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Update Ticket Fields

This action updates various fields on tickets within your Professional Services Automation (PSA) tool (Autotask or ConnectWise). It typically uses data provided by preceding Smart Actions or can be configured with specific static values.

Why is it useful?

Automating ticket field updates ensures data consistency, accuracy, and adherence to your operational processes. It saves technicians valuable time by handling routine updates, allowing them to focus on resolving issues.

What It Does​

Updates Ticket Information​

Modifies specified fields on PSA tickets, such as status, priority, owner, or custom fields.

Utilizes Previous Action Outputs​

Can directly apply field updates suggested by preceding Smart actions like "Ticket Triage," "Ticket Dispatch," or "Analyze Customer Sentiment" (when configured to save to a field).

Supports Manual Configuration​

Allows for direct configuration of fields to be updated with static values if not relying on previous action outputs.

Logs Changes​

Records all field updates in the NeoAgent Event History for auditability and visibility.

How It Works​

1. Input Data​

The action receives a list of tickets to process. It primarily uses a list of FieldUpdateAudit objects, typically generated by an upstream action, which specify which fields to update on which tickets and with what values. Alternatively, or in addition, specific fields can be configured directly within this action.

2. Field Mapping and Update​

For each ticket and each field update instruction:

  • NeoAgent identifies the target ticket and the field to be modified.
  • It applies the new value to the specified field in your PSA (Autotask or ConnectWise).
  • The allow_removing_fields configuration determines whether NeoAgent can set a field to an empty or null value.

3. Output Structure​

The action outputs messages confirming the updates made. These messages are available for the Neo Dashboard Event History and for internal MSP use in subsequent workflow actions.

Configuration Fields​

When you add the "Update Ticket Fields" action to a workflow, you'll configure the following:

default_fields_to_update​

A list of field update instructions, typically provided by the output of a preceding AI action (e.g., "Ticket Triage" suggesting a new priority, or "Ticket Dispatch" suggesting a new owner). Each instruction specifies the ticket, the field to update, and the new value. (optional)

allow_removing_fields​

Determines if NeoAgent is permitted to set field values to empty or null. If False (the default), any update that would result in removing a field's value will be skipped. Set to True if you want to allow fields to be cleared. (default: False)

update_additional_fields​

Set this to True if you want to manually specify additional fields to update. This can be used independently or in conjunction with default_fields_to_update from previous actions. (default: False)

additional_fields_to_update​

When update_additional_fields is True, this section allows you to define specific, static field updates. (optional)

  • #### new_status The new status to set for the ticket(s). (optional)
  • #### new_priority The new priority to set for the ticket(s). (optional)
  • #### new_board The new board to move the ticket(s) to. This field is primarily for ConnectWise. (optional)
  • #### new_queue The new queue to move the ticket(s) to. This field is primarily for Autotask. (optional)

Output Fields​

This action makes the following information available to subsequent actions in the workflow:

default_messages_for_dashboard​

A list of messages detailing the updates made to each ticket, suitable for display in the Neo Dashboard Event History. These messages typically include the ticket ID and a summary of the fields that were changed.

default_messages_for_msp​

A list of messages confirming the updates, intended for internal MSP use. These can be used in subsequent actions, such as "Add Ticket Note," to record the changes on the ticket itself or to notify internal teams.

default_messages_for_end_client​

This field is typically empty for this action. Direct notification to the end client about field updates is usually handled by the PSA system's native notifications or by other dedicated notification actions in NeoAgent.

credits_consumed​

The number of NeoAgent credits consumed by this action. Updating ticket fields does not consume any credits. (default: 0)

Use Cases​

1. Apply AI-Triaged Fields​

  • Action 1: Ticket Triage - Analyzes a new ticket and determines the correct Type, Sub-Type, and Priority.
  • Action 2: Update Ticket Fields - Applies the Type, Sub-Type, and Priority values suggested by the "Ticket Triage" action to the ticket in the PSA.

2. Assign Ticket and Set Status after Dispatch​

  • Action 1: Ticket Dispatch - Suggests the appropriate technician (Owner/Resource) for a ticket.
  • Action 2: Update Ticket Fields - Updates the ticket's Owner or Primary Resource field with the technician suggested by "Ticket Dispatch" and sets the ticket's Status to "Assigned" (or a similar status).

3. Standardize Ticket Information on Closure​

  • Trigger: Ticket status changes to "Resolved" (or a similar pre-closed status).
  • Action 1: Update Ticket Fields - Sets a custom field like "Resolution Code" to a standard value, changes the Status to "Pending Closure Review," or updates Sub-Issue Type based on resolution details.

Best Practices​

Combine with Smart Actions​

Leverage "Update Ticket Fields" after Smart actions that generate field values (e.g., Ticket Triage, Ticket Dispatch, Analyze Customer Sentiment if saving sentiment to a custom field) to automate the application of those insights.

Understand allow_removing_fields​

Be cautious with the allow_removing_fields setting. While useful for clearing outdated information, ensure it's set to False if you want to prevent accidental removal of essential field values.

Use additional_fields_to_update for Static Changes​

For fields that need to be set to a fixed value (e.g., setting a "Source" to "NeoAgent Automation" or changing status to a specific value after an action), use the update_additional_fields and additional_fields_to_update configurations.

Verify Custom Field Names​

If you are updating custom fields through the default_fields_to_update mechanism (populated by an upstream action that identified a custom field), ensure the custom field names/IDs provided by the upstream action precisely match those in your PSA.

Review Event History​

Regularly check the Event History to monitor the successful execution of "Update Ticket Fields" actions and to troubleshoot any issues with field updates.

Test Thoroughly​

Before enabling workflows that update critical ticket fields, test them thoroughly in a staging environment or with a limited set of non-critical tickets to ensure they behave as expected.