# Botpress Human Handoff: Desk, Legacy HITL and Zendesk Routes

> How Botpress hands a chat to a person: Botpress Desk for new workspaces, legacy HITL on Plus or higher, and handoff to Zendesk, Intercom or HubSpot.

_Source: https://professionalstoolkit.com/articles/botpress-human-handoff — The Professional's Toolkit · updated November 2026_

---


**3 routes** — Botpress Desk (new workspaces, every plan), legacy HITL (existing workspaces, Plus or higher), outside helpdesks via the HITL interface.



- **3 seats** — Desk seats on Free and Plus; unlimited on Team
- **Team+** — Desk routing and assignment
- **8 + Zendesk** — Hub helpdesk handoff integrations


## Which handoff route your workspace uses

Botpress passes a conversation to a person through one of three routes, and the right one depends on when your workspace was created. **New workspaces hand off to Botpress Desk** [1], the helpdesk included on every plan, Free included [2]. Existing workspaces can keep the legacy HITL integration, which needs Plus or higher. Either kind of workspace can also send the person to an outside helpdesk such as Zendesk, Intercom or HubSpot through the HITL interface. Pick the route first. Setup steps, plan gates and what the human agent sees differ for each.

Two plan facts shape every route. Free and Plus include 3 seats, so at most three people can work the Desk inbox; unlimited seats start on Team. Routing and assignment, Teams and RBAC, and team analytics are also Team or higher [2]. A small team answering escalations by hand can start on Free or Plus, while a support floor that needs tickets routed by capacity and business hours needs Team. Billing does not change at handoff: Botpress counts AI-only and human-assisted conversations the same way, and our [buyer's checklist](/articles/botpress-buyers-checklist) covers how those conversations are metered.


> 💡 **Count your seats before launch:** Free and Plus include 3 seats for working the Desk inbox; unlimited seats, routing and assignment start on Team.


## Turning on handoff to Botpress Desk

### From Botpress Viber

In Botpress Viber, the builder you instruct in plain language, behavior comes in layers: Instructions always apply, Playbooks hold reusable procedures, and Escalation defines the handoff. Escalation is off by default. Once you switch it on, every handoff lands in Botpress Desk. You can add an optional procedure that runs just before the handoff, so the agent collects context or runs an allowed tool or Playbook first; left empty, the agent hands off directly. A two-question procedure that asks for an email and an order number spares the human agent the first round of questions.

### From the ADK

Code-first agents built with the ADK use the `desk-hitl` plugin, which creates a Desk ticket on escalation so a support agent can take over [3]. Two preconditions catch people out. The bot must be deployed at least once, and then added once under AI Agents, Deflecting Bots in Desk; until both are done it cannot escalate. The handoff can pass a ticket title, a priority of low, medium, high or urgent (medium by default), and the customer's name and email. Since October 2026, Desk HITL tickets also store their ID in the conversation's `ticketId` property.

### From Botpress Studio

In Studio, the Autonomous Node ships with a `hitl.startHitl` tool that starts a handoff when the model decides a person is needed. For a fixed path, route to a dedicated workflow instead. Botpress's Academy describes two ways to do that: a keyword transition, or an instruction that sends users who ask for a human to the handoff workflow. Workflows bypass the LLM, which is why Botpress suggests them for escalation where the steps must not vary. Mixing both is common: the Autonomous Node handles open questions and a workflow handles the moment a customer asks for a person.

## What the person picking up the ticket sees

Botpress says the agent who picks up receives the conversation history, account details and the troubleshooting steps already tried. Its escalation page adds an AI-generated summary of what the customer asked, what was tried and a suggested next step. Since August 2026 the Desk composer also offers AI draft replies. **The AI agent stays in the conversation** once a ticket reaches a human instead of dropping out after what Botpress calls a cold handoff. In its human-in-the-loop mode the AI suggests replies and pulls data while the person answers, and you choose which ticket types get full handoff and which get assistance.

Desk SLA timers start at escalation, and only human replies count toward first and follow-up response targets. An SLA can also be scoped to the tickets of one bot. That matters when bot and team share an inbox, because time the bot spent before the handoff does not count against your response target. Studio builds on any route can add the Summary Agent, which writes a summary plus the exact transcript of the conversation, with limits on tokens and lines, for a human to read before replying. Read the summary first. The transcript is the backup.


> 💡 **Collect context before the handoff:** In Botpress Viber, an optional pre-handoff procedure can gather details or run an allowed tool first, so the human starts with the facts.


## Keeping the legacy HITL integration in an older workspace

Workspaces created before Desk took over handoff can keep the HITL integration, and setting it up requires Plus or higher [4]. The steps are short. Install the HITL integration and the HITL plugin from the Hub, then place a Start HITL card in the workflow at the point where the conversation should pass to a live agent. When a user reaches that card, a ticket opens and can be assigned to any workspace member. The member chats with the user directly, and closing the ticket with Resume Chatbot returns the user to the agent.

The integration also lets members approve AI-generated outputs before they are sent, which suits sensitive replies such as account changes. You can test the whole loop from the agent preview before publishing, so a broken Start HITL card shows up before a customer finds it. One older piece is gone for good. The HITL Agent in Studio is deprecated and closed to new accounts, and an existing one cannot be restored once disabled; the HITL plugin replaces it. If a tutorial tells you to enable that agent, it predates the plugin.


> ⚠ **ADK handoffs need a deployed bot:** A desk-hitl bot must be deployed once and added under Deflecting Bots in Desk before it can escalate, and HITL handoffs to outside helpdesks do not work from adk dev.


## Handing off to Zendesk, Intercom, HubSpot and other helpdesks

If your team already works in another helpdesk, the HITL plugin talks to any integration that implements Botpress's HITL interface, so switching the destination does not require changing the agent's logic. Zendesk is the reference implementation: each handoff creates a Zendesk ticket mapped to the Botpress conversation, and extra session fields such as ticket priority appear in the Start HITL card. On handoff, the whole earlier conversation is passed as history, including images, files, carousels and choices. The Hub lists handoff integrations for Brevo, Chatwoot, Freshchat, HubSpot Help Desk, HubSpot Inbox, Intercom, LiveChat and Zoho SalesIQ.

| Integration | What the setup needs |
|---|---|
| Zendesk | Version v3.0.0 or later (older versions retired January 2026); one bot per Zendesk account |
| Zendesk Messaging (Sunshine Conversations) | A Zendesk Support Professional account with Messaging enabled |
| Intercom | Administrator or Developer access, access token, admin ID, webhook, a default assignee |
| HubSpot Inbox | Sales Hub or Service Hub Professional or higher; a matching HubSpot contact |
| Freshchat | HITL plugin, topic name, API key, domain, webhook |
| Chatwoot | API access token, account ID, inbox ID, webhook |
| LiveChat | All handoffs go to one LiveChat group |
| Brevo | API key, agent ID, webhook; users get no assignment notice |
| Zoho SalesIQ | Your Zoho region: US, AU, EU, IN, CN, JP, SA or CA |

Some of these requirements sit on the helpdesk side, so check your plan there before building anything: the HubSpot Inbox route needs Professional or higher, and Zendesk Messaging needs Support Professional. Intercom creates a new contact from the user's email when none exists, while HubSpot needs the contact to exist already. The ADK uses this same HITL integration and plugin, separate from Desk, and those handoffs only work against a deployed bot; `adk dev` does not reach the real helpdesk. Botpress also connects to an existing Zendesk or Intercom workspace by OAuth with no migration, and Desk can be adopted later or never.

## Deciding when the bot should hand off

Botpress describes escalation triggers by topic, detected sentiment, customer tier or an explicit request for a person, plus a confidence threshold you set to separate automated answers from handoffs. Start with two triggers. The first is an explicit request, which no customer should have to repeat. The second is a topic list for anything you never want the AI to finish alone, such as refunds or account closures. Add sentiment and confidence once you can see handoff volume and reasons, which Botpress says its analytics dashboard tracks along with agent response time.

Opening hours deserve a rule of their own. In one customer story, the handoff flow at 24hassistance checks business hours and holidays before offering a live agent, collects name and email on webchat, and passes the full conversation to a live agent through a helpdesk; Botpress reports that the company now handles about 87% of conversations without a human. Copy the hours check, even on a small team. Offering a person at midnight and leaving the user in an empty queue is worse than a clear promise of a reply by email. The same design carries to other channels, and our [WhatsApp setup guide](/articles/botpress-whatsapp-chatbot) covers that channel itself.


## FAQ

**Can WhatsApp conversations be handed off to Botpress Desk?**

Yes. The Desk page lists WhatsApp among its channels, and since October 2026 replies sent from the WhatsApp Business app under Coexistence show in the Desk ticket. CSAT prompts are skipped on WhatsApp outside Meta's 24-hour messaging window (and, since August 2026, on Instagram and Messenger too).

**Can email conversations reach a human in Desk?**

Since August 2026 Gmail can be connected as a Desk channel. Legacy Email channel versions are deprecated in favor of the new Email channel.

**How do I measure how long users wait for a person?**

With the legacy HITL integration (Plus or higher), Botpress documents a Time to First Agent Response measurement built from Execute Code cards and conversation variables; it covers the wait from the request for a human to agent assignment.

**What happens if no human picks up?**

For ADK handoffs to an outside helpdesk, you can set a timeout in seconds for a human to pick up, along with a handoff message and a close command the user can type.


## Which handoff route to build this week

If your workspace is new, build toward Desk: switch on Escalation in Botpress Viber, or add the `desk-hitl` plugin and register the bot under Deflecting Bots, and decide whether three seats will hold before you need Team's routing. If your workspace predates Desk, the legacy HITL integration on Plus keeps working with its Start HITL card and Resume Chatbot. If your agents live in Zendesk, Intercom or HubSpot, confirm that helpdesk's own plan requirement first, then install the matching Hub integration. For running a whole support operation on these handoffs, see our [customer support guide](/articles/botpress-for-customer-support).



## Sources

[1] Botpress documentation: Configure Human Handoff — https://botpress.com/docs/studio/get-started/manage-your-agent/human-handoff (2026-11)
[2] Botpress pricing — https://botpress.com/pricing (2026-11)
[3] Botpress documentation: HITL with Desk — https://botpress.com/docs/adk-v2/advanced/desk-hitl (2026-11)
[4] Botpress documentation: Human-in-the-Loop (HITL) — https://botpress.com/docs/integrations/integration-guides/hitl/introduction (2026-11)
[5] Botpress Refund Policy — https://botpress.com/legal/refund-policy
[6] Botpress documentation: Changelog — https://botpress.com/docs/changelog
[7] G2: Botpress reviews — https://ai.g2.com/product/botpress