Exploring Virtual Agent API

  • Release version: Zurich
  • Updated December 18, 2025
  • 2 minutes to read
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    Summary of Exploring Virtual Agent API

    The ServiceNow® Virtual Agent API is a REST API designed for integrating various chat interfaces or bots with ServiceNow® Virtual Agent or Agent Chat. Available through the ServiceNow® Store, it allows developers, advanced users, and admins to deploy Virtual Agent in standalone or secondary bot configurations.

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    Key Features

    • Standalone Bot: Integrate Virtual Agent as an independent bot with any chat interface that supports conversational interactions, enabling end users to communicate through various channels.
    • Secondary Bot: Utilize Virtual Agent alongside a primary bot (e.g., IBM Watson Assistant) to manage specific end-user requests, such as service tickets.
    • Server-to-Server Integrations: The API facilitates direct server-to-server communication, although unsupported controls may require the Custom Chat Integration Framework.
    • Supported Features: Many features from Virtual Agent and Agent Chat are available for integration, with variations based on ServiceNow release and app version.

    Key Outcomes

    By utilizing the Virtual Agent API, ServiceNow customers can enhance their chat environments, streamline user interactions, and efficiently manage multiple bots within their systems. It is essential to be aware of the API's limitations, such as lack of chat branding support and asynchronous mode for ServiceNow Otto capabilities. For detailed information on request and response parameters, refer to the Virtual Agent Bot Integration API documentation.

    Use the ServiceNow® Virtual Agent API app to integrate any chat interface or a bot with ServiceNow® Virtual Agent or Agent Chat. The app is available from the ServiceNow® Store.

    Overview of the Virtual Agent API

    The Virtual Agent API is a REST API. This API is built on the conversational custom chat integration framework that is provided with Virtual Agent starting in the Paris release. The API enables ServiceNow developers, advanced users, and admins to use Virtual Agent in either of the following ways:

    Standalone bot

    Use Virtual Agent as a standalone bot that you integrate with enterprise or with any other third-party chat interface that supports conversational interfaces.

    Your end users can interact with the Virtual Agent and Agent Chat through multiple channels by using this integration.

    Secondary bot

    Use Virtual Agent as a secondary bot in an environment that has multiple, specialized bots managed by a primary bot.

    In this scenario, a primary bot manages communication with secondary bots on behalf of the end user. A primary bot could be IBM Watson Assistant or a homegrown primary bot.

    Your secondary bots, such as the ServiceNow bot, might handle specific types of end-user requests, such as service tickets or reservations.

    The Virtual Agent API is useful for creating server-to-server integrations. However, for integrations that require the transformation of unsupported controls that must be rendered in your existing chat interface, consider using the Custom Chat Integration Framework.

    For information about features such as the URL format and the supported request and response parameters in the Virtual Agent API, see Virtual Agent Bot Integration API.

    Video link to Virtual Agent Academy. Augment your experiences with the Virtual Agent API (Virtual Agent Academy video)

    How the Virtual Agent API works

    The following diagram shows how the REST API processes user input from a third-party chat interface or a primary bot, and then generates a bot response.
    1. The user provides input to a primary bot or third-party chat interface.
    2. The bot sends a POST request JSON to the inbound REST endpoint (via scripted REST API).
    3. The ServiceNow AI Platform authenticates and processes the request, which is sent to Virtual Agent or a live agent.
    4. The ServiceNow AI Platform sends a POST response JSON from the outbound REST endpoint (via REST API) back to the bot.
    5. The primary bot or third-party chat interfaces displays the response to the user.
    Figure 1. Inbound and outbound REST endpoints in the Virtual Agent API
    Diagram that shows how the REST endpoints in the Virtual Agent API handle user input and authentication and bot response and authentication.

    To see a demonstration of the Virtual Agent API, see Getting Started with Virtual Agent APIs on the Community site.

    Limitations

    The Virtual Agent API does not support the following features:
    • Chat branding through this Virtual Agent API integration.
    • ServiceNow Otto capabilities are supported only in asynchronous mode.