Tickets and the ticket page

The Tickets tab lists every ticket on the platform, newest first, whatever its state. Use it to find an old ticket, or to read the full story of one.

Ticket numbers#

Every ticket gets our own number: #1, #2, #3 and so on, counted separately on each platform. Your ticket system's own number stays as it is, and shows next to ours.

Find a ticket#

Your search and status stay in place when you open a ticket and come back.

The table has four columns:

With no tickets yet, the page says No tickets yet. If your search or status matches nothing, it says No tickets match.

Ticket statuses#

The ticket page#

Click a ticket to open it. The page has no tabs. Everything is on one page, top to bottom:

1. The top: the subject, our number, the ticket system's number, the requester, and when it opened. On the right are the ticket's status and Close ticket…. See Closing tickets.
2. Now, and Can wait: what to do now, numbered, each with its own button; and below it, what can wait.
3. What happened: the whole story of the ticket, oldest first.
4. Write: a box to write to the agent, or to the requester.

A notice can show above Now: when the ticket reached its cost limit, when the agent suggests closing it, or while it closes in your ticket system.

At the side (under everything else on a phone):

The page updates by itself, every few seconds while the agent works. You don't need to reload.

Now, and Can wait#

The amber box at the top answers two things: what to do now, and what can wait. Every ticket is different, so there's no fixed path: only what makes sense at that moment.

Each thing the agent proposes is decided on its own: a reply to the requester, a change to your live system, a fix in a repository, closing the ticket. Approving or skipping one never changes another. A reply never waits for a fix, and a fix never waits for a reply.

• Now lists, numbered, each thing to decide now. Each line says what to do and why, and under it, in grey, what happens after you do it.
• Can wait lists what the agent says can wait, with its reason, and questions that don't change what it proposes.

You act right there: the reply, the change or the questions open under the line. Click Not now to fold them again.

Fix options#

When there's more than one way to fix the problem, the ways sit side by side under Fix options, lettered A and B:

• Change the live cluster (or Change the bookings database): fixes it on the live system now. Usually quick, but the next deploy may put the old setting back.
• Fix it in a repository: the same fix in the files the next deploy reads, made as a pull request for you to merge.

Each option lists what is good about it (+) and what isn't (–), in the agent's words. Above them, The agent: gives its advice, for example "Both: the live change now, because clients can't upload; the repository fix so it stays fixed." Pick one, or both:

After each step (a change made, a pull request merged, a message from the requester or your team) the agent looks again. It says which proposals still stand, marks what is no longer needed, and proposes what comes next, such as the reply saying it's fixed.

The names are the requester's first name. Without one, it says "the requester".

When nothing needs doing now, Now says so: Nothing needs you now., or Nothing needs you now. You'll see it here when Tom writes back. after a reply, or This ticket is closed. Nothing needs you.

While the agent works#

A line at the top, and the last line of What happened, say The agent is looking into it (or making the approved change), how long it has been at it, and how many steps it has taken. Under that is the step it's on now, for example Read the logs of vpn-gateway in northcote (last 1 hour)…, and the last few it finished, ticked. A ring turns and the step changes as it works, so it's plain the agent is busy. Nothing is sent to anyone while it works.

Viewers see the same lists, without the buttons. It says Only approvers can act on these.

What happened#

What happened is the ticket's whole story, oldest first: who did what, and when. Each line starts with who it was, in their own colour. The colour is the same on every ticket:

The time sits on the right. It shows the day too when the day changes. Point at it to see the full date and time.

The story names your ticket system: Halo, the name you gave your own system under Settings › Ticket system (see What you call it), or "your ticket system". For example:

While the agent works, the last line says Agent is working…, or Agent is making the approved change… during a fix.

Facts and links on the agent's lines#

The agent's findings start with two coloured labels: how sure it is (for example 85% sure: green from 80%, amber under 50%) and what kind of problem it is (for example Setup). Then small facts in grey: how long it took, how many files it read, and what it cost. For example 39 seconds · read 12 files · $0.06.

Under them are links that open more, one at a time:

Things still waiting#

A line that still needs you ends with an amber link, for example Not answered yet · answer now ↑, Waiting for your approval · read it ↑ or Not merged yet · merge now ↑. Click it to jump to that item in Now, already open. Once it's done, the line says so instead, for example Answered.

What it looked at#

Click What it looked at on an agent's line to see each step it took, in plain words. For example:

• Read booking: app/models.py
• Searched the code for refund in all repositories
• Read the logs of api-7f9c in production (last 1 hour)
• Queried the bookings database

Click a step to see What it found. A step that didn't work shows failed and What went wrong. If the agent answered without looking anything up, it says so. Secrets such as passwords and keys are hidden.

Write#

At the bottom, Write lets you write to the agent or to the requester. You choose who at the top of the box:

The second choice shows only on a platform with a ticket system. Viewers don't see Write. On a closed ticket it says This ticket is closed, so the agent no longer works on it.

When an investigation failed#

Now says The agent couldn't finish, and Nothing was sent to the requester. Under it, it says in plain words why the agent stopped and what to try. Click Technical details to see the full error.

Then click Investigate again. The same reason shows on the agent's line in What happened. See Common problems.

When the agent reached the cost limit#

An amber notice at the top says The agent stopped: this ticket reached its cost limit. Click Remove the limit for this ticket to let it carry on with what it was asked. The limit comes back once the ticket is closed. The same button shows under the Write box. Viewers don't see it.

Held back log-watcher tickets#

The log watcher investigates new errors straight away, up to a daily limit. Errors found after the limit are still made into tickets, but wait. It is Not started: Now says Start the agent, with "Held back: the log watcher's daily limit was reached." Click Start the agent when you're ready. See Log watcher.

Not delivered#

If your ticket system didn't accept an approved reply, Now says The reply to Tom didn't arrive, with the reason. In What happened, the ticket system's line says it didn't take the reply, in red. Fix the cause (often in your ticket system), then click Try again. See Reviewing a reply.