Custom field in a new ticket creation by agent: Dropdown list that its values are live updated

Question

I want to create a custom field in the agent new ticket screen. I want the field to be shown as a dropdown list where the values in the dropdown list will be values taken from an API of other service.

I know Zendesk custom fields have an option to upload a CSV file with options but since I want to the values to be live updated it won't work for me.

I'm wondering whether I need to create a plugin that will do that job or Zendesk have a solution for this need.

Answer 1

I am not sure this is a suitable stackoverflow questions, but if you have control over the backend of the other service, it is better to automate a call from it to Zendesk custom fields API whenever there are changes to the drop down options.

However, this is a bad idea in the first place because drop down options are associated to tags. There might be conflicts with other field options or other tags used by agents. This will be a nightmare for the data analysts who rely on tags for Zendesk Explore reports, especially if you delete an options and its associated tags.

Answer 2

You can’t fetch data from a custom field. But you can build a simple Ticket side bar app (using the apps framework) which fetches data from your backend. Based on the selection from the drop down in that app a custom ticket field is updated.