Agent Skills
› fanfan-de/anybox
› twilio-taskrouter-routing
twilio-taskrouter-routing
GitHubTwilio TaskRouter技能路由指南，涵盖工作区、活动、Worker及队列配置。提供Python/Node.js代码示例，强调避免自定义排队逻辑，适用于多Agent呼叫中心、支持队列及AI升级路由场景。
Trigger Scenarios
使用Twilio TaskRouter进行任务分配
配置基于技能的Agent路由
设置多Agent接触中心或支持队列
实现AI代理升级路由逻辑
Install
npx skills add fanfan-de/anybox --skill twilio-taskrouter-routing -g -y
SKILL.md
Frontmatter
{
"name": "twilio-taskrouter-routing",
"description": "Route tasks to agents using Twilio TaskRouter. Covers Workers, Task Queues, Workflows, Reservations, skills-based routing, and common gotchas (hyphen attributes, HAS operator, reservation cascade). Use this skill for any multi-agent contact center, support queue, or AI agent escalation routing."
}
Overview
TaskRouter is Twilio's skills-based routing engine. Instead of building custom queuing logic, you define Workers (agents), Task Queues (groups), and Workflows (routing rules). TaskRouter matches incoming tasks to the best available worker.
Incoming Task → Workflow (routing rules) → Task Queue (skill match) → Worker (agent)
↓
Reservation
(accept/reject)
Common mistake: Developers reinvent TaskRouter in custom Node.js — don't. If you're building skills-based routing, queue management, or agent assignment, use TaskRouter.
Prerequisites
- Twilio account — see
twilio-account-setup TWILIO_ACCOUNT_SIDandTWILIO_AUTH_TOKEN— seetwilio-iam-auth-setup- SDK:
pip install twilio/npm install twilio - For voice routing: a Twilio phone number with webhook configured — see
twilio-voice-twiml - For AI escalation: ConversationRelay with escalation tools — see
twilio-voice-conversation-relay
Quickstart
Step 1 — Create a Workspace
A Workspace is the top-level container for all TaskRouter resources.
Python
import os
from twilio.rest import Client
client = Client(os.environ["TWILIO_ACCOUNT_SID"], os.environ["TWILIO_AUTH_TOKEN"])
workspace = client.taskrouter.v1.workspaces.create(
friendly_name="Support Center",
event_callback_url="https://yourapp.com/taskrouter-events"
)
workspace_sid = workspace.sid # WSxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
print(workspace_sid)
Node.js
const twilio = require("twilio");
const client = twilio(process.env.TWILIO_ACCOUNT_SID, process.env.TWILIO_AUTH_TOKEN);
const workspace = await client.taskrouter.v1.workspaces.create({
friendlyName: "Support Center",
eventCallbackUrl: "https://yourapp.com/taskrouter-events",
});
const workspaceSid = workspace.sid;
Step 2 — Create Activities (agent states)
Python
# Available — worker can receive tasks
available = client.taskrouter.v1.workspaces(workspace_sid).activities.create(
friendly_name="Available", available=True
)
# Offline — worker cannot receive tasks
offline = client.taskrouter.v1.workspaces(workspace_sid).activities.create(
friendly_name="Offline", available=False
)
# On a task — worker is busy
on_task = client.taskrouter.v1.workspaces(workspace_sid).activities.create(
friendly_name="On Task", available=False
)
Step 3 — Create Workers (agents)
Security: Always use
json.dumps()(Python) orJSON.stringify()(Node.js) to construct attribute payloads. String interpolation is vulnerable to JSON injection.
Python
worker = client.taskrouter.v1.workspaces(workspace_sid).workers.create(
friendly_name="Alice",
attributes='{"skills": ["billing", "technical"], "languages": ["en", "es"], "department": "support"}'
)
Node.js
const worker = await client.taskrouter.v1.workspaces(workspaceSid).workers.create({
friendlyName: "Alice",
attributes: JSON.stringify({
skills: ["billing", "technical"],
languages: ["en", "es"],
department: "support",
}),
});
Step 4 — Create Task Queues
Python
# Billing queue — matches workers with "billing" skill
billing_queue = client.taskrouter.v1.workspaces(workspace_sid).task_queues.create(
friendly_name="Billing",
target_workers='skills HAS "billing"'
)
# Technical queue
tech_queue = client.taskrouter.v1.workspaces(workspace_sid).task_queues.create(
friendly_name="Technical",
target_workers='skills HAS "technical"'
)
# Catch-all queue
default_queue = client.taskrouter.v1.workspaces(workspace_sid).task_queues.create(
friendly_name="Default",
target_workers='1==1' # matches all workers
)
Step 5 — Create a Workflow (routing rules)
Python
import json
workflow_config = {
"task_routing": {
"filters": [
{
"filter_friendly_name": "Billing",
"expression": "department == 'billing'",
"targets": [
{"queue": billing_queue.sid, "timeout": 120}
]
},
{
"filter_friendly_name": "Technical",
"expression": "department == 'technical'",
"targets": [
{"queue": tech_queue.sid, "timeout": 120}
]
}
],
"default_filter": {
"queue": default_queue.sid
}
}
}
workflow = client.taskrouter.v1.workspaces(workspace_sid).workflows.create(
friendly_name="Support Routing",
configuration=json.dumps(workflow_config),
assignment_callback_url="https://yourapp.com/assignment"
)
Step 6 — Create a Task (from an incoming call)
Python
task = client.taskrouter.v1.workspaces(workspace_sid).tasks.create(
attributes='{"department": "billing", "caller": "+15558675310", "priority": 1}',
workflow_sid=workflow.sid
)
Step 7 — Handle the Assignment Callback
When TaskRouter finds a matching worker, it POSTs to your assignment_callback_url:
Python (Flask)
@app.route("/assignment", methods=["POST"])
def assignment():
task_sid = request.form["TaskSid"]
worker_sid = request.form["WorkerSid"]
reservation_sid = request.form["ReservationSid"]
# Option A: Dequeue to the worker's phone
return jsonify({
"instruction": "dequeue",
"from": "+15551234567", # your Twilio number
"post_work_activity_sid": available_activity_sid
})
# Option B: Conference the caller and agent
# return jsonify({
# "instruction": "conference",
# "from": "+15551234567",
# "post_work_activity_sid": available_activity_sid
# })
Node.js (Express)
app.post("/assignment", (req, res) => {
res.json({
instruction: "dequeue",
from: "+15551234567",
post_work_activity_sid: availableActivitySid,
});
});
Key Patterns
Skills-Based Routing
Match tasks to workers based on attributes:
| Worker expression | Matches |
|---|---|
skills HAS "billing" |
Workers whose skills array contains "billing" |
languages HAS "es" |
Spanish-speaking workers |
department == "support" |
Workers in support department |
experience > 5 |
Workers with 5+ years experience |
skills HAS "billing" AND languages HAS "es" |
Spanish-speaking billing agents |
Priority Routing
Tasks with higher priority are assigned first:
# VIP customer — priority 10 (higher = first)
task = client.taskrouter.v1.workspaces(workspace_sid).tasks.create(
attributes='{"department": "billing", "priority": 10, "vip": true}',
workflow_sid=workflow.sid,
priority=10
)
AI Agent Escalation
When an AI agent (via TAC) escalates to a human, create a TaskRouter task with the AI's context:
# From your escalation webhook handler
def handle_escalation(escalation_data):
task = client.taskrouter.v1.workspaces(workspace_sid).tasks.create(
attributes=json.dumps({
"department": escalation_data["reason_code"],
"conversation_id": escalation_data["conversation_id"],
"profile_id": escalation_data["profile_id"],
"ai_summary": escalation_data["summary"],
"priority": 5
}),
workflow_sid=workflow.sid
)
The human agent receives the AI's conversation summary and customer profile.
Workflow with Timeout Escalation
Route to specialized queue first, then overflow to general:
workflow_config = {
"task_routing": {
"filters": [
{
"filter_friendly_name": "Billing Specialist First",
"expression": "department == 'billing'",
"targets": [
{"queue": billing_queue.sid, "timeout": 60}, # Try billing queue for 60s
{"queue": default_queue.sid, "timeout": 120} # Overflow to general
]
}
],
"default_filter": {
"queue": default_queue.sid
}
}
}
Worker Activity Management
# Set worker to available
client.taskrouter.v1.workspaces(workspace_sid) \
.workers(worker_sid) \
.update(activity_sid=available_activity_sid)
# Get real-time worker statistics
stats = client.taskrouter.v1.workspaces(workspace_sid) \
.workers \
.statistics() \
.fetch()
print(f"Available: {stats.realtime['total_available_workers']}")
Scale Guidance
| Agents | Architecture | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| < 10 | Single workflow, one queue per skill | No Flex needed — agents use phone |
| 10-50 | Multi-queue workflows, skills-based routing | Flex recommended for desktop |
| 50+ | Multi-tier workflows, priority routing, real-time monitoring | Full Flex + supervisor tools |
Gotchas
1. Hyphens in Attribute Names Break Silently
# WRONG — hyphens in attribute keys break workflow expressions
worker = client.taskrouter.v1.workspaces(workspace_sid).workers.create(
friendly_name="Alice",
attributes='{"skill-level": 5}' # hyphen breaks expression evaluation
)
# RIGHT — use underscores or camelCase
worker = client.taskrouter.v1.workspaces(workspace_sid).workers.create(
friendly_name="Alice",
attributes='{"skill_level": 5}'
)
No error — the expression silently fails to match.
2. HAS Operator on Non-Array Attributes
# WRONG — "billing" is a string, not an array. HAS silently matches nothing.
target_workers = 'department HAS "billing"'
# RIGHT — use == for string attributes
target_workers = 'department == "billing"'
# RIGHT — use HAS only for arrays
target_workers = 'skills HAS "billing"' # skills: ["billing", "technical"]
Tasks sit in queue forever with no error.
3. Reservation Timeout Cascade
When a reservation times out:
- Worker moves to the timeout Activity (often "Offline")
- Fewer workers available → other reservations also time out
- Positive feedback loop → entire queue backs up
Fix: Set the timeout Activity to a short-duration state, not "Offline". Or implement a reservation timeout handler that keeps the worker available:
@app.route("/taskrouter-events", methods=["POST"])
def taskrouter_event():
event_type = request.form["EventType"]
if event_type == "reservation.timeout":
worker_sid = request.form["WorkerSid"]
# Keep worker available instead of moving to offline
client.taskrouter.v1.workspaces(workspace_sid) \
.workers(worker_sid) \
.update(activity_sid=available_activity_sid)
return "", 200
4. Activity Available Flag
Updating an Activity's available flag returns 200 OK but may not change the value if workers are currently in that activity. Create new activities instead of modifying existing ones.
CANNOT
- Hyphens in attribute names break expressions —
skill-levelis treated as subtraction (skillminuslevel). Error 20001. Always use underscores:skill_level. HASon non-array silently matches nothing —department HAS "billing"on a string attribute is accepted at creation but never matches. Tasks sit in queue forever with no error.- Expression validation is syntactic only — Queue creation validates parse but NOT worker matching. Semantically wrong expressions create successfully with zero matching workers.
- Activity
availableflag is silently immutable — Updating returns 200 OK but does not change the value. Must delete and recreate the Activity. multiTaskEnabledcannot be reverted to false — Once enabled on a Workspace, cannot be disabled. One-way door.- Reservation timeout moves worker to timeout Activity — Worker automatically moved to Offline. Must manually set back. This cascades: fewer available workers → more timeouts → queue collapse. See Gotcha #3.
- Workflow target timeout auto-cancels tasks — When all targets exhaust timeouts, task is canceled. Always include a
default_filteras catch-all. - Worker
friendlyNameis case-insensitive unique — "alice" collides with "Alice". workflowSidis required for task creation — API does not auto-select a default Workflow.- Cannot update task status and attributes in same request — Must be two separate API calls.
- Assignment callback must respond in 5 seconds — If both primary and fallback URLs fail, reservation is canceled.
- Tasks auto-cancel after 1,000 rejections — If a task cycles through 1,000 reservation rejections, it is automatically canceled.
pagequery param not supported — UsePageTokenfor pagination.pagereturns error 40153.- Cannot use malformed JSON in worker attributes — Silently breaks matching with no error
- Cannot use regex in workflow expressions — Only supports ==, !=, <, >, HAS, IN, CONTAINS, AND, OR, NOT
- Cannot exceed 50,000 Workers per Workspace — Hard limit
- Cannot exceed 250 Task Queues per Workspace — Hard limit
- Cannot delay reservation callback response beyond 15 seconds — Timeout results in reservation failure
Next Steps
- Conference for transfers:
twilio-conference-calls - Call recording:
twilio-call-recordings - AI agent voice integration:
twilio-voice-conversation-relay - Voice IVR before routing:
twilio-voice-twiml
Version History
- 08dc189 Current 2026-07-05 19:10
