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Takeover is the fastest way for an attendant to take over a Conversation without permanently stopping the AI Agent. Instead of transferring the Conversation to a permanent human queue, you pause the AI, respond as needed, and it returns automatically when you signal — or after the configured timer expires. Active Takeover panel with timer

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How Takeover works

The system uses the ai_pause_logs table to record each event in the pause lifecycle. The possible states are:
StateMeaning
pause_activatedHuman took over — AI stopped responding
interaction_blockedAgent message blocked during active pause
auto_resumeTimer expired — AI returned automatically
force_resumeAttendant ended the pause manually
extend_pauseAttendant extended the pause duration
While Takeover is active, any attempt by the AI Agent to send a message is recorded as interaction_blocked and discarded. The contact never receives a duplicate response.

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Activating Takeover

1

Open the Conversation in the Inbox

Go to Inbox → Live Chat and select the Conversation you want to take over.
2

Click 'Pause AI'

In the Conversation header, click the Pause AI button. A modal confirms the action and displays a field to set the duration.
3

Set the pause duration

Choose how long the AI will be paused: 15 min, 30 min, 1 hour, 2 hours, or indefinite. The Workspace default is configurable in Settings → Support.
4

Take over and respond

From this point on, only you send messages. The timer appears in the header with a countdown.

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Automatic return

When the timer expires, the system executes the automatic resume:

Auto Resume

The AI Agent returns control of the Conversation without human intervention. An auto_resume event is recorded in the log with the reason "timer_expired".

Force Resume

The attendant clicks Return to AI before the timer runs out. The force_resume event is recorded immediately.
If you need more time, click Extend pause before the timer reaches zero. Each extension records an extend_pause event with the new duration, maintaining a complete audit history.

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Audit and logs

Each action in the Takeover lifecycle is persisted in the pause-logger Edge Function with the following fields:
  • conversation_id — which Conversation was paused
  • action — the event type (see table above)
  • reason — descriptive text of the reason
  • duration_minutes — configured duration (when applicable)
  • triggered_by — attendant ID or "system" for auto-resumes
  • previous_ai_mode / new_ai_mode — before and after the mode change
You can query the complete history of a Conversation via API: 
POST /functions/v1/pause-logger
{
  "action": "get_timeline",
  "conversationId": "<id>"
}
The response returns events in chronological order, useful for audits and SLA reports.

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Configuring the default timer

1

Go to Workspace Settings

Navigate to Settings → Support → Takeover.
2

Set the default duration

Choose the default value that appears pre-selected when an attendant activates Takeover.
3

Enable automatic return

Enable or disable auto-resume. If disabled, the pause remains indefinite until the attendant ends it manually.
The duration configuration is per Workspace. Different Teams can have different default times — useful for separating Sales (long pauses) from Support (short pauses).