---
lang: en
---

# Handoffs

Handoffs, and **Talk to a human** in the chat, turn on once you add an address on the Handoffs page or connect Slack or Discord. Once they are on, a question Cactus cannot answer reaches your team by email and in any connected channel, and a teammate claims it, replies to the visitor or closes it from its card.

> Verified against the product on 2026-11-15

## Turn handoffs on

Until you add an address or connect a channel, handoffs stay off, and so does **Talk to a human** in the chat. The Handoffs page turns them on once you add an address or connect Slack or Discord.

1. In [Handoffs](https://app.heycactus.ai/deploy/handoffs), type the team's address in the address field.
2. Select **Add**. The address appears under the field, and selecting it there removes it.
3. Or connect Slack or [Discord](https://cactus.heycactus.ai/discord) in its panel on the same page.

> **Note:** With no address left, handoffs stay on only while a channel is set.

*Where you add a handoff address*

Handoffs

- **Add** (2)

## Who gets a handoff

Every handoff is emailed to your team, to the addresses you added and to your team's members. Each one also sits in the Escalated view of [Conversations](https://cactus.heycactus.ai/conversations).

- In Slack, a card in #cactus-escalations once Slack is connected.
- In Discord, a card in the handoff channel you choose once Discord is connected.

## Claim, reply and close

1. In the handoff's card in Slack or Discord, select **Claim**. The first teammate to claim it holds it, and the card shows Claimed.
2. Select **Reply**. The form that opens sends what you type to the visitor, through the widget and by email.
3. Select **Close** once the visitor has what they need. The card shows Closed, and selecting **Reopen** on it brings the handoff back.

Anything else your team writes in the handoff thread stays private, kept on the conversation as a note.

## Open, claimed and closed

A handoff's card shows Open until a teammate claims it, Claimed while one holds it, and Closed once it is closed.

*How a handoff's card moves between states*

Open · **Claimed** · Closed

- Open › Claim › Claimed
- Open › Close › Closed
- Claimed › Close › Closed
- Closed › Reopen › Open

## On Discord

A Discord teammate links their account with `/cactus link` before they can claim, reply to or close a handoff.

## When a visitor asks for a person

If Cactus has no address for the visitor, it asks for one, with a name field, before the handoff goes out.

If the same visitor asks for a person again within an hour, Cactus reuses the open handoff rather than opening a second one. A new handoff opens with the line the visitor typed to ask for a person, as their own message, when the chat sends that line; the page they asked from is kept on that message.

## If a handoff doesn't reach your team

| What you see | What it means | What to do |
| --- | --- | --- |
| "Too many requests to reach the team right now. Try again later." | The team has been asked for a person too often for now, or too many contacts have reached teams from the visitor's network this hour or across all teams today, including an address typed with a handoff | Wait, then ask again |
| "Too many messages are going to teams right now. Try again later." | Too many contacts reach teams across all products at once | Try again later |
| "Cactus could not reach the team just now. Please try again." | The handoff did not go through | Try again |
| "That handoff is closed. Reopen it first if it needs somebody." | A teammate tried to claim a closed handoff | Select **Reopen** on the card, then **Claim** |
| "_The teammate's name_ already has this one." | Another teammate claimed it first | Leave it with them, or ask them to close it |
| "That handoff is not on this server." | The handoff belongs to another Discord server | Act on it in the server it came from |
| "Link your account with /cactus link first." | The Discord teammate's account is not linked | Run `/cactus link` in Discord |
| "Only the person who asked can hand this to the team." | Someone other than the visitor pressed **Talk to a person** on a Discord answer | Ask the visitor to press it |
| "Handoffs have no channel yet." | No Slack or Discord channel is set for handoffs | Select **Create #cactus-escalations** on the Handoffs page; until then, handoffs still reach your team by email |