Control Autopilot handling and take over a conversation
Last updated: July 23, 2026
Autopilot ownership and Autopilot handling are related but distinct. A human can remain the contact owner while Autopilot is allowed to respond, or the Autopilot bot can own the contact directly.
Compare Autopilot states
| Owner | Handling setting | Composer state | Available action | Outcome |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Human teammate | Off | Available | Turn handling on | Autopilot can respond without changing the owner |
| Human teammate | On | Replaced by an Autopilot banner | Takeover | Turns handling off and preserves the existing human owner |
| Autopilot bot | Controlled by bot ownership | Replaced by an Autopilot banner | Takeover | Assigns the contact to the current teammate and releases Autopilot handling |
When Autopilot is assigned as the owner or is handling the conversation, the message composer will not be visible and only after taking over the conversation, the message composer will be usable.
Turn handling on or off for a human-owned contact
- Open the contact-details panel.
- Find Let Autopilot handle this conversation below Contact Owner.
- Select On or Off.
- Wait for the confirmation message.
Take over a conversation
- Open the conversation showing the Autopilot banner.
- Select Takeover.
- Wait for Takeover successful.
- Confirm that the normal composer returns.
- Review the latest messages before responding.
Recognize restricted or stale states
- A stale browser state can show a banner after another owner has already changed ownership or handling.
- The handling toggle can ask you to take over first if the released contact state is no longer eligible for direct changes.
- A takeover is rejected when the contact is no longer owned or handled by Autopilot.
If a takeover fails, refresh once and confirm the owner and handling state before retrying. Continue with Troubleshoot common issues if control does not return.