Define topic context intent configurations

  • Release version: Australia
  • Updated March 12, 2026
  • 2 minutes to read
  • Use pre-chat survey information to determine the appropriate Virtual Agent conversation topic automatically displayed to end users (requesters), rather than prompting them to choose from a list of conversation topics.

    Before you begin

    • Configure the chat context variables for storing user answers to specific questions in your chat surveys.
    • As you create your chat survey, map a survey question to a new or existing chat context variable. The variable stores the user response that Virtual Agent uses to determine topic context intent and the conversation topic displayed.
    • Role required: virtual_agent_ admin or admin

    About this task

    Create a context topic intent to specify conditions that determine which Virtual Agent conversation topic is displayed after a user answers a pre-chat survey. The context topic intent uses data collected by the survey to find an appropriate topic for the user.

    For example, a pre-chat survey asks the user “What problem are you having with your computer?” and maps their answer to a context variable called “problem” in the survey. The variable passes from the survey to the topic context intent. Instead of the chat going directly to topic discovery, the variable stored in the intent is used as an utterance to feed into the Virtual Agent for topic discovery.

    You can define conditions in a topic context intent to limit topic discovery, such as restricting the “problem” variable in the preceding example to only feed to ITSM VA conversations. The Context Topic [sys_cs_context_topic] table is used to map your variables for intent discovery, after the pre-chat survey has been executed.

    Procedure

    1. Navigate to All > Conversational Interfaces > Settings.
    2. Under Topic context intent, select View All.
    3. In the Context Topic page, select New or the configuration to be modified.
    4. On the form, fill in the fields.
      Field Description
      Name Name of the configuration for topic context intent (topic discovery).
      Active Option that activates this topic intent configuration.
      Order Order in which Virtual Agent evaluates topic intent configurations to find a matching condition for displaying the topic. Virtual Agent reviews the configuration that has the lowest order value first.
      Condition mode

      Type of condition that determines how the topic intent configuration is to be applied.

      • Simple: Specify a condition using the condition builder.
      • Advanced: Specify a JavaScript scripted condition.
      Condition Condition for applying the specified context variable that displays the corresponding conversation topic. Select Set conditions to enter the condition filter.

      If no condition is specified, the specified context variable applies to all conversations.

      Script

      [Displayed when Condition mode is set to Advanced]

      JavaScript condition statement for applying the specified context variable that displays the corresponding conversation topic. The condition must evaluate to true.
      Context Chat context variable that stores the user response to a specific survey question and used to determine the topic intent.
    5. Select Save.

    Result

    The context topic intent configuration is added to the Context Topic [sys_cs_context_topic] table. Virtual Agent displays the appropriate conversation topic to users based on the context intent configuration.