# Make new chats take turns between your teams

> In SkedX Flow, Settings → Chat Assignment → Team Assignment → Add Rule, step 3 (Which team handles these chats?) has two choices: One team, or Take turns between teams. Take turns lists every team, searchable (your own teams first, then by name, six at first with Show all); tick teams in the order they should take turns, or click Every team to tick all teams that have people. The turn order shows as one line (the first four and “+N more”); Edit order moves a team up or down. A team with nobody in it shows Add people and cannot take a turn; a team switched off on the Agent Assignment tab, or with nobody active, is skipped until it has someone again. A team whose people are offline or after hours keeps its turn and follows its own after-hours setting. Inside each team, the person is picked the way that team is set up on the Agent Assignment tab (round-robin, weighted, least busy, online only, opening hours) — or nobody is picked: with Anyone (First reply takes it) the chat waits for the whole team and the first person to reply takes it, with no manager or default owner stepping in. Only new chats take turns: a chat whose first message arrives after the rule is published (or switched back on). Older chats and history imported from Instagram, Facebook and WhatsApp are never moved, and no other rule or the AI routes them either — assign those in the inbox with Select → Assign. A turn-taking rule is always “Only once per conversation”: the team is decided on the first message and never changes on a later one. Chats arriving at the same moment each take their own turn. The rule in the list shows whose turn is next and, since the rule started, the range of chats per team with Even or Uneven, and links to the Team scorecard in Analytics. Taking turns needs at least two teams with people; with fewer the choice is greyed with Make another team. People who belong to two of the chosen teams get chats from both teams’ turns. Rules are saved through POST /api/assignment/rules/ (strategy team_turns, targetSquadIds) and need the settings permission.

Product: SkedX Flow · Topic: Your team · Draft — steps not yet re-verified in the live product

Two teams, one stream of new chats, and you want it split evenly. One rule makes new chats take turns between your teams, and each team picks its own person — the way you already set it up.

## Step 1: Pick the teams that take turns

Go to **Settings -> Chat Assignment** and click **Add Rule**. Choose **Catch-all** to split every new chat (or a keyword or channel to split only some), then **Next**. On **Which team handles these chats?** choose **Take turns between teams**. Tick the teams in the order they should take turns — the order shows above — or click **Every team**. With many teams, type a name in the search box.
Open it directly: https://flow.skode.ai/settings?tab=assignment

## Step 2: Change the turn order

Click **Edit order**. Move a team up or down with its arrows and click **Done**. The next new chat goes to the team after the one that had the last turn.

## Step 3: Publish — only new chats take turns

Click **Next** to review. **Only new chats**: a chat counts as new when its first message arrives after you publish, so older chats and the history brought in from Instagram, Facebook and WhatsApp stay where they are. **Only once per conversation** is always on: the team is decided on the first message and the chat stays there. Click **Publish rule**.

## Step 4: Check the split

The rule in the list shows the turn order and whose turn is next, and since it started, how many new chats each team has had, with **Even** or **Uneven**. **See the scorecard** opens the Team scorecard in Analytics.

## Common questions

### What happens to the chats we already have?

Nothing. Only chats whose first message arrives after you publish take a turn. Assign older chats — and the history imported from Instagram, Facebook and WhatsApp — in the inbox: tick them with **Select**, then **Assign**. See [Hand a chat to someone or another team](https://skode.ai/help/flow/inbox/hand-a-chat-to-someone-or-another-team/).

### An old customer writes again. Does their chat take a turn?

No. The chat began before the rule, so it stays as it is and nothing assigns it automatically. Assign it by hand.

### Who inside the team gets the chat?

Whoever the team’s own setting picks, on **Settings -> Chat Assignment -> Agent Assignment**: turn by turn, by weight, or least busy, with online only and opening hours if you set them — or nobody yet, with **Anyone**.

### Can the whole team see a new chat, and whoever replies first take it?

Yes. On **Settings -> Chat Assignment -> Agent Assignment**, set the team’s **Distribution** to **Anyone** (First reply takes it). The chat still takes its team’s turn, waits for the team with nobody on it, and becomes yours when you reply first; a later reply from a teammate never takes it from you.

### What if nobody in a team is available?

A team switched off on the Agent Assignment tab, or with nobody active in it, is skipped until it has someone again. A team whose people are offline or after hours keeps its turn and follows its own after-hours setting, so one team’s hours never tilt the split.

### Someone is in both teams. What happens?

They get chats from both teams’ turns. The editor says how many people are in more than one of the chosen teams.

### Two chats arrive at the same moment. Can both go to one team?

No. Each takes its own turn.

### I switch the rule off and on again.

The turns continue from where they stopped. Chats that arrived while it was off are left for you, like older chats.

### Can I move a chat to the other team later?

Yes, by hand — see [Hand a chat to someone or another team](https://skode.ai/help/flow/inbox/hand-a-chat-to-someone-or-another-team/). The rule itself never moves a chat once its team is decided.

## Useful links
- Chat Assignment in SkedX Flow — Team Assignment → Add Rule: https://flow.skode.ai/settings?tab=assignment
- Analytics in SkedX Flow — the Team scorecard: https://flow.skode.ai/analytics#team-scorecard

Videos and screenshots © 2026 SkedX, with sample data only. Share and link to them freely; copying the SkedX product or its design is not allowed. Terms: https://skode.ai/terms/

## Related guides
- Let each team see only its own chats: https://skode.ai/help/flow/team/let-each-team-see-only-its-own-chats/
- Compare your teams in Analytics — the Team scorecard: https://skode.ai/help/flow/insights/compare-your-teams-in-analytics/
- Hand a chat to someone or another team, and say why: https://skode.ai/help/flow/inbox/hand-a-chat-to-someone-or-another-team/
- See what is waiting on your team, and filter the inbox by team: https://skode.ai/help/flow/inbox/see-what-is-waiting-on-your-team/
- Invite teammates to SkedX Flow — and see what became of each invite: https://skode.ai/help/flow/team/invite-teammates-to-skode-flow/

Source: https://skode.ai/help/flow/team/make-teams-take-turns-on-new-chats/