testing, loop prevention, rate caps, soft-delete with preserved run history, kill switch
Kora vs per-seat vendors
| Scenario | Kora | Zendesk | Freshdesk |
|---|---|---|---|
| Critical ticket → auto-assign + escalate | Free rule | $115/agent tier | $49/agent tier |
| SLA breached → raise priority + notify | Free rule | $115/agent tier | $49/agent tier |
| No response in 4h → reminder email | Free time trigger | Not native | Limited |
| API ticket → auto-tag + route | Free condition | Custom code | Pro tier |
| Dry-run before enabling | Built-in | No | No |
| Run history per rule | Built-in | Enterprise | Pro tier |
Safety by design
- Dry-run testing: see which tickets would match before enabling. Zero side effects.
- Loop prevention: automation actions never trigger other rules — infinite loops impossible.
- Rate caps: 500 runs/hour per workspace, 100/hour per rule, 50 AI actions/day. Skip events logged clearly.
- SLA protection: automation comments never satisfy SLA first-response clocks.
- Spam guard: automated emails go to workspace members only, never to unverified ticket reporters.
- Kill switch + workspace toggle: disable all automation instantly without a code deploy.
Frequently asked questions
What is help desk automation?+
Help desk automation uses if-this-then-that rules to handle repetitive ticket work automatically. For example: "When a Critical ticket is created → assign to the on-call engineer, set status to In Progress." Rules fire on ticket events (created, status changed, SLA breached) and execute actions (set priority, assign, comment, notify, re-run AI) without human intervention.
How much does help desk automation cost?+
Most vendors gate automation behind premium tiers: Zendesk advanced triggers require Suite Professional ($115/agent/month), Freshdesk full automations need Pro ($49/agent/month), Zoho Blueprint is $23–40/agent/month. Kora includes full automation rules free on every workspace — no per-seat fees, no tier gating.
What can help desk automation rules do?+
Kora automation rules can: set ticket priority, change status, assign to team members, add comments, fire webhooks, send emails to workspace members, and re-run AI structuring. Triggers include ticket created, status/priority/assignee changed, comment added, SLA breached, and time-based conditions like "no response for 4 hours."
How do I test automation rules before enabling them?+
Kora includes a built-in dry-run feature. When creating or editing a rule, click "Test rule" to see which of your last 20 tickets would match the conditions and which actions would fire — all without executing anything. Zero emails sent, zero webhooks fired, zero AI calls.
Can automation rules create loops?+
No. Kora's automation engine has a built-in loop guard: actions performed by automation rules never trigger other rules. If a rule changes a ticket's status, that change doesn't fire the "status changed" trigger for other rules. This prevents infinite loops entirely.
What happens when a rule references a deleted snippet or removed team member?+
The rule is automatically flagged with a "Needs attention" badge in Settings. The rule continues running but skips the broken action (logged as "skipped_snippet_deleted" or "skipped_member_inactive"). Editing the rule clears the flag once you fix or remove the broken reference.
Are automation rules free?+
Yes. Kora automation rules are free on every workspace with no credit cost. The only metered action is AI structuring (capped at 50 free runs per workspace per day as a safety valve). All other triggers, conditions, and actions are unlimited within the rate caps (500 executions/hour per workspace).
How does help desk automation compare to Zapier or IFTTT?+
Zapier and IFTTT are external tools that connect your help desk to other apps — they add per-task costs, latency, and a third-party dependency. Kora automation is built into the product: rules run instantly (inline with the ticket write), have no per-task cost, and can access workspace-native features like AI structuring, SLA recalculation, and role-aware assignment that external tools can't reach.
Ready to automate? Create a free workspace and set up your first rule in Settings → Automation. Or see how credits work — automation is always free.