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

# Chat lifecycle

> How a conversation moves between open, closed, and snoozed.

Every conversation in the Inbox is in one of three states, shown in the [status filter](/help/inbox/find-and-organize/search-and-filter-chats) above the conversation list.

| Status      | Meaning                                                                      |
| ----------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Open**    | Active and unresolved — the default state for a new or ongoing conversation. |
| **Snoozed** | Deliberately set aside to resurface later, without marking it resolved.      |
| **Closed**  | Resolved.                                                                    |

## How a chat changes state

* **A new conversation opens** when a contact messages in for the first time, or reopens automatically if they message again after being closed — see the [Reopened chat](/help/automations/triggers/reopened-chat) and [New and reopened chat](/help/automations/triggers/new-and-reopened-chat) automation triggers.
* **Closing** a chat can happen manually from the [chat header](/help/inbox/chat-actions#header-controls), as a [bulk action](/help/inbox/find-and-organize/bulk-actions), or automatically from an automation — see the [Chat closed](/help/automations/triggers/chat-closed) trigger.
* **Snoozing** removes a conversation from your active view without closing it, for when you're waiting on something — an internal answer, a customer's promised follow-up — and don't want it cluttering **Open** in the meantime.
* **Assigning or moving** a chat changes who owns it without changing its status — see [Chat assigned](/help/automations/triggers/chat-assigned) and [Chat moved](/help/automations/triggers/chat-moved).

<Tip>
  A closed conversation is not deleted — its full history stays intact and searchable, and it reopens automatically the moment the contact messages again. Close conversations freely; closing is a triage state, not a commitment that the relationship is over.
</Tip>

## Where lifecycle state shows up

* The [conversation list](/help/inbox/inbox-tour#the-conversation-list) status filter and sort order.
* Automation triggers that fire on a lifecycle event — useful for notifying a team when a VIP contact's chat is closed, or for routing a reopened chat back to whoever handled it last.
* [Bulk actions](/help/inbox/find-and-organize/bulk-actions), for changing the state of many conversations that match a filter at once.