Use macros to accelerate your workflows

Macros allow you to create shortcuts to supercharge your team’s productivity. Teammates can move messages, tag conversations, notify other teammates, and more - all with a single click. This is most helpful when you want to quickly and accurately resolve conversations with complex processes.

With macros, you can: 

• Automate complex workflows into one click

• Enforce consistent and scalable processes 

• Increase team productivity

• Reduce onboarding and training needs

Additional resources:

• Check out our Front Academy course here to learn more about leveraging value from macros.

• Have questions? Ask them in our AMA in Front Community!

Macros are a great option for accelerating and standardizing workflows. Some examples:

• Hand off conversations between teams: Transfer ownership of conversations to other teams and handle multi-step escalations with ease

• Push data from Front to your third-party systems: Ensure your third-party systems are updated without having to switch back and forth between apps

• Require human verification for specific processes: Have teammates validate requests with customers before processing sensitive or security-related topics that cannot be fully automated

Check out this article to view our macro library with pre-built templates to help you get started.

You must have Front workspace admin permissions to create and manage macros.

Step 1

Click the gear icon on the top right of Front, then select company or workspace settings in the left sidebar. If you have multiple workspaces in Front, click Rules and macros under the specific workspace you want to create the macro in.

Step 2

Click the Macros tab, then click the Create macro button. Select Create from scratch.

Step 3

In the Flow builder tab, click + Add action to modify the actions the macro should take when it is triggered. See below for a list of supported actions.

In this example, we want the macro to take the following actions:

Step 4 (optional)

Use the plus sign to add branches based on specific conditions. This allows your macro to dynamically react to the context of the conversation to perform the correct actions.

• See this article for example macros you can build using branches.

• See this article to learn how to require teammates to fill out a form, then use their answers to power your macro branches and actions.

Step 5

In the Settings tab, enter a name and description for your macro. Teammates will see these values when hovering over the macro button in conversations.

• Name: Enter the text displayed in the shortcut button.

• Description: Explain when teammates should use this macro. This description will display in the tooltip for your teammates, and in the future will be used to help AI recommend macros for your conversations. Examples of helpful descriptions:

  • When customers request refunds due to pricing.

  • When customers ask to reset their username or password.

  • When customers request information on SOC II compliance.

  • When customers ask about receipts on orders placed.

  • When a customer requests a quote on a plugin integration.

In this example, we’ll create a macro named “Escalate to Tier 2” to escalate technical issues to another team.

Step 6

In the Inboxes field, select the inboxes that can access to the macro.

Step 7

In the Teammate access field, select who can see and use this macro in conversations. Choose from all teammates, or a combination of teammate groups and teammates.

Step 8

Click Create. Teammates can now see and use the macro in their conversations.

Step 1

Navigate to the conversation you’d like to use a macro on. Macros are listed next to the Reply button or within the three-dot menu in the last message of a conversation.

Next to Reply button:

In the three-dot menu of a message:

Step 2

To find a specific macro, use the down arrow to view the list of available macros.

Step 3

You can hover over any macro to view the entire description.

Step 4

Once you’ve found the macro you’d like to use, select it to apply the actions to your conversation. Once all actions have completed, you’ll see a confirmation banner at the bottom of your screen.

Step 5

Teammates can see which macros were applied to a conversation in the conversation’s activity history.

Macros support the following actions.

Third party:

• Send app request

• Create Jira issue

• Create Jira comment

• Send to webhook

Organization:

• Add tag

• Remove tag

• Move to inbox

Message:

• Forward

• Reply using message template

• Create draft

Comment:

• Add comment

Status:

• Update custom field value

• Reopen conversation

• Archive conversation

• Update ticket status to

Teammates:

• Assign to teammate

• Unassign

• Notify teammates

Account:

• Notify based on account custom field

Macros can branch on the following conditions:

• Assignee is (list of teammates/teammate groups)

• Conversation is unassigned

• Conversation has specific tags (list of tags)

• Conversation doesn't have specific tags (list of tags)

• Conversation is in inboxes (list of inbox)

• Custom field value is

  • Custom contact field

  • Custom account field

• Dynamic variable is

No. Macros only apply to shared inboxes.

Yes. See this article to learn more.

Yes. See this article to learn more.

No. All actions triggered by a macro cannot be undone or recalled.

Front will automatically recommend macros based on your team's past usage.

Macros that are most likely to be useful will appear higher in the dropdown list. Front will look at macros that have been used the most in the past 30 days for conversations with similar attributes (i.e., one or more tags, same inbox, or previously applied macros).

No. Macros are only supported in the desktop or web browser apps at this time.

This feature is available on the latest Growth plan or above.