Ticket visibility in BoldDesk determines whether a ticket is accessible to customers in the Customer Portal or restricted to agents in the Agent Portal. Proper use of Public and Private tickets enables secure internal collaboration while maintaining transparency with customers.

This article explains how to control ticket visibility using BoldDesk Tickets, Automation Rules, and Agent Actions.

Understanding Ticket Visibility in BoldDesk

BoldDesk supports two visibility levels for tickets:

• Public Tickets

  • Visible to customers in the Customer Portal
  • Accessible to agents in the Agent Portal

• Private Tickets

  • Visible only to agents
  • Hidden from the Customer Portal

Private tickets are commonly used for internal discussions, escalations, or internal requests.

Setting Ticket Visibility During Ticket Creation

When an agent creates a ticket in the Agent Portal, ticket visibility can be defined at the point of creation. On the Create Ticket page, enable the Mark this ticket private option to restrict the ticket to agent-only access. If this option is not selected, the ticket is created as a Public ticket by default and will be visible in the Customer Portal.

This setting is ideal for internal requests, investigations, or agent‑only workflows that should not be exposed to customers.

Modifying Ticket Visibility After Creation

In BoldDesk, agents can change a ticket’s visibility at any point after it has been created using the Ticket Details page in the Agent Portal. This allows tickets to move between customer‑facing and internal‑only workflows as needed.

When a ticket is switched from Public to Private, it is immediately hidden from the Customer Portal and becomes accessible only to agents. Changing a ticket from Private to Public makes it visible to customers again.
Visibility changes apply to the entire ticket and all associated communications. BoldDesk does not notify customers when ticket visibility is modified.

This capability is useful when a ticket’s purpose changes during its lifecycle, such as transitioning from customer communication to internal investigation or escalation.

Using Ticket Automation for Visibility Control

BoldDesk allows ticket visibility to be managed automatically using Ticket Automation. Administrators can configure rules within Create Ticket Triggers or Update Ticket Triggers to set a ticket’s visibility when specific conditions are met.
These triggers run based on ticket events and can automatically change the Visibility property to Private or Public without agent intervention. This is useful for enforcing consistent internal workflows and reducing manual updates. Explore further instructions about BoldDesk Event Triggers: Conditions, Actions & Rule Order.

Common automation scenarios include:

• Setting tickets to Private when an internal tag is applied
• Automatically hiding tickets created for internal requests
• Switching visibility based on category, priority, or other ticket properties

Example Behavior
When a ticket includes a tag such as internal request, the configured automation rule is triggered and the ticket visibility is automatically set to Private, ensuring it remains hidden from the Customer Portal.

Check out this video tutorial.

Frequently Asked Questions

1. Can customers see private tickets in the Customer Portal?
   No. Private tickets are never visible in the Customer Portal and can only be accessed by agents in the Agent Portal.

2. Can I automate ticket visibility changes in BoldDesk?
   Yes. Ticket visibility can be automatically set using Create Ticket Trigger or Update Ticket Trigger under Admin Portal → Automation.

3. Can ticket visibility be changed after the customer has replied?
   Yes. Agents can change ticket visibility at any stage, even after customer responses.

4. Is it possible to restrict visibility based on agent roles?
   No. Ticket visibility applies globally. Role‑based visibility for individual tickets is not available in BoldDesk.

5. Do private tickets count toward SLAs?
   Yes. SLAs apply to tickets regardless of visibility unless explicitly excluded in SLA conditions.

Related Articles

1. How to Set Ticket Category as Private
2. Creating a Private or Internal Ticket
3. How to Create a Private or Internal Ticket Category