# Zendesk

Use Zendesk with your agent two ways — as a knowledge source, and as a support-handoff destination (live chat or email-to-ticket).

Zendesk works with Foldspace in two independent ways, each set up where it belongs:

- **Knowledge base** — sync your Zendesk help center articles into the agent's Knowledge. This connection is done in the **Knowledge** module, not in Integrations. See [Adding knowledge sources](/user-guides/knowledge-sources/).
- **Support handoff** — when the agent reaches its limits, it escalates to your Zendesk support team with a one-sentence summary, so the handoff arrives with context instead of a cold start.

## Support handoff

There are two ways to hand off. Pick the one that matches how your team works:

| Handoff type | What happens | Use when |
| :--- | :--- | :--- |
| **Live chat** | The agent opens the Zendesk messaging widget and seeds it with the summary, then steps aside. | You run Zendesk Messaging or the Web Widget and staff live chat. |
| **Email → ticket** | The agent sends the summary and context to your Zendesk support address, opening a ticket. | You handle support asynchronously in the Agent Workspace. |

### Prerequisites

- A Zendesk account with either the messaging widget installed (for live chat) or a support address (for email-to-ticket).
- **Offer Support Handoff** enabled in [Style & Behavior](/user-guides/building-your-agent/).

### Live chat

The live handoff is driven by the **SDK**, not an Integrations connection: you author a **Support Handoff** action and add a front-end handler that opens the Zendesk widget with the summary. Follow the developer walkthrough:

- [Connecting Foldspace to Zendesk: Support Handoff](/guides/zendesk-handoff/)

Test it on your own site — a staging or dev build where the Foldspace SDK and the Zendesk widget are loaded. You can't verify this in the [Playground](/user-guides/playground/): it runs inside the Foldspace UI, so the real Zendesk widget isn't on the page.

### Email → ticket

When you don't staff live chat, use the **Email** handoff destination — no custom code. The agent emails the summary to your Zendesk support address, which opens a ticket in the Agent Workspace. Point it at your Zendesk-generated support address (for example `support@your-subdomain.zendesk.com`) so it becomes a tracked ticket. Configure the destination in [Support handoff](/user-guides/support-handoff/); the full email routing rules are in the [Zendesk handoff walkthrough](/guides/zendesk-handoff/).

## Related

- [Intercom](/user-guides/integrations-intercom/): the same two handoff options.
- [Adding knowledge sources](/user-guides/knowledge-sources/): connect Zendesk as a knowledge source.
- [Support handoff](/user-guides/support-handoff/): triggers and destinations.