Understanding and setting light agent permissions

Note: This feature has the following plan restrictions. These restrictions do not apply to legacy plans or add-ons.

• Suite Growth plans include up to 50 light agents.
• Suite Professional plans include up to 100 light agents.
• Suite Enterprise plans include up to 1000 light agents.
• Suite Enterprise Plus plans include up to 5000 light agents.

Light agents have limited permissions but can stay informed about tickets and, when needed, provide subject matter expertise and advice by adding private comments to the ticket. All ticket comments by light agents are private, including the first comment of any tickets they create. To assign a light agent role, see Setting roles and access in Zendesk Admin Center.

This article contains the following sections:

• Understanding what light agents can do
• Configuring light agent ticket access and reporting permissions

Important: You are prohibited from using the API or any Software to effectively provide Light agents with access, functionality, or permissions that they are not otherwise permitted to use or access in the Zendesk Support Agent user interface (as set forth below).

Understanding what light agents can do

Light agents have the following access and permissions.

Note: If you've created shared macros, your light agents can't use a macro that applies an action that they don't have permission to do. For example, if you have a shared macro that changes the ticket status, light agents can access the macro but if they try to apply it, the ticket status won't change.

Area	Light agents can...	Light agents can't...
Tickets	View either tickets assigned to groups they're in or view all tickets Make private comments Be the ticket requester Edit ticket properties at the time of ticket creation Be CC'd on tickets (see Setting permissions for CCs and followers). End users won't be able to see light agents who are CC'd on a ticket. Create tickets on behalf of existing end users. However, the end user won't be able to see it until another agent adds a public comment. Edit ticket properties for tickets they're requesters on after the ticket is created Add, access, and download attachments Create, reply to, close, and reopen email-based side conversations Add and remove tags from their own tickets. They can also bulk add tags to their tickets, but cannot bulk remove tags. Use agent email forwarding to forward an email to your support address, creating a ticket with a private comment. Reassign tickets to another agent in any of the light agent's groups, if they are the requester.	Make public ticket comments Be assigned to tickets Change the ticket status, unless they're the ticket requester Reassign tickets to another group, unless they are the ticket requester Edit ticket properties, unless they're the ticket requester CC agents or end users other than themselves, except for when they create a ticket on behalf of someone else Use the @mention feature because it adds a CC to the ticket, which they don't have permission to do Respond to CSAT surveys Create, send, or be assigned side conversation child tickets Use agent email forwarding to forward an email to your support address, creating a ticket with a public comment.
People	View user profiles	Edit user profiles Assume a user's identity Change a user's password Create new end users
Guide (not available in Team plans)	View areas of the Help Center knowledge base and community that are restricted to agents Add and edit articles in the knowledge base where agents have permission Add and edit articles and posts in the community where agents have permission. See Creating community moderator groups.	Be a Guide admin (see note at left). View article revisions
Reports	View Explore dashboards that have been shared with them in Zendesk (Explore Professional and Explore Enterprise plans only) External link sharing is available only on Explore Enterprise plans	Create and share Zendesk Explore queries and dashboards
Views	See views only	Create or edit views
Business rules	Apply macros	Create, view, or edit macros, automations, or triggers Typically be used as conditions in business rules For example, you can't create a trigger that emails the agent assigned to the ticket when a user who is a light agent comments on it, but you can create a trigger condition for cases where the requester is a light agent. Respond to CSAT surveys
Channels		Respond to calls Manage channels
Mail API		Respond to notifications or create new tickets
Apps	Use most installed Zendesk apps within Support Perform permitted actions on their tickets in the Zendesk Support Mobile app
Zendesk Chat	In the standard agent interface, light agents can reassign a ticket from chat if they were the serving agent. Once the ticket is assigned to another team member, the light agent cannot change the ticket assignee.	In the Zendesk Agent Workspace, light agents cannot serve a chat or messaging conversation. You need a full agent license.
Zendesk Talk		Light agents cannot be enabled as Talk agents.

Configuring light agent ticket access and reporting permissions

After you understand when to use the light agent role and what they can do, you can configure some of the permissions. The method you use to configure permissions for light agents varies depending on whether you are on a Suite Growth, Professional, or Enterprise plan. You can configure options for ticket access for light agents, and, if you're on Suite Professional or above, you can additionally configure access to reports. The other light agent permissions shown in the table above can't be changed.

• Configuring light agent permissions with Suite Growth and Professional
• Configuring light agent permissions with Suite Enterprise

Configuring light agent permissions with Suite Growth and Professional

If you're using Suite Growth or Professional, you can configure light agent permissions for reports and ticket access.

To edit reporting and ticket permissions for light agents (Suite Growth or Professional)

1. In Admin Center, click Workspaces in the sidebar, then select Agent tools > Agent interface.
2. Next to Light Agent access, select an option for What kind of tickets can this agent access?:
   • All within this agent's group(s) for light agents to access only tickets in their groups.
   • Requested by end users in this agent's organization for light agents to access only tickets requested by end users in their organization.
   • All for light agents to access all tickets.
3. If you selected All within this agent's group(s) above, and you want light agents to still be able to assign tickets to any group when they're the requester, also select Agent can assign to any group.
4. For What can this agent do with reports, set Insights reporting permissions to Can view only or Cannot view.
5. When you are finished, click Save.

Configuring light agent permissions with Suite Enterprise

If you're using Suite Enterprise, you can only configure light agent permissions for ticket access.

To edit reporting and ticket permissions for light agents (Enterprise)

You can't clone or modify the light agent role, except for the two settings for tickets and reporting.

1. In Admin Center, click People in the sidebar, then select Team > Roles.
2. Next to the Light agent role, click edit.

   If you are using Explore, you can only change settings in the Tickets section.

3. Under Tickets, select an option for What kind of tickets can this agent access?:
   • All within this agent's group(s) for light agents to access only tickets in their groups.
   • Requested by end users in this agent's organization for light agents to access only tickets requested by end users in their organization. Light agents with Suite Enterprise can't access queries or edit Explore reports, but you can share Explore dashboards with them in view only mode.
   • All for light agents to access all tickets.
4. If you selected All within this agent's group(s) above, and you want light agents to still be able to assign tickets to any group when they're the requester, also select Agent can assign to any group.
5. Click Save.