Actions & Recommendations
An Actions and Recommendations deployment is a Lightning component in Salesforce Service Cloud that gives service agents one ranked panel of next steps for the record they have open.
Definition
An Actions and Recommendations deployment is a Lightning component in Salesforce Service Cloud that gives service agents one ranked panel of next steps for the record they have open. It combines quick actions, macros, screen flows, Knowledge actions, and Einstein Next Best Action recommendations in a single list, so agents stop hunting through sub-tabs to find the right move.
Admins build a deployment in Service Setup, pick the channels and record types it serves, then drop the Actions and Recommendations Lightning component on the case, work order, or messaging session record page. Without an active deployment for that channel, the panel renders empty. The recommendation slot is the only slot wired to an external strategy. Everything else is configured directly on the deployment record itself.
Why one ranked panel beats five sub-tabs
Where the deployment lives in setup
Open Service Setup, search for Actions and Recommendations, and you land on the deployments list. Each deployment ties to one or more channels (Voice, Messaging, Chat, Case) and one or more record types. Salesforce evaluates the active deployment for the current record at page load. If two deployments match the same record type, Salesforce picks the one created earlier and ignores the second. Most orgs settle on one deployment per channel plus one for cases, which keeps the matching logic predictable. The deployments list does not show which Lightning pages reference each deployment, so a simple spreadsheet of deployment to record page pays for itself the first time you move a quick action.
Quick actions, macros, and flows in the same list
The deployment lets you mix three action types in one ranked sequence. Quick actions surface as buttons that open a modal, such as Create a Task or Log a Call. Macros run a scripted set of clicks against the case feed (insert template, set status to Resolved, save). Screen flows open inline in the panel and can collect input before writing back to the record. The order in the deployment record is the order agents see in the panel. The first item is highlighted, so put the most-used action at the top. There is no per-user reordering for agents, which is intentional. The point of the panel is consistency across the team.
The Einstein Next Best Action recommendation slot
One slot in the deployment points at an Einstein Next Best Action strategy. That strategy generates Recommendation records based on the open record fields, the running user, and any custom logic you add. The panel renders each recommendation as a card with an accept or dismiss control. When an agent accepts a recommendation, Salesforce writes a RecommendationReaction record with the reaction type, the agent ID, and the timestamp. The recommendation slot needs the Einstein Next Best Action license. If you skip the license, the slot disappears from the panel rather than rendering empty, which often confuses admins who turned the slot on but forgot the license step.
Knowledge actions and the suggested-article slot
Knowledge is a separate slot inside the same panel. When Knowledge is enabled on the org and the case has a topic or subject the search index understands, the panel surfaces suggested articles with attach and email actions. The attach action links the article to the case. The email action drops the article body into a draft email to the contact. Both actions count toward Knowledge usage analytics. If you have a custom Knowledge layout, the actions still respect your layout field set for the article preview. The slot does nothing on records that have no Knowledge configuration on the org.
Permissions, licenses, and the empty-panel problem
Agents need the Service Cloud user license to see the panel at all. The Einstein recommendation slot needs the Einstein Next Best Action permission set. Flows in the panel run with the agent permissions, not the system context, so the agent must have Edit access to every field the flow writes. The most common ticket admins get is "my panel is blank." Nine times out of ten, the deployment is not assigned to the open record type. The other one time, the agent is missing the Run Flows permission and every flow card is hidden as a result.
Channel-specific behavior on Messaging and Voice
The same deployment can serve a Case record page and a Messaging Session record page, but the panel collapses differently in each. On Messaging, agents work in a narrow conversation column. The panel defaults to collapsed and expands on hover. On Service Cloud Voice, the panel sits in a sidebar and stays expanded. You can override the default expand state per deployment. Voice channels also inject a real-time recommendation slot that updates as the call transcript streams in, which is separate from the standard NBA slot you configure on the deployment record.
Logging, analytics, and proving the panel is used
Every accepted action writes either a RecommendationReaction (for NBA cards) or a feed item (for macros and flows). The Service Console Usage report counts panel interactions per agent per day. The Recommendation object stores all suggestions whether accepted or not, so you can join RecommendationReaction back to the Recommendation to compute an accept rate per recommendation type. Without that join, the panel looks like a black box. Most orgs build a dashboard with three tiles: actions fired per agent, accept rate per recommendation, and average time from page load to first action. The last metric is the one executives ask about.
How to ship your first Actions and Recommendations deployment
A fresh Actions and Recommendations deployment takes about thirty minutes to wire up and another hour to populate with actions worth showing. The longest step is usually getting alignment from the service team on which seven actions belong at the top of the panel. Spend that time before you open Setup.
- Open Service Setup and find the feature
Service Setup is one of the App Launcher apps. Search "Actions and Recommendations" in the Quick Find box and click into Deployments. The list shows every deployment in your org and the per-edition active deployment cap, which is fifty in most editions.
- Create the deployment record
Click New. Give the deployment a name service agents will recognize in error messages, not a code name. Pick the channels: Case, Messaging Session, Voice Call, or all three. Pick the record types this deployment applies to.
- Add quick actions, macros, and flows in display order
Drag actions from the available list into the deployment list. The order you set is the order agents see. Most teams settle on three actions visible without scrolling, with the rest folded into a More menu.
- Connect a Next Best Action strategy to the recommendation slot
Open the Recommendations section of the deployment record. Pick the published NBA strategy. The strategy must exist and be active before it appears in the dropdown.
- Drop the Lightning component on the record page
Open Lightning App Builder, edit the Case Record Page (or the equivalent for your channel), and drag the Actions and Recommendations component into a sidebar region. Save and activate the page.
- Assign permission sets to your agent group
If you wired up the NBA slot, agents need the Einstein Next Best Action permission set. Flows in the panel need Run Flows. The Knowledge slot needs Read access on Knowledge.
- Test as an agent before announcing the change
Log in as a test agent assigned the right profile and permission sets. Open a case that matches the deployment record type. Confirm the panel renders, the actions you ordered appear in that order, and at least one NBA recommendation surfaces.
Which channel types the deployment serves: Case, Messaging Session, Voice Call, Chat, or Work Order. A single deployment can serve multiple channels.
Which record types the deployment applies to within the chosen channels. Default is all record types if you skip this.
The Next Best Action strategy that supplies the recommendation cards. Leave blank to hide the recommendations slot entirely.
Collapsed or Expanded. Messaging usually wants Collapsed, Voice usually wants Expanded, Case is a judgment call.
Optional grouping of actions into labeled folders such as Triage, Resolution, Close. Useful when the panel exceeds seven items.
- Empty panel almost always means no deployment is assigned to the current record type. Open Service Setup, search Actions and Recommendations, and check the deployment record types.
- The NBA recommendation slot needs the Einstein Next Best Action license. Without it, the slot vanishes silently rather than showing an error.
- Flow steps in the panel run as the agent, not as a system context. A flow that writes to a field the agent cannot edit fails without surfacing the failure.
- Re-ordering actions on the deployment does not auto-publish the Lightning page. You must re-publish the page in App Builder for changes to land for end users.
- Macros that send email through the panel bypass Email-to-Case routing rules. If your inbound flow relies on those rules, the macro path skips them.
Trust & references
Cross-checked against the following references.
- Actions and Recommendations component setupSalesforce
- Einstein Next Best Action overviewSalesforce
Straight from the source - Salesforce's reference material on Actions & Recommendations.
- Set Up the Actions and Recommendations ComponentSalesforce Help
- Set Up Einstein Next Best ActionSalesforce Help
- Macros OverviewSalesforce Help
About the Author
Dipojjal Chakrabarti is a B2C Solution Architect with 29 Salesforce certifications and over 13 years in the Salesforce ecosystem. He runs salesforcedictionary.com to help admins, developers, architects, and cert/interview candidates sharpen their fundamentals. More about Dipojjal.
Test your knowledge
Q1. What is a key benefit of Actions & Recommendations for business users?
Q2. What does Actions & Recommendations need to work effectively?
Q3. How does the Einstein Trust Layer relate to Actions & Recommendations?
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