> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.shortext.ny-corp.io/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Handover and assignment

> Take a conversation over from the AI agent, hand it back, and assign it to a member of your team.

## Handover

A conversation is in **handover** when a human follows it: the AI agent no longer answers this contact.

* **Take over**: turn on the assistance switch of the conversation, or simply reply to the customer. The AI stops answering.
* **Hand back**: turn the assistance switch off. The AI answers the next messages of the contact again.

Handover applies to the current session. Each change is announced to your systems by the `conversation.handover` and `conversation.released` [webhooks](https://docs.shortext.ny-corp.io/api-reference/webhooks.md).

> [!TIP]
>
> Write in the agent's instructions when it should ask for a human, for example "for refunds, tell the customer a person will follow up". Your team then takes these conversations over from the Inbox.

## Assignment

You can assign the current session of a conversation to a member of your company. It then appears in their **Mine** view.

* A member with the **agent** role cannot answer a conversation assigned to someone else.
* Unassigned conversations are listed in **Unassigned**.

## From the API

| Action | Endpoint |
| - | - |
| Take over | `PUT /conversations/{id}/handover` |
| Hand back | `DELETE /conversations/{id}/handover` |
| Reply without taking over | `POST /conversations/{id}/messages` with `"handover": false` |
| Assign / unassign | `PUT /conversations/{id}/assignee` with `user_id` (or `null`) |
| List the members you can assign | `GET /conversations/assignees` |

See the guide [Handover and release](https://docs.shortext.ny-corp.io/api-reference/guides/handover.md).


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