---
schema_version: "1"
id: ced877114a6ff5841fac9a8d792dc2cb2e0c47da6a5882d8d0630b9dc051554f
title: Agent Versions and Channels
collection: admin
version: current
locale: en-us
portal_url: https://docs.salesforce.com/admin/current/en-us/ai/264-0-0/help_agent_versions_channels.md
canonical_url: https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=ai.help_agent_versions_channels.htm&release=264.0.0&type=5
source_site: help.salesforce.com
content_type: documentation
content_hash: 4a0c2ef54a2dfa9af4cbc0cfd57c3dc3f569c75e884481de7abf575147cedf4b
description: When you create a Help Agent, Salesforce tracks your changes using versions. Understanding what is and isn't version-controlled helps you make changes safely and plan deployments effectively.
products:
  - Agentforce
  - Cross Cloud
release: "264"
---
# Agent Versions and Channels

When you create a Help Agent, Salesforce tracks your changes using versions. Understanding what is and isn't version-controlled helps you make changes safely and plan deployments effectively.

## What a Version Contains

Each agent version stores the agent's configuration at a specific point in time, including:

- Grounding sources, such as knowledge articles and uploaded files
- Agent details, such as the agent name, instructions, and greeting message

When you update any of these settings, Salesforce creates a new version of the agent. Versioning lets you iterate on your agent's behavior or grounding without affecting the currently active, customer-facing version. Only one version can be active at a time.

The primary use case for creating a new version—rather than a new agent—is making incremental updates to an existing agent, such as refining its instructions or adjusting its grounding sources.

## How Channels Work Differently

Channels are assigned to the agent, not to a specific version. As a result, changes to an agent's channels—such as adding or removing a messaging channel—apply immediately to all versions of that agent, including the active version.

Keep this distinction in mind when planning channel changes:

- **To update channels:** Make the change on any version of the agent. The update applies across all versions.
- **To run different agent behaviors on different channels:** Create separate agents, not separate versions. Because all versions of an agent share the same channels, you can't use versions to A/B test different agent configurations across different channels. The same rule applies to escalation flows assigned to a channel. To change how escalated conversations are routed, see [Customize Escalation Routing](https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=ai.help_agent_default_settings.htm&release=264.0.0&type=5).