Escalation paths

Escalation paths allow your team to define a set of levels, so that if a team member is stuck when resolving a thread, they have a predefined path to escalate it to the next relevant person or team. This ensures standardized handoffs and gives every thread a clear path to resolution.

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Configuration

Setting up escalation paths requires two steps:

1. Define the escalation path (name + levels) in Settings
2. Create a workflow in the Workflow Builder to assign threads to that path

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Adding an escalation path

1. Go to Settings → Workflow → Escalation Paths
2. Click “New Escalation Path”
3. Set a name and add your defined escalation levels

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Setting a thread to use an escalation path

1. Go to Workflows and create a new workflow or edit an existing one
2. Under Actions, pick Set escalation path

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Usage

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Escalating a thread

To escalate, click More at the bottom of the thread page, under the composer, then pick Escalate

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Changing or clearing the escalation path

To manually change which escalation path a thread uses, or to remove it entirely:

1. Press ⌘ + K to open the Command Palette
2. Search for “Update Escalation Path”

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Things to know

• When escalating, the currently assigned user is always unassigned
• The currently assigned team label is removed only if it is part of the escalation level being escalated from
• The current escalation level is evaluated at the moment of escalation. Manual user/team assignments can affect which level is considered “current”

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Example

At Plain, we use the following escalation path for product questions. It’s assigned via a workflow that triggers on threads from support@plain.com:

1. Technical Support (team)
2. Engineering (team)
3. Staff Engineer (user)
4. Founders (team)

The workflow that sets this path uses a single condition step, “Support email equals support@plain.com”, followed by a Set escalation path action.