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Assign Podium Inbox conversations by topic

Texts and emails land in the Podium Inbox all day, and the unassigned ones wait until someone opens each thread to see whether it is billing, scheduling or a complaint.

Cotlet does it in your own Podium account with list_conversations, get_conversation and assign_conversation, called by your AI agent, an n8n workflow or a script.

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Hosted · nothing to install or maintain

Can Podium do this on its own?

Podium has Escalation Rules, open to all users, and Auto-Assign, for Inbox Pro users only (checked 23 Oct 2026). A rule assigns a conversation to a specific user or to the next available user in the queue. Podium's article describes no rule that reads what the customer wrote, and none of the 17 OAuth scopes in its API covers assignment.

How you do it in Podium today

  1. Open the Inbox and find the conversation.
  2. At the top right of the conversation, click the + Assign icon. A dropdown lists all users in the Podium account.
  3. Select the teammate. Their name appears in the conversation header as the owner.
  4. To change the owner, click the current name and pick another user. To assign several people, click the Assignment field in the header and tick their names.
  5. Every new thread needs this click, and the work grows with the volume of messages.

How to assign Podium Inbox conversations by topic

Prompt

List unassigned Podium conversations at Riverside Dental. Assign billing questions to Dana Reyes, scheduling questions to Sam Ortiz, and tell me about anything else.
  1. 01

    Collect unassigned threads

    list_conversations runs with assigned_to unassigned and follows next_cursor to the end, so the whole queue is judged as one batch.

  2. 02

    Read each thread

    get_conversation returns the messages. The agent reads the contact's last messages and the channel, because a text that says "can I move Friday" and an email that disputes a charge need different people.

  3. 03

    Match topic to person

    The agent applies the mapping in your prompt, for example billing to Dana Reyes and scheduling to Sam Ortiz. A thread that fits no topic, or fits two, stays unassigned and goes on your list with a one-line reason.

  4. 04

    Assign

    assign_conversation sets the owner, with one name or several when you ask for it. It reaches no customer, so it runs without waiting for your OK.

  5. 05

    Check before changing

    Right before assigning, the agent reads the conversation again. A thread a teammate took in the meantime is left alone.

What you get back

Example data

Unassigned conversations: 14
Assigned 11:
- Dana Reyes (billing): 4
- Sam Ortiz (scheduling): 7
Left for you 3:
- Marcus Webb: asks if you take Delta Dental
- Unknown number: "STOP"

Other ways to ask

  • Every morning at 8, assign the unassigned conversations from the last 12 hours and send me the list.
  • Assign anything that mentions a refund or a complaint to me and tell me how many there are.
  • Show unassigned conversations grouped by topic, and assign nothing.

What Podium allows, and what to know first

  • Podium lets you assign one conversation to several teammates at once, using the Assignment field in the conversation header.
  • Escalation Rules are available to all Podium users; Auto-Assign is available to Inbox Pro users only.
  • An escalation rule assigns to a specific user or to the next available user in the queue when Auto-Assign is on.
  • The assign dropdown lists all users in the Podium account, so the names in your prompt must match that list.

assign_conversation changes only your own Podium data and reach no one else, so it runs without asking first.

Sources: Podium Knowledgebase: Managing Conversations in Podium · Podium Knowledgebase: Setting Up Auto-Assign & Escalation Rules · Podium developer docs: OAuth scopes

Call assign_conversation from a script

curl

curl -X POST https://cotlet.dev/api/v1/podium/conversations/conv_91d3/assign \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $COTLET_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"users":["Sam Ortiz"]}'

Example response

{
  "conversation_id": "conv_91d3",
  "assigned_to": [
    "Dana Reyes"
  ],
  "status": "assigned"
}

MCP: add https://cotlet.dev/mcp/v1 with the same key; the call is podium_write → assign_conversation. Example data.

Schedule it in n8n, Make, Zapier or cron

Podium tools this automation uses

Cotlet Podium tools used to assign Podium Inbox conversations by topic
Tool Parameters
list_conversations location, assigned_to, limit, cursor
get_conversation conversation_id, limit
assign_conversation conversation_id, users
All 14 Podium tools with descriptions

Frequently asked questions

Is it safe to connect Podium to Cotlet?

Yes. You sign in to Podium yourself, in your own Cloud Browser in the EU, and we never save your password. Your agents only get Podium once you enable it, every background request is listed, and the browser profile is stored encrypted with AES-256-GCM, the cipher 1Password uses for its vaults. The AI model never sees a login, posts and messages wait for your OK, and Disable for agents cuts access in one click. Independent scanners grade cotlet.dev A+ on Qualys SSL Labs, securityheaders.com and Mozilla Observatory; live results are on https://cotlet.dev/security.

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