How to auto-close stale support tickets in Gorgias after 48 hours with no reply

Why auto-close stale tickets?

Support queues fill up with tickets that are technically "open" but practically resolved — the agent replied, the customer read it, and nobody followed up. These ghost tickets inflate your open count, distort reporting, and make it harder for agents to find the tickets that actually need attention. Teams that don't auto-close typically carry 30-50% more open tickets than their actual workload warrants, dragging down metrics like average resolution time and making it impossible to spot genuine backlog issues.

Auto-closing stale tickets after a waiting period keeps your queue accurate. Paired with a polite "did this help?" follow-up before closure, it gives customers one last chance to re-engage while ensuring that resolved conversations don't linger indefinitely. Teams that implement auto-close typically see a 25-40% reduction in open ticket count within the first week and a measurable improvement in agent focus — fewer tickets to scan means faster response to the ones that actually need attention.

How it works

Regardless of which tool you use, every approach follows the same three-step pattern:

1. Detect stale tickets — find tickets where the agent has replied but the customer hasn't responded within your configured window (typically 48 hours). Only tickets in "pending" status with the last message from an agent qualify.
2. Send a follow-up — post a polite "did this help?" message to the customer, giving them one more chance to reply. Tag the ticket so you can track which ones received the follow-up.
3. Close after grace period — if the customer still hasn't replied after the follow-up (typically 24 hours later), close the ticket and tag it as auto-closed. If the customer does reply, the ticket reopens automatically and stays in the queue.

The approaches below differ in how they handle each step — Gorgias Rules run natively with zero external tools, n8n gives you full control over timing and conditions, and the Claude Code skill lets you run closures conversationally or on a schedule.

What you'll need

Which approach should I use?

• Gorgias Rules (Recommended) — two native Rules handle the follow-up and close sequence entirely inside Gorgias. Best for teams that want zero external tools and instant evaluation. No cost beyond your Gorgias plan. Limited to time-based conditions with up to an hour of evaluation delay.
• n8n — a scheduled workflow fetches pending tickets via the Gorgias API, applies custom logic (check tags, exclude VIPs, integrate with a CRM), and closes via API. Best for teams that need external data checks or more granular timing than Gorgias Rules offer. Free self-hosted or $24/mo on n8n Cloud.
• Claude Code — a guided Claude Code skill with workflow guidelines and API references. You ask Claude what you want — "close stale tickets," "preview what would be closed this week," "close everything older than 5 days" — and it generates and runs the right code. Best for teams already using Claude Code who want conversational flexibility alongside scheduled checks.

Choose your approach

Select an approach below to see the full step-by-step guide.