Auto-close stale Gorgias tickets using Rules and timed Macros

Prerequisites

Why Gorgias Rules?

Gorgias Rules are the simplest path to auto-closing stale tickets. Everything runs natively inside Gorgias — no external tools, no API keys, no webhook infrastructure. Rules evaluate ticket conditions automatically and apply actions like sending macros, adding tags, and changing status. Setup takes under 15 minutes.

The trade-off is flexibility. Rules use time-based conditions that evaluate periodically (up to an hour delay), not on a precise timer. You can't incorporate external data — like checking a CRM before closing — and the logic is limited to conditions Gorgias supports natively. If you need custom timing, external lookups, or conversational control, consider the n8n or Claude Code approaches.

How it works

• Rule 1 fires when a ticket has been in "pending" status for 48+ hours with no customer reply — it sends a follow-up macro and tags the ticket auto-close-sent
• Rule 2 fires 24 hours later on tickets already tagged auto-close-sent — it sets the ticket status to closed and tags it auto-closed
• Reopened ticket Rule flags any auto-closed ticket that gets reopened by a customer reply, adding a reopened tag for quality monitoring
• Exclusion conditions on both Rules skip tickets tagged vip, escalated, or priority

Step 1: Create a closing Macro

Go to Macros in the left sidebar → Add macro.

Macro name: Auto-close: Follow-up

Message body:

Hi {{ticket.requester.firstname}},
 
Just checking in — did our previous reply resolve your question? If you still need help, simply reply to this message and we'll pick things right back up.
 
If we don't hear from you, we'll close this ticket in the next 24 hours to keep things tidy. You can always open a new conversation if something comes up later.
 
Best,
{{ticket.assignee.firstname | default: "The Support Team"}}

Set the Macro type to Public reply so the customer sees it.

Step 2: Create a Rule for the follow-up message

Go to Settings → Automation → Rules → Add rule.

Rule name: Auto-close: Send follow-up after 48h

When: Ticket status updated (or on a scheduled cadence if your plan supports it)

Conditions (ALL must match):

• Ticket status is pending (agent has replied, waiting on customer)
• Last message sender is Agent (confirms the customer hasn't responded)
• Hours since last update is greater than 48
• Ticket does not have tag vip
• Ticket does not have tag escalated
• Ticket does not have tag auto-close-sent

Actions:

• Apply macro: Auto-close: Follow-up
• Add tag: auto-close-sent

The auto-close-sent tag prevents the Rule from firing a second time on the same ticket.

Step 3: Create a Rule to close after the follow-up

Create a second Rule that closes the ticket if the customer still hasn't replied after the follow-up.

Rule name: Auto-close: Close after follow-up

When: Ticket status updated

Conditions (ALL must match):

• Ticket has tag auto-close-sent
• Last message sender is Agent
• Hours since last update is greater than 24
• Ticket status is pending

Actions:

• Set ticket status: closed
• Add tag: auto-closed
• Remove tag: auto-close-sent

Step 4: Handle reopened tickets

When a customer replies to an auto-closed ticket, Gorgias automatically reopens it. Create one more Rule to flag these:

Rule name: Auto-close: Flag reopened

When: Ticket created (re-opened counts as a status change)

Conditions:

• Ticket has tag auto-closed
• Ticket status is open

Actions:

• Add tag: reopened
• Remove tag: auto-closed

This makes it easy to create a View for reopened tickets and track whether your auto-close timing is too aggressive.

Step 5: Create monitoring Views

Set up two Views for ongoing quality control:

View 1: Auto-close pending

• Filters: Tag is auto-close-sent, Status is pending
• Purpose: See which tickets have received the follow-up and are waiting to be closed

View 2: Reopened after auto-close

• Filters: Tag is reopened
• Purpose: Track how many customers come back after auto-close — if this number is high, increase your wait time

Step 6: Exclude specific ticket types

Add exclusion conditions to both auto-close Rules for tickets that should never be auto-closed:

• Tickets tagged vip, escalated, or priority
• Tickets assigned to specific teams (e.g., billing, legal)
• Tickets with a specific channel (e.g., phone — those often need follow-up calls)

Review your exclusion list monthly as your support workflow evolves.

Common questions

How precise is the 48-hour timing on Gorgias Rules?

Gorgias evaluates time-based conditions periodically, not continuously. There can be up to an hour of delay after the 48-hour threshold before the Rule fires. For most auto-close use cases, this imprecision is acceptable — whether a follow-up sends at 48 hours or 49 hours rarely matters. If you need exact timing, use the n8n approach with a Wait node.

Can I auto-close tickets from specific channels only?

Yes. Add a channel condition to both Rules — for example, "Channel is email" or "Channel is not chat." This lets you auto-close email tickets while leaving chat conversations for manual handling, which is useful if your chat SLA expectations are different from email.

What's a normal reopen rate after auto-close?

A healthy reopen rate is under 10%. If you're seeing 15-20%+, your wait period is too short or your agents aren't fully resolving issues before moving tickets to pending. Use the "Reopened after auto-close" View (Step 5) to track this weekly.

Will auto-closed tickets affect my CSAT if I send a satisfaction survey?

Auto-closed tickets that were genuinely resolved won't hurt CSAT — the customer simply didn't need to reply. But tickets auto-closed before the issue was actually resolved will generate low scores. Exclude auto-closed tickets from CSAT surveys for the first few weeks (add a condition: ticket does not have tag auto-closed), then enable surveys once you trust the process.

Cost

Macros and Rules are included in all Gorgias paid plans at no additional cost.