Add existing Topics directly within your Sidekick Guide to better understand why Customers are reaching out and to enable automation workflows for Conversations handled by Sidekick. This gives your team better visibility into Contact drivers and ensures that Sidekick-led Conversations are categorized consistently—just like any other Customer interaction.
You can add Topics to the overall Guide or to individual Guide sections for more precise control.
Why add Topics to a Guide?
By linking Topics to a Sidekick Guide:
You’ll gain insight into Contact reasons for Conversations handled by Sidekick.
You can trigger automations—for example, sending a CSAT survey—based on those Topics.
You’ll maintain consistent categorization and reporting, even when interactions are fully automated.
Add Topics to a Guide
From the Guides page, select the Guide you want to apply Topics to.
Click the Select Topic dropdown.
Choose up to three Topics you’d like to add.
Click Save.
You can only add active Topics
Archived Topics won’t appear in the dropdown. Learn more about archiving Topics.
Add Topics to a section
From the Guides page, select the Guide you want to apply Topics to.
Navigate to the section where you want to apply Topics.
Click the Select Topic dropdown.
Choose up to three Topics you’d like to add.
Click Save.
Don’t duplicate Topics
If you apply a Topic at the Guide-level, we suggest applying a more specific Topic within sections. As a best practice in terms of data hygiene, we recommend not applying the same Topic multiple times within a Guide.
How Topics are applied during a Sidekick Conversation
When a Sidekick Guide runs:
As each Guide section is triggered, its selected Topics are automatically added to the Conversation.
If Sidekick does not reach a particular section in the workflow, Topics for that section won’t be added.
This ensures that only relevant Topics—those tied to the specific steps Sidekick completes—are attached to each Conversation.
FAQs
When applying Topics within a Guide, there are a few best practices to follow to get the most out of the feature. The FAQs below outline how to use them so your reporting stays accurate and automations trigger at the right time.
When should I apply Topics at the Guide level vs. within a Guide section?
When you apply Topic(s) at the top level of a Guide, Sidekick automatically applies them as soon as it starts using that Guide. For this reason, we recommend using general Topics at the top level.
Example:
The Topic “WISMO and Track Shipment Inquiries” can be applied at the top level of your “Track Order” Guide because you can be confident that the Track Order Guide is only used when a Customer contacts you about a Where Is My Order (WISMO) or shipment tracking inquiry.
For more specific or nested Topics, like “Domestic Shipment” or “International Shipment”, apply them within the relevant Guide section. This ensures that only Topics tied to the specific steps Sidekick completes are attached to each Conversation, keeping your routing and reporting accurate.
My organization uses Topics to trigger our Customer Satisfaction (CSAT) integration, which sends a survey once a Conversation with an Agent is completed. How can I set this up so a CSAT survey is also sent once Sidekick resolves the Conversation?
Apply the Topic(s) that trigger your CSAT survey integration within a Guide section, rather than at the top-level. This ensures surveys are sent only when Sidekick has taken meaningful action to assist the Customer, rather than automatically when a Conversation is handed off to an Agent.
What are the key takeaways to keep in mind when adding Topics to Sidekick Guides?
Follow this quick checklist to ensure Topics are applied effectively:
General Topics – Apply at the top level of a Guide.
Specific Topics – Apply within sections of a Guide.
Use Topics intentionally – This helps maintain accurate reporting and supports automated actions, like CSAT surveys.
Review regularly – Check that Topics continue to reflect your Customers’ intents over time.