How do I troubleshoot Copilot draft issues?

If Copilot's drafted replies aren't meeting your expectations, there are a few common issues that might be affecting quality — and some straightforward ways to fix them. This article covers the most frequent quality problems and how to address them.

In this article:

• Why is Copilot responding to my notes instead of drafting a reply?
• Why are my drafts too wordy?
• Why are my drafts in the wrong language?
• Why is Copilot referencing incorrect knowledge articles?
• Why aren’t drafts correctly formatted when I move them to the editor?
• How do I expand the toolbar?
• Why is Copilot thinking for so long?
• Why did Copilot ignore some of my instructions?

Why is Copilot responding to my notes instead of drafting a reply?

When you use our Draft with notes feature, Copilot should turn your bullet points into a polished customer-facing message.

If it's responding to your notes as if they were questions, try these approaches to resolve the issue:

1. Make sure Copilot knows you need a draft. Check the area right below the Copilot chat input and confirm that the Draft option is selected.
2. Add context info like "respond to customer" or "draft a reply" at the top of your notes to help Copilot understand what you're asking for.
3. Use bullet points. Using this structure helps Copilot identify key information and more easily understand you.

4. Use a structured format. Break your notes into clear sections, outlining what you expect. For example, you might write something like this: 

   Greet the customer with their first name. 

   Acknowledge their specific issue. 

   Resolution: [add your notes]. 

   Ask for an email response.

Why are my drafts too wordy?

If Copilot is generating extra detailed drafts or including information you didn't ask for, you can usually fix it by adjusting your style guide settings.

Follow these steps:

1. Open your style guide.
2. Check that your response length settings are correct.
3. Check your custom instructions to see if any recent changes might be encouraging longer replies. If you spot changes that could be related, consider rewriting them to see if that resolves the issue.
4. Add new custom instructions to help simplify the responses. You can add things like: "Always reply as first person, as if you were the agent assigned to the ticket" and "Keep replies concise and focused on the customer's question." It can also be a good idea to include an example of the ideal length and format.

Why are my drafts in the wrong language?

There are a few reasons Copilot might generate drafts in an unexpected language. Here’s what you can do.

1. Check that Copilot’s language setting is correct. In the upper right, near your settings, you’ll find a globe icon and a two-letter ISO code to tell you what language is currently detected. Select the current language to get more details or make a change.
2. Check your style guide for ambiguous instructions. In particular, look for stylistic instructions that direct Copilot to “use the customer’s language” — where you mean to reflect the customer’s word choice or writing style. Copilot may take this instruction to mean it should translate content. If you find instructions like this, rewrite them to avoid confusion.
3. Set a default language. From the Copilot settings page, select the Features tab, and scroll down to find the Translations section. Set your default language to English (or your preferred language).
4. Add language instructions to your workflows. If you're using workflows, add "Always reply in English" to the prompt in any Reply or Guide step.

Why is Copilot referencing incorrect knowledge articles?

If Copilot is pulling in old content or linking to the wrong articles, here's what you can do:

1. Wait for the next sync to complete. Knowledge syncs happen about once per hour. If you just updated an article, wait an hour and check again.
2. Upload urgent updates manually. If you need to make time-sensitive updates, you can manually upload a PDF version of your knowledge article. This takes effect immediately, and you can delete the manual upload later if you need to. To manually upload knowledge, visit the Knowledge management page, select Upload documents, and then select Upload manually.
3. Check for deleted articles. Review the articles listed on your Knowledge management page to make sure deleted articles aren’t appearing there. When you delete articles from your knowledge base, it may take a few hours for them to be removed from Copilot. To manually delete an article, select the three-dot icon [•••] next to its title and then select Delete.
4. Review your settings to make sure internal articles are tagged correctly.
   • To do this for one article at a time, select the three-dot icon [•••] next to the article’s title, and select Edit. From there, check the Access level has been set correctly.
   • You can also edit the access levels for multiple articles at once. To do this, select all the articles you want to change from the list on your Knowledge management page. Next, select Bulk actions and then select Change access level.

Why aren’t drafts correctly formatted when I move them to the editor?

In some cases, your draft may not retain all of its formatting when Copilot copies it over to the chat input. This is a known issue and we’re currently working to improve it.

Some formatting features like bold, italics, and bullet points may not be available at all in Zendesk — this depends on your company settings. If you're replying through a custom channel that doesn't support rich text formatting, Copilot's formatting options will be limited.

How do I expand the toolbar?

Why is Copilot thinking for so long?

If Copilot shows "thinking" or "generating" messages but never finishes a draft, this is most likely a temporary error. To fix it:

1. Refresh your browser tab and try again.
2. Check that you’re assigned to the ticket you’re asking Copilot to work on.
3. Try using a different feature of Copilot. For example, if you're currently waiting for a drafted reply, try draft with notes instead.

If those steps don't resolve the issue, please contact us and include the case ID where you're seeing the issue. In many cases, a quick change on our side can resolve the problem right away.

Why did Copilot ignore some of my instructions?

If Copilot seems to ignore your instructions or contradict what you've told it to do, this is usually caused by a conflict between the instructions and your knowledge base.

To improve this:

1. Check for style instructions in your knowledge articles. Review existing knowledge content to find mentions of “ways to talk to customers” and other guidelines that might be conflicting with what you’re asking Copilot for.
2. Make style guide and workflow instructions more specific. For example, if you’re noticing that Copilot is being quite formal in its replies to customers, even when you ask it to be more casual, include more detailed instructions about what “casual” means to you — including examples of the appropriate level of formality.
3. Repeat critical instructions. If a requirement is very important, try reminding Copilot about it as it moves through steps.