Autotask Tickets

Autotask Ticket Management

Overview

Autotask tickets are the core unit of service delivery in the PSA. Every client request, incident, problem, and change flows through the ticketing system. This skill covers comprehensive ticket management including business logic, SLA calculations, escalation rules, and performance metrics.

Ticket Status Codes

Based on the Autotask API, these are the standard ticket status values:

Status ID	Name	Description	Business Logic
1	NEW	Newly created ticket	Default for new tickets, SLA clock starts
2	IN_PROGRESS	Actively being worked	Resource should be assigned
5	COMPLETE	Issue resolved	Requires resolution field, stops SLA
6	WAITING_CUSTOMER	Awaiting customer response	SLA clock may pause
13	WAITING_MATERIALS	Waiting for parts/equipment	SLA clock may pause
14	ESCALATED	Escalated to higher tier	Requires escalation reason

Status Transition Rules

NEW (1) ──────────────────────────────> COMPLETE (5)
   │                                        ↑
   ↓                                        │
IN_PROGRESS (2) ──────────────────────────>─┤
   │         │                              │
   │         ↓                              │
   │    WAITING_CUSTOMER (6) ──────────────>─┤
   │         │                              │
   │         ↓                              │
   │    WAITING_MATERIALS (13) ────────────>─┘
   │
   ↓
ESCALATED (14) ─────> IN_PROGRESS (2) ────> COMPLETE (5)

Validation Rules:

• Completing directly from NEW generates a warning
• COMPLETE requires resolution field
• ESCALATED requires escalation reason
• IN_PROGRESS should have assigned resource

Ticket Priority Levels

Priority ID	Name	Response SLA	Resolution SLA	Business Context
4	CRITICAL	1 hour	4 hours	Complete business outage
3	HIGH	2 hours	8 hours	Major productivity impact
2	MEDIUM	4 hours	24 hours	Single user/workaround exists
1	LOW	8 hours	72 hours	Minor issue/enhancement

Note: In Autotask, lower numbers = lower priority. Priority 4 is most urgent.

Complete Ticket Field Reference

Core Fields

Field	Type	Required	Description
id	int	System	Auto-generated unique identifier
ticketNumber	string	System	Human-readable (e.g., T20240215.0001)
title	string(255)	Yes	Brief issue summary
description	text	No	Detailed description
companyID	int	Yes	Company/account reference
companyLocationID	int	No	Site/location within company
contactID	int	No	Primary contact for ticket

Classification Fields

Field	Type	Required	Description
status	int	Yes	Current status (see codes above)
priority	int	Yes	Urgency level (1-4)
queueID	int	Yes	Service queue for routing
issueType	int	No	Primary category
subIssueType	int	No	Sub-category
ticketType	int	No	Service Request, Incident, Problem, Change
ticketCategory	int	No	Additional categorization

Assignment Fields

Field	Type	Required	Description
assignedResourceID	int	No	Technician assigned
assignedResourceRoleID	int	No	Role for billing
creatorResourceID	int	System	Who created the ticket
lastActivityResourceID	int	System	Last person to update

SLA & Timeline Fields

Field	Type	Required	Description
createDate	datetime	System	When ticket was created
dueDateTime	datetime	No	SLA due date/time
completedDate	datetime	System	When marked complete
firstResponseDateTime	datetime	System	First response timestamp
resolutionPlanDateTime	datetime	No	Expected resolution time
resolvedDateTime	datetime	System	Actual resolution time
lastActivityDate	datetime	System	Last update timestamp

Contract & Billing Fields

Field	Type	Required	Description
contractID	int	No	Associated contract
contractServiceID	int	No	Specific service on contract
contractServiceBundleID	int	No	Service bundle
estimatedHours	decimal	No	Estimated effort
hoursToBeScheduled	decimal	No	Hours remaining

Resolution Fields

Field	Type	Required	Description
resolution	text	Conditional	Required when completing
resolutionType	int	No	Resolution category

SLA Calculation Logic

Default SLA Times by Priority

const SLA_DEFAULTS = {
  CRITICAL: { response: 1, resolution: 4 },   // hours
  HIGH:     { response: 2, resolution: 8 },
  MEDIUM:   { response: 4, resolution: 24 },
  LOW:      { response: 8, resolution: 72 }
};

SLA Calculation Example

// Calculate SLA due dates
function calculateSLADueDate(ticket, contractSLA) {
  const now = new Date();
  const priority = ticket.priority || 2; // Default to MEDIUM

  // Use contract SLA if available, otherwise defaults
  const responseHours = contractSLA?.responseTimeHours || SLA_DEFAULTS[priority].response;
  const resolutionHours = contractSLA?.resolutionTimeHours || SLA_DEFAULTS[priority].resolution;

  return {
    responseBy: addHours(now, responseHours),
    resolveBy: addHours(now, resolutionHours),
    businessHoursOnly: true
  };
}

SLA Clock Behavior

Status	SLA Clock
NEW	Running
IN_PROGRESS	Running
WAITING_CUSTOMER	Paused (configurable)
WAITING_MATERIALS	Paused (configurable)
ESCALATED	Running
COMPLETE	Stopped

Escalation Rules

Automatic Escalation Triggers

function checkEscalationRules(ticket) {
  const reasons = [];
  const now = new Date();

  // SLA Violation
  if (ticket.dueDateTime && new Date(ticket.dueDateTime) < now) {
    const hoursOverdue = Math.floor(
      (now - new Date(ticket.dueDateTime)) / (1000 * 60 * 60)
    );
    reasons.push(`SLA violated by ${hoursOverdue} hours`);
    escalationLevel = Math.min(3, Math.floor(hoursOverdue / 4) + 1);
  }

  // Stale Waiting Status
  if (ticket.status === 6 && ticket.lastActivityDate) {
    const daysSinceActivity = Math.floor(
      (now - new Date(ticket.lastActivityDate)) / (1000 * 60 * 60 * 24)
    );
    if (daysSinceActivity > 7) {
      reasons.push(`No customer response for ${daysSinceActivity} days`);
    }
  }

  // Critical Without Assignment
  if (ticket.priority === 4 && !ticket.assignedResourceID) {
    reasons.push('Critical ticket without assigned resource');
  }

  return { requiresEscalation: reasons.length > 0, reasons };
}

Escalation Levels

Level	Trigger	Action
1	SLA 0-4 hours overdue	Notify assigned resource
2	SLA 4-8 hours overdue	Notify team lead
3	SLA 8+ hours overdue	Notify management

Ticket Metrics & KPIs

Key Performance Indicators

function calculateTicketMetrics(tickets) {
  const completedTickets = tickets.filter(t => t.status === 5);

  // Average Resolution Time (hours)
  const avgResolutionTime = completedTickets.reduce((sum, t) => {
    if (t.createDate && t.completedDate) {
      return sum + (new Date(t.completedDate) - new Date(t.createDate));
    }
    return sum;
  }, 0) / completedTickets.length / (1000 * 60 * 60);

  // SLA Compliance Rate
  const ticketsWithSLA = tickets.filter(t => t.dueDateTime);
  const slaCompliant = ticketsWithSLA.filter(t => {
    if (t.status === 5) {
      return new Date(t.completedDate) <= new Date(t.dueDateTime);
    }
    return new Date() <= new Date(t.dueDateTime);
  }).length;
  const slaCompliance = (slaCompliant / ticketsWithSLA.length) * 100;

  return {
    totalTickets: tickets.length,
    averageResolutionTime: avgResolutionTime.toFixed(2),
    slaCompliance: slaCompliance.toFixed(1) + '%',
    escalatedCount: tickets.filter(t => t.status === 14).length
  };
}

Status Distribution Report

{
  "statusDistribution": {
    "NEW": 12,
    "IN_PROGRESS": 45,
    "WAITING_CUSTOMER": 8,
    "WAITING_MATERIALS": 3,
    "ESCALATED": 2,
    "COMPLETE": 156
  },
  "priorityDistribution": {
    "CRITICAL": 1,
    "HIGH": 15,
    "MEDIUM": 38,
    "LOW": 22
  }
}

MCP Tool Reference

Create a Ticket

Tool: autotask_create_ticket
Args: {
  "companyID": 12345,
  "title": "Unable to access email - multiple users affected",
  "description": "Sales team (5 users) reporting Outlook showing disconnected since 9am.",
  "queueID": 8,
  "priority": 3,
  "status": 1,
  "contactID": 67890
}

Required: companyID, title, status, priority, queueID

Update a Ticket

Tool: autotask_update_ticket
Args: {
  "ticketId": 54321,
  "status": 2,
  "assignedResourceID": 29744150,
  "assignedResourceRoleID": 29683459
}

Only fields provided will be changed. Common update scenarios:

Scenario	Fields to Set
Assign technician	assignedResourceID + assignedResourceRoleID (both required together)
Change status	status (see status codes above)
Complete ticket	status: 5 (resolution via ticket note)
Escalate	status: 14
Update priority	priority
Change due date	dueDateTime (ISO 8601 format)
Reassign contact	contactID

Search Tickets

Tool: autotask_search_tickets
Args: {
  "companyId": 12345,
  "status": 1,
  "assignedResourceId": 29744150,
  "searchTerm": "email",
  "pageSize": 25
}

Filters: companyId, status, priority, queueId, assignedResourceId, searchTerm, pageSize

Get Ticket Details

Tool: autotask_get_ticket_details
Args: { "ticketId": 54321 }

Add a Ticket Note

Tool: autotask_create_ticket_note
Args: {
  "ticketId": 54321,
  "title": "Status Update",
  "description": "Identified root cause as KB5034441 update. Applying fix.",
  "noteType": 1,
  "publish": 0
}

noteType: 1=Internal, 2=External. publish: 0=No, 1=Yes (visible to client portal).

API Patterns

Creating a Ticket with Business Validation

POST /v1.0/Tickets
Content-Type: application/json

{
  "companyID": 12345,
  "title": "Unable to access email - multiple users affected",
  "description": "Sales team (5 users) reporting Outlook showing disconnected since 9am. Webmail working.",
  "queueID": 8,
  "priority": 3,
  "status": 1,
  "issueType": 5,
  "subIssueType": 12,
  "contactID": 67890,
  "dueDateTime": "2024-02-15T17:00:00Z"
}

Query Builder Patterns

Open tickets for company with includes:

{
  "filter": [
    {"field": "companyID", "op": "eq", "value": 12345},
    {"field": "status", "op": "noteq", "value": 5}
  ],
  "includeFields": ["Company.companyName", "AssignedResource.firstName", "AssignedResource.lastName"]
}

SLA-breached tickets:

{
  "filter": [
    {"field": "dueDateTime", "op": "lt", "value": "2024-02-15T12:00:00Z"},
    {"field": "status", "op": "in", "value": [1, 2, 6, 13, 14]}
  ]
}

Tickets by date range:

{
  "filter": [
    {"field": "createDate", "op": "between", "value": ["2024-02-01", "2024-02-29"]}
  ]
}

Updating Ticket Status

PATCH /v1.0/Tickets
Content-Type: application/json

Setting to Complete (requires resolution):

{
  "id": 54321,
  "status": 5,
  "resolution": "Cleared Outlook cache and repaired Office installation. Monitored for 30 minutes, email flow restored."
}

Setting to Escalated (requires reason):

{
  "id": 54321,
  "status": 14,
  "escalationReason": "Complex Exchange hybrid configuration issue requires senior engineer"
}

Adding Notes

POST /v1.0/TicketNotes
Content-Type: application/json

Internal Note:

{
  "ticketID": 54321,
  "title": "Initial Triage",
  "description": "Issue started after KB5034441 update. Known Outlook cache corruption issue.",
  "noteType": 1,
  "publish": 0
}

External Note (visible to client):

{
  "ticketID": 54321,
  "title": "Status Update",
  "description": "We've identified the cause of the issue. A technician is working on the fix and will have it resolved within the hour.",
  "noteType": 2,
  "publish": 1
}

Common Workflows

Ticket Creation Flow

1. Validate company exists and has active contract
2. Check for duplicates - search open tickets with similar title
3. Auto-set defaults:
   • Status → NEW (1)
   • Priority → MEDIUM (2) if not specified
4. Calculate SLA based on priority and contract
5. Route to queue based on issue type
6. Send acknowledgment to contact

Status Transition Validation

function validateStatusTransition(currentStatus, newStatus, ticket) {
  const requiredFields = [];
  const warnings = [];

  switch (newStatus) {
    case 5: // COMPLETE
      if (!ticket.resolution) requiredFields.push('resolution');
      if (currentStatus === 1) warnings.push('Completing without In Progress step');
      break;

    case 2: // IN_PROGRESS
      if (!ticket.assignedResourceID) warnings.push('No resource assigned');
      break;

    case 14: // ESCALATED
      if (!ticket.escalationReason) requiredFields.push('escalationReason');
      break;
  }

  return {
    canTransition: requiredFields.length === 0,
    requiredFields,
    warnings
  };
}

Error Handling

Common API Errors

Code	Message	Resolution
400	Invalid field value	Verify picklist IDs for your instance
400	Status transition not allowed	Check workflow rules
401	Unauthorized	Verify API credentials
403	Insufficient permissions	Check resource security level
404	Entity not found	Confirm ticket/company exists
409	Conflict/Locked	Ticket being edited by another user
429	Rate limited	Implement exponential backoff

Validation Errors

Error	Cause	Fix
CompanyID required	Missing company	All tickets need a company
QueueID invalid	Queue not found	Query /v1.0/Queues for valid IDs
Resolution required	Completing without resolution	Add resolution text
Status transition invalid	Invalid workflow	Check allowed transitions

Best Practices

1. Validate before creating - Search for duplicates, verify company/contract
2. Use descriptive titles - Include who's affected and symptoms
3. Set accurate priority - Use impact/urgency matrix, not everything is Critical
4. Log time immediately - Don't batch at end of day
5. Update status promptly - Keeps queues accurate for reporting
6. Document thoroughly - Future technicians will thank you
7. Use internal notes for technical details - Keep external notes professional
8. Monitor SLA metrics - Address breaches before they escalate

Related Skills

• Autotask CRM - Company and contact management
• Autotask Contracts - Service agreements and billing
• Autotask Time Entries - Time tracking and billing
• Autotask API Patterns - Query builder and authentication