---
title: Canary Deployment Targeting Now Available for Telnyx AI Assistants
canonical: https://telnyx.com/release-notes/ai-assistant-canary-deployment-targeting
---
# Canary Deployment Targeting Now Available for Telnyx AI Assistants

[Release notes](https://telnyx.com/release-notes)

# Canary Deployment Targeting Now Available for Telnyx AI Assistants

### 6, May 2026

Telnyx AI Assistants now support end-user targeting in traffic distribution. You can route specific callers or destinations to a test version while keeping the rest of your traffic on the main version, then expand the rollout with percentage splits when you are ready.

### What's new

* **End-user target rules:** Route calls by caller phone number, SIP URI, or destination. Use exact match, exclusion, or prefix operators to define which users receive a specific version.
* **Percentage split with targeting:** Combine targeting and percentage allocation in the same rule. Send 10% of matching traffic to a new version, keep 90% on main, then adjust the split as confidence grows.
* **Ordered rule evaluation:** Rules apply top to bottom, first match wins. Place specific test targets above broader rollout rules so internal numbers always reach the test version.
* **Built-in fallback:** Any unmatched percentage routes to the main version automatically. No configuration needed for safe rollback behavior.
* **Extensible targeting framework:** The rule engine supports more criteria in future releases. The current release focuses on end-user identifiers.

### Why it matters

* Before this release, canary deployments used percentage splitting alone. You could send 10% of all traffic to a new version, but you could not guarantee your test number received it. Now you can target specific users directly, removing the randomness from validation.
* The typical workflow is: pin your test number to the new version, validate behavior, then expand to a percentage split for the same target group, then promote to main. This replaces the old pattern of separate dev and production environments.
* The rule-based approach scales with your testing maturity. Start with one test number, add a QA prefix, then layer on percentage splits. The same configuration surface handles every stage.

### Example use cases

* A voice AI developer updates an assistant's instructions and routes their own phone number to the new version for 48 hours before enabling a 25% canary.
* A SaaS platform uses SIP URIs with a `qa-` prefix for internal testing. They configure a prefix rule so any URI starting with `qa-` always receives the latest version, while production endpoints stay on main.
* A contact center operator runs A/B tests between two assistant configurations. They split traffic 50/50 for a specific customer segment defined by originating number prefix, keeping all other traffic on the current version.
* A healthcare voice agent team validates a new tool integration. They target two compliance officer phone numbers to the new version, verify behavior under real call conditions, then gradually expand to the full patient-facing line.

### Getting started

1. In Mission Control, navigate to **AI > Assistants** and select the assistant you want to configure.
2. Go to the assistant's version or deployment controls and open **Traffic distribution**.
3. Click **Add rule**. In the **If** section, choose **End user target**.
4. Select an operator: **is one of**, **is not one of**, or **starts with**.
5. Enter target values: phone numbers, SIP URIs, or prefixes. Separate multiple values with commas or new lines.
6. In the **Serve** section, choose **Send all matched calls to one version** and select your test version, or choose **Split by percentage** to assign weighted slots across versions. Percentages must add to less than 100; the remainder routes to the main version automatically.
7. Click **Configure default** to set fallback behavior for calls that do not match any target rule. By default, unmatched calls serve the main version. Use **Reset to main** to restore the default.
8. Drag rules to set priority order. Specific test targets should sit above broader rollout rules.
9. Click **Save** to apply the configuration.
10. Verify routing by making test calls. For inbound, call from a targeted number. For outbound, have the assistant call a targeted destination. For weighted rollouts, make enough calls to confirm traffic distributes according to your configured percentages.

**Learn more** in the [Testing and Traffic Distribution documentation](https://developers.telnyx.com/docs/inference/ai-assistants/version-testing-traffic-distribution).

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