How to Build a Self-Service Flow in Gorgias

What a "self-service Flow" actually means in Gorgias

It helps to separate two things that get blended together. Gorgias has lightweight Flows and Order Management automations, and it has the AI Agent. Per Gorgias' AI Agent explained documentation, the simpler automations "run alongside AI Agent on your tickets — often handling the first part of a conversation before AI Agent steps in if more help is needed." So a self-service Flow, in practice, is the combination: a deterministic first touch (collect an order number, offer a menu of intents) plus an AI Agent that can reason over live Shopify data and, when you allow it, take an action — cancel the order, start a return, update the shipping address.

If you want the pure rules-based version of Flows on its own, we cover that in Gorgias Flows explained; this guide is about the self-service experience customers actually feel, which leans on the AI Agent. For a primer on the AI Agent itself, see Gorgias AI Agent explained, and if you're newer to the platform, what is Gorgias sets the scene.

Before you start: the Shopify gate

Be clear-eyed about this before you invest an afternoon. To build and enable these self-service Flows you need an active AI Agent subscription and, per Gorgias' Set up and go live with AI Agent docs, a Shopify store connected to Gorgias. Gorgias' own AI Agent enablement screen states plainly that the AI Agent is currently available only with Shopify — if you're on BigCommerce, Magento, or a headless stack, the order-action Flows in this guide aren't available to you natively yet. You'll also need Lead, Admin, or Account Owner access to configure it.

Everything below lives under the same place: open the dropdown menu in the top-left corner and select AI Agent.

Step 1: Give the Flow something to know

AI Agent won't turn on until it has knowledge. The docs are explicit that "AI Agent needs at least one source of knowledge before you can enable it."

1. Go to AI Agent → Knowledge.
2. Start with Guidance using a pre-built template, then add your store info, help-center articles, or custom content.
3. For a WISMO/returns Flow specifically, make sure your shipping timelines, returns window, and refund policy are all represented — the AI Agent quotes these when a live action isn't the answer (e.g. "your order shipped yesterday and is 3–5 business days out").

Knowledge is the difference between an agent that sounds confident and one that's actually right. Skimp here and every downstream step inherits the gap.

Step 2: Build the WISMO and returns Skills

Skills define how the AI Agent handles a specific conversation type. This is where your two high-volume intents get built.

1. Go to AI Agent → Skills.
2. Choose From template — Gorgias ships templates for common ecommerce scenarios including returns, order status, and cancellations. Start with Order status for WISMO and Returns for the returns path.
3. Or pick From scratch if your logic is unusual (e.g. a returns policy that varies by product category or by whether the item was on sale).
4. For the Order status skill, the AI Agent reads live Shopify order and fulfillment data and answers the tracking question directly — no agent touch.
5. For the Returns skill, layer in the eligibility rules from your Knowledge (window, condition, final-sale exclusions) so the agent can tell an in-window customer "yes" and an out-of-window one "no" with the reason.

Step 3: Turn on order actions (the part that makes it self-service)

Answering "where is my order?" is deflection. Doing something about it — cancelling, starting the return, fixing the address — is true self-service, and that's what order actions unlock.

1. Go to AI Agent → Support Actions.
2. Per the docs, "Actions let AI Agent complete tasks in your connected apps on behalf of shoppers." Add actions via template or custom build.
3. For this Flow, enable the ones that map to your intents: cancel an order, process/initiate a return, edit shipping address, and subscription edits if you run subscriptions.
4. Crucially, actions are opt-in and configurable — you choose which ones the agent can take and, per Gorgias, "the conditions under which it takes them." Set guardrails: only cancel before fulfillment, only auto-approve returns inside the window, only refund below a dollar threshold. Everything above the line becomes a handoff (Step 5).

This is the step people rush and regret. An action without a condition is how an AI ends up refunding a final-sale item. Spend your time here.

Step 4: Test the Flow without touching billing or metrics

Before a single customer sees it, rehearse it.

1. Go to AI Agent → Test.
2. Gorgias notes test conversations "help you identify and address gaps" without billing or affecting your metrics — so you can hammer it freely.
3. Run the real scripts: "Where's order #1043?", "I want to return the blue hoodie", "Cancel my order", "Change my address". Confirm each takes the right action and that your guardrails correctly refuse the ones they should.

Step 5: Set the handoff rules

A self-service Flow that never lets go is worse than no Flow. Gorgias hands over to your team automatically when the AI Agent "can't confidently respond, encounters a sensitive topic, or detects frustration from the shopper," and you configure the escalation triggers yourself. Start conservative — the docs suggest handing over "only when AI Agent genuinely can't resolve it" — then tighten as you build trust. If you route escalations with conditions, that logic lives in Gorgias' Rules engine, which pairs naturally with a self-service Flow.

Step 6: Go live on a channel

1. Go to the channel you want: AI Agent → Chat (select your website, Help Center, or checkout widget) or AI Agent → Email.
2. Toggle Enable AI Agent on Chat (or Email). SMS is available too but requires the separate SMS add-on.
3. Monitor from Inbox → ✨ AI Agent Views, which show processing, closed, and handoff tickets. Review weekly and leave feedback to refine coverage.

A worked example: what each intent should do

Here's how a mid-sized Shopify brand might wire the two flows. The pattern to copy is the shape — deflect the read-only questions, auto-act on the safe writes, hand off the rest.

The honest limits — and where an AI layer picks up

Gorgias' self-service Flows are genuinely strong for a Shopify store: live order data, real actions, sensible handoff. But be honest about the edges.

The first is the Shopify gate we opened with. The AI Agent — and therefore every order action in this guide — is currently Shopify-only. If your order truth lives in a different commerce platform, a 3PL, or a custom subscription tool, the native Flow can't reach it.

The second is billing shape. Gorgias charges the AI Agent per automated resolution — roughly $0.90–$1.00 each depending on annual vs. monthly, with overage interactions running higher (widely cited around $1.50). And because an automated resolution still counts as a helpdesk ticket, you can end up paying a ticket fee and the AI fee on the same conversation. That's a defensible model, but it's an outcome-priced one, and outcomes on self-service Flows vary. (For the full picture, our Gorgias AI Agent explained piece goes deeper.)

This is the seam where an AI agent layer fits — and the broader category of AI agents for customer service exists precisely to widen what a self-service Flow can reach. Macha is one such layer: it runs on top of the Gorgias you already use as a live connector — it does not replace Gorgias, its Flows, or its inbox. Because Macha reaches any REST API through a custom tool, a WISMO or returns Flow it runs can query your 3PL, your WMS, or a non-Shopify order system — not just Shopify. And Macha's credits are consumed per AI action, not per resolution, so the cost is tied to work performed rather than a billable outcome — an honest contrast with per-resolution AI billing. See the pricing breakdown for how that works.

The clean division of labour: keep Gorgias' Flows and inbox as your system of record and your customer-facing channel, and layer an agent on top for the reach and the actions the native, Shopify-bound Flow can't cover.

FAQ

Where do I build a self-service Flow in Gorgias? Inside AI Agent. Open the dropdown menu in the top-left corner, select AI Agent, then work through Knowledge, Skills, and Support Actions. Simpler Flows and Order Management automations run alongside AI Agent and often handle the first part of a conversation before the AI Agent steps in.

Do I need Shopify to build a self-service Flow? For the AI Agent version with live order data and order actions, yes — Gorgias' docs require a connected Shopify store, and the AI Agent is currently available only with Shopify. If your commerce runs elsewhere, the native order-action Flows aren't available yet.

What order actions can a Gorgias Flow take? With Support Actions enabled, the AI Agent can complete tasks on behalf of shoppers — including cancelling an order, processing a return, editing a shipping address, and subscription edits. Actions are opt-in and each one is conditioned on rules you set, so you control exactly when it fires.

How does Gorgias handle handoff to a human? The AI Agent hands over when it can't confidently respond, hits a sensitive topic, or detects customer frustration — and you configure the escalation triggers. Start conservative and tighten as you build trust; conditional routing lives in the Rules engine.

Can I add AI self-service to Gorgias without replacing it? Yes. An AI agent layer like Macha connects to Gorgias as a live connector and runs on top of your existing inbox and Flows — it doesn't replace them. It can extend a self-service Flow to non-Shopify systems through custom tools, and its credits are consumed per AI action rather than per resolution.

Ready to build self-service Flows that reach beyond Shopify? Start a free trial of Macha and connect it to your Gorgias in minutes.