Pause and resume an AI agent

Turn an agent off

Open My Agents and find the agent card. The card includes an On / Off switch. When the agent is on, changing the switch to off opens a confirmation dialog.

The dialog explains that turning the agent off stops it from responding on its assigned channels. Its saved configuration and published versions are preserved. Confirm with Turn off when you want the stop to apply.

Turning an agent off is different from taking manual control of one conversation. A paused agent stops customer-facing responses across its assigned channels. Manual control pauses AI handling for a specific conversation and follows the 15-minute reactivation rule described in Switch between AI and manual control.

Resume an agent

To resume an agent, return to My Agents and turn its switch on. If its readiness checks are complete, the agent returns to customer-facing operation.

If the switch cannot be enabled, the panel opens Setup required before turning on and lists the missing requirements. Select Finish setup, resolve each blocker, and return to the agent card. Common blockers include a missing published configuration, an inactive customer channel, or a channel that is no longer assigned to the agent.

What pausing does not change

Turning the agent off does not delete:

• the agent’s draft configuration;
• its published configuration;
• connected app records;
• product or service catalogs; or
• conversation history already stored in the CRM.

It also does not discard unpublished changes. If you want to remove draft edits, open the agent’s Unpublished changes tray and use Discard Changes separately.

When to pause first

Pause an agent before making a change that needs a quiet review period, for example:

• a major workflow or business-policy change;
• a channel reassignment;
• a catalog or service correction that could change customer answers; or
• a temporary business closure that should stop automated replies.

After the change, review Agent readiness, publish if needed, and resume only when the customer experience is ready.

If customers still receive messages

First confirm that the correct agent card shows Off and that the channel is not assigned to another active agent. Then check the conversation in CRM and the channel connection status. If the behavior continues after a refresh, record the agent name, channel, time, and visible status before contacting support. See Troubleshooting and support.