Canned Responses

Save the replies you write over and over, then drop one into a conversation by typing a / shortcut — with the customer’s name and conversation subject filled in as it lands.

Canned responses live under Project Settings → Canned responses, and only appear when private messaging is enabled for the project.

• Shared, not personal: every template belongs to the project. Owners and admins write them; every member can insert them.
• Plain text: a template is inserted verbatim into the reply box, so what you save is exactly what your customer receives. Markdown is not rendered.
• Shortcuts: each template has a shortcut like refund, typed as /refund in the composer.
• Variables: {{customer_name}} and friends are filled in at the moment you insert, so you can read the finished reply before sending it.
• Plan limits: Free projects don’t include canned responses, Pro allows 50, Team is unlimited. Pro

Saving a response

1. Open Settings in the project sidebar, find Canned responses, and click Manage canned responses
2. Click Add canned response
3. Enter a name — this is the label you’ll see in the picker (“Refund policy”)
4. Enter a shortcut. Type it however you like; it’s tidied up when you leave the field, so Refund Policy becomes refund-policy
5. Write the message in plain text, using variables wherever the reply should be personalised
6. Optionally pick a category to group related templates. Existing categories are suggested as you type, so you don’t end up with “Billing” and “billing” as two groups
7. Click Save

Shortcut rules

• Lowercase letters, numbers, hyphens and underscores, up to 32 characters
• Don’t type the leading / — that’s the trigger key in the composer, not part of the shortcut
• Shortcuts are unique per project. If one is already taken you’ll be told so, and nothing is saved — SupDesk never quietly renames your shortcut to something nobody knows to type
• close, reopen, assign, note and help are held back for built-in commands

Using one in a reply

In any message composer, type / followed by part of a shortcut or a name:

• Arrow keys move through the matches
• Enter or Tab inserts the highlighted one
• Escape dismisses the list
• Clicking a match inserts it too

Only the /shortcut you typed is replaced — the rest of your draft stays exactly as it was, and the cursor lands at the end of the inserted text so you can keep writing.

The list stays out of your way when you’re not asking for it: typing a URL like https://example.com or a date like 9/14 never opens it.

Variables

A template can contain any of these placeholders. They’re filled in when you insert the template, not when you send:

Anything SupDesk can’t fill is left in place, visible in the composer. A placeholder you made up, like {{order_id}}, stays as {{order_id}} rather than silently becoming a blank — so you’ll notice it before your customer does.

One consequence worth knowing: when you start a brand-new conversation from Messages → New, the subject hasn’t been decided yet, so {{thread_subject}} stays unfilled until you replace it yourself.

Plan limits

The list shows how many you’ve used before you reach the ceiling. Past it, the Add canned response button gives way to a note — delete one you no longer use, or upgrade.

Who can do what

A shared template speaks for the whole team, so writing one is treated as administration. Members see the list read-only and use it every day.