Sift
Setup Guide · Prepared for Lyft

Put your inbox on autopilot
with AI Goals

AI Goals let Sift read every incoming case across your channels and take the actions you allow — drafting replies, tagging, routing, and escalating — all inside the guardrails you set.

Works across X, Instagram, Reddit, Facebook, TikTok, Threads & app reviews Built on the saved searches your team already uses
The idea

What is an AI Goal?

Think of a goal as a teammate you brief once. You tell it which conversations to watch, what you want it to achieve, and exactly which actions it's allowed to take. Then it works every matching case, around the clock — and shows you everything it did.

🎯

You choose where it runs

Point a goal at one of your saved searches — like Lost item or App store — so it only acts on the cases you mean.

✍️

You describe the outcome

Write what you want in plain English — or click Draft my goal and let Sift write the instructions for you.

🛡️

You set the boundaries

Tick only the actions it may take. Every customer reply is drafted for one of your agents to review and send.

📊

You see everything

A live activity feed shows every case a goal touched, what it decided, and why — so you stay in control.

Step 1

Where to find AI Goals

Everything lives in one place inside Sift. From anywhere in the app, follow this path:

Open Settings from the bottom of the left sidebar, choose the Automation section, and open Workflows. You'll see three tabs — AI Goals, Rules, and Schedules. Stay on AI Goals. Every goal you create lives here, and you can switch any of them on or off at any time.

Step 2

How to create a goal

Click + New goal on the AI Goals tab. You'll fill in a short, friendly form — here's what each part means.

  1. Name

    What you'll call this goal, e.g. "Lost Item Assistant." Just for your team.

  2. Applies to — pick a saved search

    Choose which conversations the goal runs on. Leave it blank and it runs on every case; pick a saved search to narrow it down. We've already mapped each recommended goal below to a search you already have.

  3. Instructions — what it should do

    Describe the goal in plain language. Type @ to reference your tags, queues, channels, or knowledge base. Not sure how to phrase it? Click Draft my goal and Sift writes a first version for you to tweak.

  4. What it can do — tick the allowed actions

    The goal can only do what you check here: Draft a reply, Use saved responses, Add note, Add tag, Assign agent, Move to queue, Close case, or Notify Slack. Nothing else.

  5. Research tools — Knowledge Base

    Switch this on to let the goal search your Help Center before it answers, so replies are grounded in your real policies and articles.

  6. Review — your team always sends

    When a goal drafts a reply, it lands in your team's review queue. An agent reads it, edits if needed, and sends — so a person is always the one who replies to your customers.

  7. Turn it Active

    Flip the toggle from Paused to Active and the goal starts working new cases right away. Flip it back any time to pause instantly.

💡 Tip — "How Sift reads this": as you edit, a live preview shows exactly how Sift will interpret your goal in one plain sentence (e.g. "When a case matches 'Lost item' → it may draft a reply, add a tag, move to queue"). No surprises.
Step 3

Your recommended starter goals

Seven goals to begin with, each wired to a saved search and queue your team already has. We've grouped them into three phases so you can start safe and expand as your confidence grows.

📋 How to set one up — copy & paste into “Draft my goal”

  1. On the AI Goals tab, click + New goal.
  2. On any goal below, press Copy goal brief. Back in Sift, click Draft my goal and paste it in — Sift writes the full goal for you in seconds.
  3. Set Applies to to the saved search named on the card, and tick the actions listed under What it can do.
  4. Check the one-line “How Sift reads this” preview, then Save and switch it to Active. That's it.
Phase 1
Protect & triage
Start here · turn these on first
1Safety & High-Priority Escalation
Runs on High Priority (Lost or Safety)

Recognizes safety-critical situations the moment they come in, writes a clear internal summary, tags it, moves the case out of the public queue into your HQ Only queue, and pings the team in Slack. It never replies to the customer on its own and never makes promises — a person always handles these. This goal takes priority over all the others.

Setup & routing: scope it to the High Priority (Lost or Safety) saved search · moves cases into the HQ Only queue · needs a Slack channel connected so it can post safety alerts.
Paste into the Draft my goal box in Sift
What it can do
Add noteAdd tagMove to queueNotify Slack
2Lost Item Assistant
Runs on Lost item

Drafts the standard "here's how to get your item back" reply using your Help Center and tags the case. One of your highest-volume, most repetitive request types — perfect for a consistent first response every time. If a lost-item case is really about safety, it hands off to Goal 1.

Setup & routing: scope it to the Lost item saved search · tags and drafts the reply in place — no queue change · genuine safety cases are handed to Goal 1 (which moves them to HQ Only).
Paste into the Draft my goal box in Sift
What it can do
Draft a replyUse saved responsesAdd tagMove to queue
Knowledge Base
On
3Driver Deactivation-Appeal Router
Runs on Deactivation appeals

Summarizes each appeal in a clean internal note, tags it, and moves it to your driver-appeals queue so nothing sits unseen. It never promises reinstatement and never states account status — it sets your team up to make the call quickly.

Setup & routing: scope it to the Deactivation appeals saved search · moves each appeal into your driver-appeals queue. If you don't have a dedicated appeals queue yet, create one (e.g. "Driver Appeals") first so the goal has somewhere to send them.
Paste into the Draft my goal box in Sift
What it can do
Add noteAdd tagMove to queue
Phase 2
Answer & engage
Turn on once you're happy with the drafted replies
4Public → DM Deflection
Runs on your public-mention searches

When someone raises a support issue out in the open — a complaint, a question, a ride or account problem in a public post or @mention — it drafts one short, friendly public reply that acknowledges them and invites them to DM the team, then tags the case and moves it into the matching DM queue so the conversation continues in private. The classic social-support move, handled the same way every time — and one of the strongest fits for how your team already works.

Setup & routing: scope it to your public-mention searches (e.g. Twitter public, Instagram Public, Reddit General) · drafts a public reply, then moves the case from the public queue into the matching DM queue (Twitter DM Queue, Instagram DM Queue, Facebook DM Queue) · never asks for personal details in the public reply. Works well today with just a saved search on public mentions — no extra setup needed.
Paste into the Draft my goal box in Sift
What it can do
Draft a public replyUse saved responsesAdd tagMove to queue
5Rider Support — Answer from your Help Center
Runs on your support & DM searches

For common questions — account access, app help, basic charges, how-to — it drafts one concise reply that cites your Help Center and matches the customer's language. Anything that needs an account lookup, or mentions lost funds, is handed straight to a person. This drops into the exact draft-and-approve flow your team runs today — Sift just writes the first version.

Setup & routing: this one needs a scope — point Applies to at your rider support searches (e.g. Twitter DM Queue, Instagram DM Queue, or LUS Support) so it only answers rider questions · drafts in place — no queue change.
Paste into the Draft my goal box in Sift
What it can do
Draft a replyUse saved responses
Knowledge Base
On
6App-Store & Play-Store Review Responder
Runs on App storeApp review

Sorts each review — bug, performance, feature request, praise, or possible safety — tags it, moves it into your App review queue, and drafts a short, in-language response for negative reviews. Turns a noisy review stream into organized, ready-to-send replies.

Setup & routing: scope it to the App store saved search · moves reviews into your App review queue as it sorts them · possible safety or lost-money reviews are handed to Goal 1.
Paste into the Draft my goal box in Sift
What it can do
Draft a replyAdd tagMove to queue
Phase 3
Keep the inbox clean
Quiet background tidy-up · no customer messages
7Close-Out Irrelevant & Resolved
Runs on Irrelevant Conversations

Tags and closes conversations that are clearly off-topic or already resolved — but only when it's obviously safe to do so. It never sends a customer message; it just keeps your queues focused on what actually needs a person.

Setup & routing: scope it to the Irrelevant Conversations saved search · tags and closes in place — no queue change, and no customer message.
Paste into the Draft my goal box in Sift
What it can do
Add tagClose case
The plan

A simple rollout

You don't flip everything on at once. Build trust in stages.

Week 1

Turn on Goals 1–3

Safety escalation, lost items, and deactivation routing. Watch the Goal Activity feed to see exactly what each goal does on real cases — and every drafted reply waits in your team's review queue, so nothing reaches a customer without an agent.

Weeks 2–3

Add Goals 4–6 once the drafts look right

Public-to-DM deflection, rider support answers, and app-review responses. They land in the same approve / decline queue your agents already use, so it feels familiar from day one. Public → DM is a great first one — it works well today with just a saved search on public mentions.

Ongoing

Switch on Goal 7 and keep refining

Let close-out keep your queues tidy in the background, and fine-tune each goal's instructions as your team learns what works. Your agents stay in the loop on every customer reply, start to finish.

Peace of mind

You're always in control

Nothing goes out without you

Every customer reply Sift writes is a draft your team reviews and sends — Sift never messages a customer on its own.

Pause in one click

Flip any goal from Active to Paused instantly. It stops on the next case.

Full transparency

The Goal Activity tab shows every run — what it did, on which case, and why.

Only what you allow

A goal can never take an action you didn't tick — no exceptions.

Adjust any time

Tweak the instructions or change which saved search a goal applies to whenever you like.

It knows when to step back

If a goal isn't confident, it leaves the case for your team rather than guessing.

Ready when you are

We'll set up your first three goals together on a quick call, walk your team through the activity feed, and tune the instructions to sound like Lyft. From there, you're in the driver's seat.