Support Portal includes a built-in priority system that allows agents and automation rules to rank conversations by urgency. Priority levels control how conversations surface in the queue and provide a consistent triage framework across teams.
Operational objective
Conversation priority serves two purposes in an operational environment:
- Triage control — Priority determines which conversations require immediate attention and which can follow standard handling timelines. This is essential in environments with SLA obligations or regulatory response windows.
- Workload signaling — Priority indicators are visible in the conversation list, giving agents and supervisors an immediate read on queue severity without opening individual conversations.
Priority works alongside Labels and Automation to form a structured classification layer across the platform.
Priority levels
Support Portal provides four fixed priority levels:
| Level | Intended use |
|---|---|
| Urgent | Incidents requiring immediate action, such as service outages or security-related reports. |
| High | Time-sensitive matters that should be addressed ahead of the general queue, such as SLA-critical escalations. |
| Medium | Standard requests that require timely but not immediate resolution. |
| Low | Informational inquiries, general feedback, or tasks with flexible timelines. |
These levels are intentionally fixed. Custom priority values are not supported, by design, to maintain a consistent triage vocabulary across teams and automation rules. If you need additional granularity, use Labels or custom attributes in combination with priority.
Assigning priority from the conversation sidebar
Open a conversation and locate the Priority field in the right-hand side panel. Select the desired level from the dropdown.
Once assigned, two things happen:
- A priority indicator appears next to the conversation in the conversation list.
- An activity entry is recorded in the conversation timeline, logging the change and the agent who made it.
Assigning priority from the context menu
Right-click a conversation in the conversation list to open the context menu. Select the priority level directly without opening the conversation.
This method is useful when triaging multiple conversations in sequence.
Assigning priority from the command palette
Open the command palette with Cmd + K (macOS) or Ctrl + K (Windows/Linux), type "Assign priority," and select from the available levels.
The command palette is the fastest method when you are already working within a conversation and want to set priority without moving focus to the side panel.
Priority in automation rules
Priority integrates with the automation engine in two ways:
- As a condition — Trigger rules when a conversation's priority matches a specific level. For example, automatically assign conversations marked as Urgent to a dedicated escalation team.
- As an action — Set priority automatically based on other conversation properties. For example, assign High priority to any conversation where the subject line contains terms associated with compliance or outage reports.
Priority changes made by automation rules are logged in the conversation timeline, the same as manual changes.
See Automation for details on configuring rules.
Priority in macros
Priority can be included as a step in macros. When building or editing a macro, add the Change Priority action and select the target level. This allows agents to apply a priority assignment as part of a broader set of actions in a single step.
See Macros for details on creating and managing macros.
Filtering by priority
Use the conversation filter controls to narrow the queue by priority level. This is particularly useful for supervisors monitoring SLA compliance or for agents working through escalation backlogs.
Combined with label and team filters, priority filtering enables precise queue segmentation for operational review.