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Sync content from your Zendesk help center

How to set up a regular sync of your Zendesk help center articles into Fin.

Updated this week

Syncing your Zendesk help center allows you to use your existing articles to power Fin Agent and Fin Copilot.

This integration is designed to prioritize data privacy by utilizing only publicly accessible content specifically synced to Fin, ensuring customer and organizational security throughout the process.

Note: You must have access to Zendesk Guide to use this feature. Your help center will remain on Zendesk; this process only syncs the content into Fin

Set up sync with Zendesk help center

To set up your Zendesk help center sync, go to Train > Content and click See all then choose From Zendesk.

This will open the "Sync content from Zendesk" window.

  1. Enter your unique Zendesk subdomain. This is the part of your Zendesk URL that comes before .zendesk.com. For example, if your URL is https://yoursubdomain.zendesk.com, your subdomain is yoursubdomain.

  2. For the authentication method, select "API key".

  3. Enter the "Email address" associated with your Zendesk admin account.

  4. Enter your Zendesk "API token". You can generate this from your Zendesk admin settings.

  5. Choose which articles to sync using the toggles:

    • Sync articles for signed-in users: This allows Fin to access articles with viewing permissions set to "Signed in users" in Zendesk.

    • Sync articles for staff members: This allows Fin to access articles with viewing permissions set to "Staff" in Zendesk.

  6. Finally, click Sync to begin the process.

Note:

  • Articles synced with "Staff" permissions are only enabled for Fin Copilot by default and won't be used by Fin Agent in answers to customers.

  • The first sync cannot be stopped once it has started. You can only remove the integration after the initial sync is complete.

  • The API-based connection utilized by the advanced importer ensures faster and more reliable syncing compared to older scraping methods.

After the first sync is complete, you’ll receive an email confirmation listing how many articles were synchronized. The content will appear in Train > Content under the "Content sources" section.

Manage sync with Zendesk help center

When your content is synced with Zendesk, it will be accessible from Train > Content under the "Content sources" section.

Configure the settings

Synced articles are view-only within Fin and cannot be edited directly in the content library. All changes to article content must be made in Zendesk. These changes will automatically be updated in Fin during the next sync.

However, you can manage settings for each article. Go to Train > Content and click on your Zendesk source under the "Content sources" section, then open the article you want to manage.

There's a "Details" panel on the right which contains:

  • Data: View the content type, language, creation date, last updated (date it was last synced with Zendesk).

  • Fin: Enable/disable for Fin Agent and Fin Copilot. When enabled, the content becomes available to customers and teammates, respectively.

    • Audience: Target your content at a specific audience, so Fin Agent only shares content that is relevant for them.

  • Tags: Add a tag to group articles together and keep content organized.

How Zendesk metadata is managed

The importer automatically brings the structure of your Zendesk knowledge base into your Fin workspace to save you time.

Zendesk metadata like labels, categories, and content tags are all imported and converted into tags on your Fin workspace. With these tags automatically applied, you can:

  • Filter your content to see all articles from a certain category.

  • Exclude irrelevant content from Fin.

  • Create specific Fin audiences based on article tags to route answers to the right customers.

  • The advanced importer further optimizes this by enabling precise filtering and configuring audience-specific content delivery through mapped tags.

Pro tip: For example, if you have content in Zendesk labeled "EMEA-only," that label becomes a tag in your Fin workspace. You can then create an audience for your European customers and configure Fin to only use articles with the "EMEA-only" tag for that audience.

Automatic Zendesk content re-syncs

Fin automatically re-syncs with your Zendesk help center every hour to pull in any changes. This includes new articles, content edits, and article deletions. You won't receive an email for these automatic syncs.

Manually re-sync or remove Zendesk content

If you need to manually trigger a re-sync or remove the Zendesk content entirely, go to Train > Content. Click the three-dot menu next to the Zendesk source and select Re-sync or Remove this source.

When removing a source, you’ll see a green confirmation banner indicating the removal has been successful and synced articles will be deleted from Fin.

Using synced articles with Fin

After syncing your Zendesk articles with Fin, you can use them to power the following:

Important differences between your articles in Zendesk and the Fin Messenger

There are slight differences with how synced articles look in the Fin Messenger compared to your Zendesk help center. Differences can include:

  • Content formats such as, additional headings, text styling, table formatting, etc.

  • If a customer clicks the “Open in Help Center” link at the bottom of a synced article in the Fin Messenger, this will open a new tab with the article in your Zendesk help center.

  • We exclusively support videos added through Zendesk's 'Add video' button, typically embedded via iframe, and compatible with all providers available in Zendesk's article editor (e.g., YouTube, Vimeo, Wistia, JWPlayer, Brightcove, Vidyard, Loom, Guidde). Custom HTML, CSS, or JavaScript-based video embeds are not supported.

  • If articles appear blank in the Fin Messenger, it could be due to your site's Content Security Policy (CSP) blocking third-party resources required for proper loading, such as external images or scripts.

FAQs

What data does Fin use when integrated with Zendesk?

Fin integrates seamlessly with Zendesk to provide customer-facing answers. However, it is important to understand the specific data sources Fin utilizes to ensure both operational effectiveness and data privacy.

Content for answer generation

When integrated with Zendesk, Fin exclusively uses support content that is explicitly synced to your Fin workspace. This includes:

  • Public articles from the Zendesk Help Center

  • Other synced public content like website syncs

  • Uploaded documents

  • Snippets

  • Response guidance that has been configured by your team

This ensures that Fin's responses are based on verified information you have selectively enabled for Fin.

Exclusion of private data

Fin does not utilize private data from Zendesk, ensuring customer and organizational privacy. Specifically, the following data is not used by Fin when responding to customers:

  • Internal (private) comments within Zendesk

  • Historical Zendesk tickets or customer conversation data

By excluding these data sources, Fin ensures that only approved public and explicitly synced content is referenced for AI-generated answers.

Will tables from my Zendesk articles also be synced?

Yes, if you have a table in your Zendesk article, it will be synced and used by Fin. You will be able to see the table synced in the content of your Fin workspace, exactly as it is in your Zendesk help center.

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