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Each conversation is handled either by the AI or by your team. The AI only ever answers while the conversation is the AI’s. The moment anything below happens, the chat becomes your team’s, the customer is told a teammate will reply, and the AI stops answering until someone hands it back.

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Who starts with a chat

  • A new chat from the widget starts with the AI when the AI is on.
  • With the AI off, it starts with your team, and round robin can assign it straight away (see Assignment).
  • A chat a teammate started from the visitor list starts with your team.
While the AI has a chat, the widget always shows a Talk to a person link, and the inbox shows “The AI assistant is answering this conversation. Replying yourself takes it over.”

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Reasons the AI hands off

The AI never goes silent: if it can’t answer for any reason, the chat goes to your team.

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When the AI decides to hand off

The AI hands off by calling its built-in handoff tool with a short reason for your team. It’s told to do so when:
  • the customer asks for a person;
  • they need something only staff can do (refunds, account, email or billing changes, cancellations, data deletion) and no task, action or website action covers it;
  • it already asked a clarifying question and still can’t help;
  • they’re frustrated;
  • the request is about one of your Always for these topics (see Instructions);
  • a task’s steps say to hand off.
The decision is a tool call, never a phrase in the text, so the customer sees every word the AI writes and nothing is held back. If the AI wrote something before handing off, that stays in the chat as its message, then the notice.

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The turn limit

After this many AI replies (8 by default, set on Instructions) counts the AI’s answers in the conversation. Follow-up turns after a website action runs don’t count. Once the limit is reached, the customer’s next message goes to your team instead of the AI.

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What your team gets

Every handoff adds an internal note to the conversation, visible to your team only: “Handed off to the team. Reason: …”. When the AI itself decided (it called handoff, flagged a bug, couldn’t answer, or a website action needs a person), the note also has a brief, written by the brief job from the transcript and any browser details:
The brief uses only facts from the transcript. If writing it fails or takes over 20 seconds, the note has just the reason. Pick a fast model for it under Model per job (Handoff briefs). Then the chat is assigned by round robin if you use it, and your team is notified: the assignee, or everyone who asked to hear about chats that need a person. Reports count handoffs and their reasons. A chat that went to the team only because the AI was off doesn’t count as the AI handing off.

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Taking over

Replying to a customer in a chat the AI is answering takes it over: the AI stops, and the note “Ana took over from the AI.” is added. If the AI was in the middle of writing, its answer is dropped. Take over in the conversation’s banner (or Take over from the AI in the command palette) does the same without replying. An internal note doesn’t take over. Notes stay between your team, never reach the customer or the AI, and don’t show typing to the customer. See Notes and replies.

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Hand a chat back to the AI

In a chat your team is handling that the AI answered before, the banner says “A teammate is handling this conversation.” with Hand back to AI (or Hand back to the AI in the command palette). After you hand back:
  • If the customer’s latest message is still unanswered by a teammate, the AI answers it now.
  • If a teammate already answered it, the AI waits for the customer’s next message.
  • The same rules apply as before: the AI hands off again if the customer asks for a person, the reply cap is reached, or its replies in this conversation have already hit the turn limit.

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Business hours

The AI answers around the clock: business hours don’t change what it does. They matter for chats with your team. When a chat is handled by your team and your inbox is closed, the customer gets one automatic away message per closed period. The default reads “Thanks for your message! Our team is away right now and will reply here on Monday at 09:00.” It’s skipped if a teammate replied in the last 15 minutes. This covers chats the AI just handed off and new chats while the AI is off. Set your hours and away message (with {when} for the next opening) in Business hours.

Instructions

Turn limit and topics that always go to a person.

Assignment

Who gets a chat once it’s handed off.

Notifications

Hear about chats that need a person.

Debug context

How the AI sees and flags browser errors.