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Preview-Only Mode

Before you trust ZAI to change tickets automatically, you can run it in preview-only mode — it still evaluates every ticket and posts a note explaining what it would have done, but it doesn't actually write the change. Triage and Assignment each have their own independent preview toggle.

Overview

Preview-only is configured per pod, with clients able to override their pod's setting:

  • Automatic Triage has its own preview toggle. When on, triage runs and posts a note listing the field changes it would make, without writing them to the ticket.
  • Automatic Assignment has its own preview toggle. When on, assignment scores candidates and posts a note with the top 5 technicians, without setting the ticket owner.

Two separate toggles, not one

Older versions had a single "Suggestion Only / Direct Assignment" flag that only ever gated assignment. It has been replaced with two independent flags — one for Triage, one for Assignment — so you can, for example, let triage write fields live while still previewing assignment decisions before they go live.

Getting started

Setting preview mode on a pod

  1. Go to the pod's edit page.
  2. Under AI Module Toggles, each feature card (Automatic Triage, Automatic Assignment) has its own sub-toggle for preview mode alongside the main on/off toggle.
  3. Turn a feature's preview sub-toggle on to keep that feature in preview, or off to let it apply changes directly.

Overriding preview mode for a client

  1. Open the client's configuration page.
  2. By default, a client inherits Pod Settings (including both preview toggles) from its primary pod.
  3. Turn on Override Pod Settings to set the client's own Triage and Assignment preview toggles independently of the pod.

New pods and clients default to preview

New pods and clients start with both Triage and Assignment preview-only switched on, so nothing gets written to a ticket automatically until you deliberately turn preview off.

Key concepts

What "preview" changes

Preview mode doesn't stop ZAI from evaluating the ticket — it still runs the full triage or assignment logic. The only difference is the last step: instead of writing the result to the PSA ticket (setting fields, applying a status/queue change, or assigning an owner), ZAI posts a note describing what it would have done.

Inheritance

A client without an override always follows its primary pod's Triage and Assignment preview settings. Turning on Override Pod Settings on the client breaks that inheritance and lets you set the client's preview behaviour independently — useful when one client needs to stay in preview a bit longer while the rest of the pod goes live.

Migrating from the old flag

Configurations created before the split had a single DisableSuggestionOnlyMode flag that only affected assignment. When upgraded, existing pods and clients kept their previous assignment behaviour under the new Assignment Preview-Only flag, and started with Triage Preview-Only switched off (since the old flag never gated triage). Review both toggles after upgrading if you want to change that starting point.

Troubleshooting

Tickets aren't being updated even though triage/assignment looks configured correctly. Check the pod's (or client's, if overridden) preview toggle for that feature — a preview note being posted instead of a live change is expected behaviour, not a fault.

A client's preview setting doesn't match what I set on the pod. Check whether Override Pod Settings is on for that client — if it is, the client's own preview toggles apply instead of the pod's.

I only want to preview one of Triage or Assignment. That's supported directly — the two toggles are independent, so you can run one live while keeping the other in preview.