Replywell documentation
Replywell lets agents send rich messages in Zendesk messaging conversations: quick replies, buttons and links, image cards, carousels, lists, forms, files and location requests. Admins build a template library; agents pick a template in the ticket sidebar, check the preview for the customer's channel, insert it into their reply and press Send.
Setup (admins)
- Install Replywell from the Zendesk Marketplace. The install creates a custom object called "Replywell template" that holds your library.
- Optional, for carousels, lists, forms, files, location requests, webview buttons and "keep the
text box closed": open Admin Center > Apps and integrations > Conversations API and create an
API key (Suite Professional, Enterprise or Enterprise Plus). In Admin Center > Apps and
integrations > Zendesk Support apps > Replywell > Settings, paste:
- Conversations API app id (shown on the same page),
- Conversations API key id (starts with
app_), - Conversations API key secret (a secure setting: agents never see it),
- Conversations API region:
us, oreuif your account keeps messaging data in the EU.
- Open Replywell in the left navigation bar and click Test connection.
- Click Add starter templates and edit their links, or New template.
Building templates
Every template has a name agents pick from, an id (lowercase, used in tags), a note for agents and a type.
| Type | What the customer gets | Needs the API key |
|---|---|---|
| Quick replies | A question with up to 10 reply buttons; a tap sends the label as the customer's reply | No |
| Buttons and links | Text with up to 10 link, postback or webview buttons | Only for webview buttons |
| Image card | An image with text and buttons (reply buttons alone, or link and postback buttons) | Only for webview buttons |
| Carousel | Up to 10 cards, each with a title, description, image and 1 to 3 buttons | Yes |
| List | Up to 10 rows like a carousel, plus buttons under the list | Yes |
| Location request | Text and a "share my location" button | Yes |
| Form | Up to 20 fields: text, email or pick list | Yes |
| File | A file from a link, with optional text | Yes |
Placeholders fill in from the ticket when the agent inserts the message. Use the Placeholder menu or type them:
| Placeholder | Value |
|---|---|
{{requester.first_name}}, {{requester.name}}, {{requester.last_name}}, {{requester.email}} | The customer |
{{organization.name}} | The customer's organization |
{{ticket.id}}, {{ticket.subject}}, {{ticket.brand}} | The ticket |
{{agent.first_name}}, {{agent.name}} | The agent inserting it |
{{ticket.custom_field_<id>}} | Any ticket field (find the id in Admin Center > Objects and rules > Tickets > Fields) |
Add a fallback for empty values with |: {{requester.first_name|there}}. Without one, the agent
is asked to type the value before inserting. Values inside links are encoded for the link; a link
field that is one placeholder (a ticket field holding a full https link) is used as the link.
Values are cleaned so a customer's name or a ticket field can never add buttons or images.
Checks before saving: links must start with https:// and have no spaces or brackets; labels
can't contain [ ] ( ); reply buttons can't be mixed with other buttons in one message; each reply
needs its own value; carousels take 1 to 10 cards with 1 to 3 buttons each; forms take 1 to 20
fields and refuse fields that look like card numbers, passwords or ID numbers.
Who sees it: tick groups to limit a template to them; with none ticked, every agent sees it. Extra tags are added to the ticket when the template is sent.
When a channel can't show it: by default Replywell sends its own text version (numbered options, plain links, one line per card), or your own text if you write one. Choose "Send it anyway and let Zendesk convert it" to always send the rich message.
What each channel shows
The sidebar reads the customer's channel from their latest message, so a customer who moved from the Web Widget to WhatsApp gets the WhatsApp preview.
| Type | Web Widget and mobile apps | Messenger | Telegram | LINE | Viber | Apple Messages | SMS, X, WeChat | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Quick replies | As built | Buttons up to 3; 4 to 10 as a list | As built (11 max) | As built | As built | As built | As built | As built | Text (X, WeChat, SMS) |
| Link buttons | As built | Text links | As built (3 max) | Text links | As built | As built | As built | As built | Text on SMS |
| Postback buttons | As built | Text | As built | Text | As built | As built | Text | Text | Text |
| Image card | As built | With changes | As built | With changes | As built | As built | As built | As built | Text on SMS and WeChat |
| Carousel | As built | Text | As built | Text | As built | As built | As built | Text | Text |
| List | As a carousel | One message per row | One button per row | Text | One message per row | As a carousel | Text | Text | Text |
| Location request | As built | Text | Not supported | Text | As built | Text | Text | Text | Text |
| Form | Inline | Form link | Form link | Form link | Form link | Form link | Form link | Not supported | Form link |
| File | As built | As built | As built | Text link | Text link | Text link | Text link | As built | Text link |
Source: Zendesk's Sunshine Conversations channel capabilities and channel guides, and Zendesk's 2026 change that sends forms to social channels as a link to a hosted form. Zendesk decides how each channel displays a message and may change it; the preview follows this table.
Sending (agents)
- Open a messaging ticket. The Replywell sidebar says which channel the customer is on and badges each template: Shows as built, Shows with changes, Form link, Text or Not supported.
- Pick a template. Fill in any value it asks for. Switch the preview to another channel if you like.
- Click Insert into reply, check the confirmation and click Insert. Replywell puts the message into your reply as a short code Zendesk turns into buttons or cards when it's sent. Leave the code as it is.
- Press Send in the conversation. When your message appears, Replywell adds an internal note
(what was sent, on which channel, how, the options and links) and the tags
replywell_sentandreplywell_<template id>. - When the customer taps a quick reply (or answers the text version with its number), Replywell
adds
replywell_choice_<value>and a short note, while the ticket is open in your browser.
Settings
| Setting | Default | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Conversations API app id, key id, key secret, region | empty, us | Turns on the types that need the API key |
| Tag prefix | replywell | Start of every tag Replywell adds |
| Log each sent message in an internal note | on | Off: tags only |
| Tag the customer's pick | on | Adds <prefix>_choice_<value> |
| Let agents edit templates | off | On: agents can add and change templates (their role also needs edit access to custom object records) |
Limits
- Messaging tickets only. On email and legacy chat tickets the library is read-only.
- Replywell does not send WhatsApp approved templates outside the 24-hour window, does not send messages on its own, and has no bulk sending.
- Logging needs the ticket open in the agent's browser when the message goes out; the customer's pick is tagged while someone has the ticket open.
- Message templates in your Conversations API app (for carousels, lists, forms, files and location
requests) are named
replywell_.... Replywell deletes the ones it made after a day, and Clean up on the Replywell page does it on demand. A reply drafted with one of these and sent more than a day later may arrive as a code; insert it again. - Hosted forms are public links with a token. Never ask for card numbers, passwords or ID numbers.
Plans
Team: $99 a month for up to 14 agents and admins. Scale: $7 per agent per month for 15 or more. 14-day trial with a card. If the installed plan doesn't cover the account's agents, templates and previews still work and inserting is off until an admin changes the plan.
Troubleshooting
See the common answers in SUPPORT.md, or write to hello@greatwork.company (a person replies within one business day).