Snoozing conversations in AskVault

Written by Aashiq, Founder, AskVault · Reviewed by Aashiq

Last updated: May 15, 2026 · 3 min read

When to snooze

Three patterns where snooze is the right tool:

Waiting on the customer. Customer needs to send a screenshot, confirm details, get approval from their team. You've replied with your last question; nothing for you to do until they come back.
Waiting on internal action. Engineering is fixing a bug, finance is reviewing a refund. You've told the customer and need to follow up after the internal action.
Scheduled follow-up. Customer asked to be contacted next Monday. Snooze until then.

Snoozing is different from resolving. Resolved means done. Snoozed means temporarily out of view, will come back.

Three snooze modes

Pick one when snoozing:

For X hours. Snooze for 1 hour, 4 hours, 1 day, 3 days, 1 week. Common presets plus custom value.
Until specific date/time. Calendar picker. Useful for "follow up next Monday at 9am" patterns.
Until customer replies. Snooze indefinitely. The conversation re-surfaces the moment a new customer message arrives.

The "until customer replies" mode is the most common because it matches the real-world pattern: you sent the ball back to the customer, you act when they return it.

How to snooze

Three ways.

From the conversation header.

Open the conversation in the Live Chat inbox.
Click the Snooze button.
Pick the mode and duration.

Bulk snooze.

Select multiple conversations in the inbox.
Apply Snooze with the same parameters to all selected.

API.

curl -X PATCH https://api.askvault.co/v1/conversations/conv_xxx \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer ak_xxx" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "status": "snoozed",
    "snooze_until": "2026-05-20T09:00:00Z"
  }'

For "until customer replies" via API, use "snooze_until_customer_reply": true instead of snooze_until.

What snooze does

When you snooze:

Conversation hides from default inbox views. It still exists, still searchable, just not in the way.
Bot stops auto-responding if the conversation was open. The customer's reply when they return doesn't trigger an immediate bot answer; it un-snoozes first.
SLA timer pauses. Conversations under SLA policies stop accumulating "time waiting" while snoozed. Resume when un-snoozed.
Internal notes can still be added. Useful for documenting why you snoozed.

Auto-unsnooze

Snoozed conversations come back automatically:

Timed snooze. Conversation moves back to open at the timer expiration.
Until-customer-replies snooze. New customer message un-snoozes immediately. Bot doesn't respond yet; the conversation lands in your inbox for review.
Until-date snooze. Conversation un-snoozes at the configured date/time.

You can also un-snooze manually before the timer expires. Click Un-snooze in the conversation header.

Snooze and SLAs

SLA timers pause during snooze. This is by design: you can't be SLA-accountable for time you're explicitly waiting on the customer.

Three caveats:

Don't abuse it. Snoozing to game your SLA stats is detectable in analytics and erodes team accountability.
Snooze policy review. Audit periodically under Analytics > Conversations > Snooze Patterns. Spikes in long-duration snoozing usually indicate process problems.
Customer-facing communication. Sometimes worth telling the customer "I'm waiting for our engineering team; I'll follow up Thursday." Then snooze until Thursday. Transparency beats silent snooze.

Saved views for snoozed conversations

Default inbox views hide snoozed conversations. Build a saved view to monitor them:

"My snoozed." Filter: status = snoozed, assigned_to = me.
"All snoozed by team." Filter: status = snoozed. Audit-view.
"Snoozing too long." Filter: status = snoozed, snooze_duration > 7 days. Surfaces conversations that might be stuck.

Saved views configurable under Inbox > Saved Views > Add.

Webhook events

Snooze and un-snooze fire webhook events:

conversation.snoozed with snooze_until in the payload.
conversation.unsnoozed when timer expires or manual un-snooze.

Subscribe under Dashboard > Webhooks to sync with external systems.

Limits

Maximum snooze duration. 90 days. Snoozing beyond that requires resolution or archival instead.
Per-workspace concurrent snoozed. No hard cap. Performance stays good up to several thousand snoozed conversations.
Plan availability. Available on every paid plan.

Common pitfalls

Snoozing forgotten. "Until customer replies" snooze with a customer who never returns. Periodically review old snoozed conversations and archive them.

SLA gaming. Excessive snoozing to keep SLA metrics clean. Auditors notice. Document why you snoozed (internal notes) to keep the process honest.

Snooze instead of resolve. Conversation is genuinely done but agent snoozes "just in case". The conversation stays open in your stats. Resolve resolved conversations.

Un-snooze surprise. Agent forgot they snoozed something; it comes back unexpectedly. Use the "My snoozed" saved view to keep visibility.

FAQ

Does the bot respond during snooze?

No. Bot is paused. If a customer replies during snooze, the conversation un-snoozes and lands in the inbox for review. The agent decides next steps.

Can I be reminded when snooze expires?

Yes. Configure email or Slack notifications for the conversation.unsnoozed event under Settings > Notifications.

Can I snooze a conversation I haven't claimed?

Yes. Snooze and claim are independent. Snoozed-but-unclaimed conversations come back to the team queue when they un-snooze.

Does snooze affect the customer's experience?

If they reply during snooze, their message goes into your inbox without an immediate bot response. They might wait a few minutes longer than usual. For real-time channels (live chat), this can feel slow; consider resolving instead of snoozing if the customer might come back quickly.

What if I snooze and then the customer escalates?

If they explicitly ask for a human while snoozed, the conversation re-opens immediately and gets the escalation tag. Your team gets pinged.

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