Now Assist release notes

  • Release version: Australia
  • Updated March 12, 2026
  • 7 minutes to read
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    Summary of Now Assist Release Notes - Australia Release

    The Now Assist experience in the Australia release integrates generative AI into your ServiceNow environment to enhance productivity and efficiency. It improves self-service, recommends actions, delivers answers, and provides AI Search capabilities. This release includes key enhancements such as default security protections, new integrations, and improved knowledge management features.

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    Key Features

    • Now Assist Guardian Enabled by Default: Automatically detects prompt injection attempts and offensive content across generative AI applications, with configurable blocking of unsafe AI responses per skill.
    • Integration with Box: Authors can create knowledge articles directly from files stored in Box via the Knowledge Center using Now Assist.
    • AI-Powered Reading Ease Scan: This feature analyzes articles for readability, offering actionable recommendations to improve clarity and accessibility.
    • Duplicate Article Merging: Consolidate selected duplicate knowledge articles into a single article while preserving references, maintaining a clean knowledge base.
    • Visual Q&A: Upload images, screenshots, or documents in the Now Assist panel to receive AI-generated answers without leaving the current workflow context.
    • Context Preservation: Now Assist automatically shows the most recent conversation related to an incident or allows switching between topics within the same session.
    • Enhanced Catalog Experience: Prevent accidental loss of work when navigating away from catalog forms and allow viewing details of submitted catalog items.
    • Now Assist Admin Enhancements: Explore additional UI tabs for skills, monitor usage analytics, manage security and governance, and archive custom or duplicated skills.
    • ServiceNow AI Platform Licensing Tiers: Foundation (basic AI agents and skills), Advanced (productivity-boosting skills), and Prime (autonomous AI and custom skill creation).

    Important Upgrade and Configuration Information

    • Review and update any customized UI actions or code linked to Now Assist skills during upgrade to ensure compatibility with new skill releases.
    • Australia release introduces enhanced security for read-only fields with granular control, requiring review of custom client scripts that modify such fields.
    • Access controls have been refined to replace broad admin roles with granular, purpose-driven roles; authorization APIs have been updated accordingly.
    • Prompt injection detection is enabled by default for all Now Assist skills except platform and custom skills; configurable at both instance and skill levels.

    Deprecations and Activation

    • Conversational Help Skills are deprecated starting Australia Patch 1 and will no longer be supported or enhanced.
    • Now Assist features require activation through specific plugins available on the ServiceNow Store, covering a broad range of operational areas from ITSM to HRSD and more.
    • The Next Experience UI Framework must be enabled to use the Now Assist panel.
    • Supported browsers include Google Chrome and Microsoft Edge; Internet Explorer is not supported.

    Localization and Related Applications

    • Now Assist supports dynamic translation for the Australia release.
    • Related ServiceNow AI applications include AI Search, Document Intelligence, Dynamic Translation, Generative AI Controller, Knowledge Management, Knowledge Center, and integration with Virtual Agent for conversational AI experiences.

    What This Means for ServiceNow Customers

    With the Australia release of Now Assist, customers can expect improved security by default, seamless integration with popular content repositories like Box, and enhanced tools for knowledge management that increase accuracy and efficiency. The ability to merge duplicate articles and optimize readability helps maintain a high-quality knowledge base. Visual Q&A and context-aware conversations streamline issue resolution and user engagement. Upgrading customers should carefully review customizations and security settings to leverage new capabilities fully while maintaining system integrity.

    The ServiceNow® Now Assist experience brings generative AI to your organization. You can improve productivity and efficiency by delivering better self-service, recommending actions, delivering answers, and providing your users with AI Search. Now Assist was enhanced and updated in the Australia release.

    Now Assist highlights for the Australia release

    Australia Patch 3
    • Now Assist Guardian is enabled by default and detects prompt injection attempts and offensive content without manual activation.
    • Configure prompt injection detection separately for each Now Assist skill.
    • Create knowledge articles from Now Assist using files stored in Box.
    • Improve the clarity and accessibility of your articles with the AI-powered prompt Reading Ease scan.
    Merge duplicate articles
    Merge selected duplicate knowledge articles into a new consolidated article using Now Assist in Knowledge Management. The merge preserves references to source articles and helps maintain a clean, high‑quality knowledge base.
    Important:
    Now Assist is available in the ServiceNow Store. For details, see the "Activation information" section of these release notes.

    Important information for upgrading Now Assist to Australia

    If you customized actions on the user interface or other items that are associated with Now Assist skills, confirm that your customized code is updated with the new skill releases. Otherwise, certain functions might not work as expected.

    If you run into issues when you're upgrading a Now Assist product, see the Issues and mitigation for Now Assist (generative AI) Applications and Plugin updates [KB1637452] article in the Now Support Knowledge Base. Log in to view the article.

    The Australia release introduces enhanced protections for read‑only fields across the ServiceNow AI Platform. These changes include a new read_only_option field with granular control levels, including strict_read_only and client_script_modifiable. The changes occur in the back end and maintain backward‑compatible behavior. This update helps strengthen instance security while preserving flexibility. If you have custom client scripts that modify read‑only fields using g_form.setValue() or g_form.clearValue(), refer to the KB2718122 article in the Now Support Knowledge Base to identify affected fields and adjust the settings.

    The existing access control lists (ACLs) have been updated to replace the admin role with purpose-driven granular roles within scripts or security attributes. As part of this update, the getRoles() API is replaced with the hasRole() API for authorization purposes. Additionally, all references to the admin role in the code have been substituted with the granular roles for authorization use cases. For more information, see Granular admin roles.

    New in the Australia release

    Australia Patch 3
    Create knowledge articles using Now Assist and Box
    The Knowledge Center now integrates with Box. This integration enables authors to use stored files as a source for generating knowledge articles with Now Assist.
    Now Assist Guardian enabled by default
    Detect and log prompt injection attempts across all generative AI applications and features, and offensive content in supported Now Assist skills, by default. You can configure Now Assist Guardian to block AI-generated responses when an attempt is detected.
    Using Now Assist Admin
    Explore additional user interface tabs of a Now Assist skill within a selected workflow. Access the usage and analytics of that skill. You can also view and manage the security and governance details of the selected skills.
    Create knowledge articles using Now Assist and Box
    Knowledge Center integrates with Box, enabling authors to use stored files as a source for generating knowledge articles with Now Assist.
    Article Optimization with Reading Ease scan
    The AI-based Reading Ease scan, integrated into the article optimization feature of Knowledge Center, scans articles for readability, provides actionable recommendations, and supports ongoing article improvement.
    Configure prompt injection detection for Now Assist skills
    Set the prompt injection detection action and severity level for Now Assist skills. Prompt injection detection is enabled by default for all Now Assist skills, except Platform skills and custom skills. When a skill has its own setting, Now Assist Guardian automatically applies the more protective of the two settings, the skill-level setting or the instance-level setting.
    Visual Q&A in Now Assist
    Upload screenshots, error images, or documents in the Now Assist panel and get AI-generated answers about content without leaving your current context.
    Catalog experience
    Navigate away from a catalog form mid-completion and a modal appears asking whether you want to stay or leave, preventing accidental loss of your work. After you submit a catalog item, you can select View Details to open the submitted record.
    Enhancements
    Switch between multiple interactive views — such as knowledge articles, catalogs, and org charts — within a single conversation using a new dropdown in the Now Assist panel. When more than six promoted topics are available, you can select a category on the topic menu to see all of them at once.
    Image and document upload
    Upload images and screenshots directly into the Now Assist panel as part of your conversation and the Now Assist interprets the visual content to answer your questions or generate summaries.
    Maintain and display the right context
    Open the Now Assist panel while working on an incident record and you automatically see the most recent conversation tied to that incident. You can continue chatting about the incident or switch to unrelated topics in the same session, keeping your work in context without losing your place.
    Using Now Assist Admin
    Explore the archive option from navigation pane within Now Assist Admin and archive custom and copies of Now Assist skills.
    ServiceNow product tiers
    The ServiceNow AI Platform now brings you an AI native experience with three licensing tiers available:
    • Foundation: AI agents and skills to deliver insights
    • Advanced: AI agents and skills to boost productivity across relevant use cases
    • Prime: Act autonomously with all AI agents and skills, and create your own
    Merge duplicate articles
    Use Now Assist in Knowledge Management to merge selected duplicate knowledge articles into a single consolidated article, preserving references to the original sources and maintaining a high‑quality, well‑organized knowledge base.

    Changed in this release

    Now Assist Conversational Help
    The discovery of Conversational Help Skills from the Now Assist panel is no longer configured as auto-enabled.

    Deprecated features

    Australia Patch 1

    Activation information

    Now Assist skills
    Now Assist features are available with activation of any Now Assist plugin from ServiceNow Store. The following plugins are available:

    Plugin information

    Now Assist Conversational Help

    The following plugin is planned for deprecation in a future release:

    Conversational Help Skills: Planned for deprecation in May 2026. Install the External Content Connectors Application Suite from the ServiceNow store. For configuration guidance, see External Content Connectors.

    Additional requirements

    The Next Experience UI Framework must be enabled before you can use the Now Assist panel.

    Browser requirements

    Now Assist supports various browsers, including Google Chrome and Microsoft Edge. Now Assist isn’t supported in Internet Explorer.

    Localization information

    Now Assist supports Dynamic Translation for Australia.

    Related ServiceNow applications and features

    AI Search
    The ServiceNow® AI Search application provides a consumer-grade search engine for Service Portal, Now Mobile, and Virtual Agent. Intelligent query features help you quickly find the answers that you need.
    Document Intelligence
    The ServiceNow®Document Intelligence (DocIntel) application is an AI solution that enables any organization to automate and accelerate the process of extracting data from documents. That data can easily be integrated into larger automation workflows to save time and resources.
    Dynamic Translation
    The ServiceNow® Dynamic Translation application enables you to dynamically translate text entered in an application or chat window for a seamless localization experience.
    Generative AI Controller
    The ServiceNow® Generative AI Controller helps you integrate third-party LLMs with your workflows.
    Knowledge Management
    The ServiceNow® Knowledge Management application enables the sharing of information in Knowledge Base. A Knowledge Base contains articles that provide users with information such as self-help, troubleshooting, and task resolution.
    Knowledge Center
    The ServiceNow® Knowledge Center plugin helps you manage your knowledge articles from a single interface consisting of dashboards that provide metrics of articles and facilitate swift actions.
    Now Assist in Virtual Agent
    Use generative AI skills in your conversational experiences. Now Assist in Virtual Agent uses LLMs to create a natural-language, conversational experience that can improve the success of your self-service workflows.