Skip to content
Release: Australia · Updated: 2026-03-12 · Official documentation · View source

Assistant Designer utilities

You can control interactions within a topic by using utilities in Assistant Designer. These utilities perform various actions such as adding topic blocks (reusable components), running a script, or adding different conversation paths (branches) in a topic. Utilities are represented as nodes in a conversation flow but do not display anything to the user.

The following utilities are available for use within a Virtual Agent topic.

  • Lookup utility
    Use the Lookup utility in a Virtual Agent topic to return a ServiceNow record query.
  • Script Action utility
    Use the Script Action utility in a Virtual Agent topic to run a script.
  • Record Action utility
    Use the Record Action utility in a Virtual Agent topic to create or update a ServiceNow record in a table.
  • Decision utility
    Use the Decision utility in a Virtual Agent topic to add two or more branches that represent different paths in a conversation.
  • Topic Block utility
    Use a Topic Block in a Virtual Agent conversation to perform a specific function or subflow that runs certain steps in a calling topic.
  • Action utility
    Use the Action utility in a Virtual Agent topic to select the flow action properties that the node should create. The Action utility integrates Virtual Agent with the ServiceNow Workflow Studio product.
  • Custom control utility
    Use the Custom Control utility in a Virtual Agent topic or topic block to reference a custom input control or a custom response control. Custom controls complement the controls provided in Assistant Designer.
  • AI Connector utility
    Use this utility to link generative AI to custom skills for added versatility in your Virtual Agent LLM (large language model) conversations.
  • Deflection utility
    Use the Deflection utility in Virtual Agent to track issues that Virtual Agent helped to resolve or actually resolved for a user.
  • Diagnostic Topic Executor utility
    Use the Diagnostic Topic Executor utility in Virtual Agent to ensure the proper function of components in a topic.
  • Geolocation utility
    Use the Geolocation utility to gather map coordinates from a user, to personalize topics to a user's location, provide data for navigation or on-site tasks, and other services.
  • Multi File Upload utility
    Use the Multi File Upload utility to upload more than one file at a time in a Virtual Agent conversation.
  • Pause utility
    Use the Pause utility to create a temporary halt in your Virtual Agent conversations.

Parent Topic:Assistant Designer interface reference