Use the virtual agent in Slack

To use the virtual agent in Slack, you need to have several channels set up:

• an agent channel, which is only accessible by agents and admins, and allows agents to assign, triage, comment, and work on issues

• a test channel, that allows you to see how your virtual agent works before turning it on for customers

• one or more request channels, where your customers can engage with the virtual agent to get assistance and create issues

You need to be a project admin to set up or change your virtual agent Slack channels.

Create an agent channel

To create a new Slack channel to use as your agent channel:

1. From the navigation on the left, select Project settings, then Virtual agent, and then Settings.

2. Select Channels.

   1. If you still need to install Atlassian Assist or log in to Slack, select Connect Slack and follow the prompts.

3. Select Create agent channel.

To use an existing Slack channel as your agent channel:

1. Go to the Slack channel you want to use.

   1. If it's a public Slack channel, convert it to private.

2. Add Assist to the channel:

   1. Send /add as a message in the channel.

   2. Select Add apps to this channel.

   3. Search for Assist.

   4. Select Add.

   5. When prompted, choose Agent channel.

   6. Select the Jira Service Management project you want to use with the virtual agent.

3. Invite agents and admins to the channel (type /invite).

Create a Slack test channel

To create a test channel:

1. Create an agent channel using the instructions above.

2. From the navigation on the left, select Project settings, then Virtual agent, and then Settings.

3. Select Channels.

4. Under Test channel, select Create test channel.

Activity in the Slack test channel won’t be included in your virtual agent performance statistics. Read more about testing your virtual agent.

Create or add a request channel

To add a customer-facing Slack request channel:

1. In Slack, create a new channel, or go to the channel you want to use as a request channel.

2. Add Assist to the channel:

   1. Send /add as a message in the channel.

   2. Select Add apps to this channel.

   3. Search for Assist.

   4. Select Add.

   5. When prompted, choose Request channel.

   6. Select the Jira Service Management project you want to use with the virtual agent.

3. Go to your Jira Service Management project.

4. From the navigation on the left, select Project settings, then Virtual agent, and then Settings.

5. Select Channels.

6. Your request channel should appear in the list.

Find out how to turn your virtual agent on or off in a Slack request channel, or how to activate or deactivate a specific intent.