Auto-triage and tag Zendesk tickets using n8n

Prerequisites

Overview

This workflow uses the Zendesk Trigger node to receive new ticket events, a Code node to run keyword matching against a topic map, and an HTTP Request node to update the ticket with tags and a group assignment via the Zendesk API. Because n8n sits outside Zendesk, you can extend this workflow to also log to a spreadsheet, notify Slack, or call other APIs as part of the same triage step.

Step 1: Set up Zendesk credentials in n8n

Create a new credential in n8n:

• Type: Zendesk API
• Subdomain: your Zendesk subdomain (e.g., acme)
• Email: your Zendesk account email
• API Token: your Zendesk API token

Zendesk API auth uses the format {'{'}email{'}'}/token:{'{'}api_token{'}'} as the username with Basic auth. n8n handles this automatically when you use the Zendesk credential type.

Step 2: Add a Zendesk Trigger node

Add a Zendesk Trigger node as the workflow trigger:

• Credential: Select the Zendesk credential you just created
• Event: Ticket Created

This node creates a webhook in your Zendesk instance automatically. When a new ticket arrives, Zendesk sends the ticket data to n8n.

Step 3: Add a Code node for keyword matching

Add a Code node connected to the trigger. This node checks the ticket text against a topic-keyword map and returns the matched tags and target group:

const ticket = $input.first().json;
const subject = (ticket.subject || '').toLowerCase();
const description = (ticket.description || '').toLowerCase();
const text = `${subject} ${description}`;
 
const topicMap = {
  'topic-billing': ['invoice', 'charge', 'billing', 'payment', 'receipt', 'subscription', 'refund'],
  'topic-shipping': ['tracking', 'delivery', 'shipping', 'package', 'lost', 'delayed', 'transit'],
  'topic-product': ['broken', 'defective', 'quality', 'size', 'color', 'damaged', 'wrong item'],
  'topic-account': ['password', 'login', 'account', 'access', 'locked', 'sign in', 'reset'],
  'topic-technical': ['error', 'bug', 'crash', 'not loading', 'api', 'integration', 'timeout'],
};
 
const groupMap = {
  'topic-billing': 'Billing Support',
  'topic-shipping': 'Shipping Support',
  'topic-product': 'Product Support',
  'topic-account': 'Account Support',
  'topic-technical': 'Technical Support',
};
 
const matchedTopics = [];
for (const [tag, keywords] of Object.entries(topicMap)) {
  if (keywords.some(kw => text.includes(kw))) {
    matchedTopics.push(tag);
  }
}
 
const primaryTopic = matchedTopics[0] || 'topic-uncategorized';
 
return [{
  json: {
    ticketId: ticket.id,
    tags: matchedTopics.length > 0 ? matchedTopics : ['topic-uncategorized'],
    group: groupMap[primaryTopic] || 'General Support',
    matchedTopics,
  }
}];

The Code node outputs the ticket ID, an array of matched topic tags, and the target group name.

Step 4: Look up group IDs

The Zendesk API requires a numeric group_id, not a group name. Add an HTTP Request node to fetch your groups:

• Method: GET
• URL: https://{'{'}your-subdomain{'}'}.zendesk.com/api/v2/groups.json
• Authentication: Predefined Credential Type → Zendesk API
• Credential: Select your Zendesk credential

Then add another Code node to map the group name to the ID:

const groups = $('HTTP Request').first().json.groups;
const targetGroup = $('Code').first().json.group;
const classification = $('Code').first().json;
 
const groupId = groups.find(g => g.name === targetGroup)?.id;
 
return [{
  json: {
    ...classification,
    groupId: groupId || null,
  }
}];

Step 5: Update the ticket via Zendesk API

Add a final HTTP Request node to apply the tags and group assignment:

• Method: PUT
• URL: https://{'{'}your-subdomain{'}'}.zendesk.com/api/v2/tickets/{'{'}$json.ticketId{'}'}.json
• Authentication: Predefined Credential Type → Zendesk API
• Credential: Select your Zendesk credential
• Body Content Type: JSON
• Body:

{
  "ticket": {
    "tags": "{{ $json.tags }}",
    "group_id": "{{ $json.groupId }}"
  }
}

Step 6: Add error handling and activate

1. Enable Retry On Fail on the HTTP Request nodes (2 retries, 5-second wait)
2. Add an Error Workflow to alert you via email or Slack if the workflow fails
3. Run a test by creating a ticket in Zendesk with subject "Question about my invoice"
4. Verify the topic-billing tag appears and the ticket is assigned to Billing Support
5. Toggle the workflow to Active

Cost

• n8n Cloud: Each ticket triggers ~4 node executions. 500 tickets/month = ~2,000 executions. Fits within the Starter plan.
• Self-hosted: Free. You provide the infrastructure.