Edit a chat assistant

  • Release version: Australia
  • Updated March 18, 2025
  • 5 minutes to read

    • Edit a chat assistant.

    Before you begin

    See View assistants

    Role required: virtual_agent_admin or admin

    About this task

    When editing a chat assistant, actions may differ.

    Table 1. Actions that can be taken for default assistants
    Default assistants Activate Deactivate Edit Test Delete
    Now Assist in Virtual Agent (default) Yes Yes Yes Yes No
    Now Assist panel - Platform (default) Yes Yes Yes (except for name and description) Yes No
    Now Assist panel - Developer Yes Yes Yes (with limited configuration) Yes No
    Employee Slate assistant (default) Yes Yes Yes Yes No
    Now Assist Voice Deployment (default) Yes Yes Yes No No

    Procedure

    1. Navigate to All > Assistant Designer.
    2. From the Assistants tab, select Edit for the assistant that you want to edit.

      If you’re only able to view an assistant and are unable to edit it, it’s because you don’t have permission to edit the assistant in a specific domain. For more information about assistants in different domains, see View assistants.

      Edit mode opens the assistant in a sub-tab where you can manage and test your chat assistant.

      The sub-tab shows the assistant name and whether it's a chat or voice assistant.

      The Overview page shows the following components:

      • Assistant name
      • Assistant status: active or inactive
      • Assistant hierarchy: primary or secondary assistant. This section only appears if an assistant is set as a primary or secondary assistant.
      • Assistant description
      • Display experience
      • Additional chat features: web search mode, response streaming, document uploads, closed chats, and voice input (for Now Assist panel - Platform assistant).
    3. From the Overview page, select the appropriate button or link to make your edits.
      Figure 1. Overview page when editing an assistant
      Overview page when editing an assistant.
      The main action buttons include:
      • Save: Saves updates made to the assistant configuration.
      • Test assistant: Test panel is an overlay. For more information about testing a chat assistant, see Test a chat assistant.
      • Activate/Deactivate: Turn on or off an assistant. One or more display experiences must be selected to activate an assistant.
      1. To edit chat features, select the Edit chat features link. The Settings > Additional chat features page is displayed. For more information about web search mode, response streaming, document uploads, closed chats and voice input, see Enable additional chat features.
      2. Customize assistant settings by selecting Go to settings link. For more information, see Create a chat assistant.
      3. To add a display experience, select the Go to display experiences link. For more information, see Display your chat assistant on a portal, channel, or mobile app. For Now Assist panel assistants, see Display your assistant on Platform or ServiceNow Studio.
      4. To migrate NLU topics, select the Migrate topics link. The Topic Migration application opens a new browser tab. For more information, see Migrate NLU topics to LLM topics.
      5. To manage promoted assets, select the Manage button. The Information sources > Promoted page is displayed. All the assets that have been manually promoted for the assistant are shown.
    4. From the Information sources tab, select the page that needs editing.
      Figure 2. Edit information sources
      Edit information sources of your assistant.
      • In Search sources, assign search sources to a chat assistant. Search sources are used to determine what the assistant looks at to answer user queries. If there were any search configurations that were previously done, those configurations would remain. For more information, see Assign search sources to a chat assistant.
      • In Knowledge Graphs, edit your Knowledge Graph schema to represent semantic relationships in your data. For more information, see Add a Knowledge Graph schema to a chat assistant.
      • In Asset types, add assets or migrate NLU topics. Asset are the building blocks of each assistant, providing them with instructions and functionality for helping users. They range from simple actions to complex AI agents. The All assets page shows the assets that are currently assigned to the assistant. For more information about the various assets such as topics, subflows, actions, custom skills, and AI agents, see Add assets to a chat assistant.
      • In Asset visibility, all assets that are assigned to the assistant are shown.
        • Discoverable: Discoverable assets can be found and used by your assistant when they match what a user says.
        • Visible: Visible assets appear when users select Show me everything in the assistant.
        • Promoted: Promoted assets give users quick access to your most helpful options. For Now Assist in Virtual Agent assistants, there is no limit to the number of assets that can be promoted.
          • The number of manually promoted assets is shown.
          • The assets that have been manually promoted are shown, including asset name, asset description, asset type, and the condition label.
          • The manually promoted assets can be reordered.
          • When a promoted asset is deleted by selecting the trash can icon, the asset is demoted from the assistant. The asset still exists within the assistant.
          • When you select Add Assets you can select an Asset Type from the drop-down menu and then select a specific existing asset. Select Save to promote the asset.

          If an asset is promoted, and later it is set to inactive, the asset is not shown in the Discoverable, Visible, and Promoted lists.

    5. From the Settings tab, select the page that needs editing.
      Figure 3. Edit assistant settings
      Edit assistant settings.
      • In Basic details, you can edit the name and description of the assistant. Names can't be duplicative of another assistant. You can set your assistant as a primary assistant and link it to secondary assistants.
        Note:
        For Now Assist panel Platform and Developer assistants, the basic details, such as name and description, can't be edited. For more information, see Create a chat assistant.
      • In AI agent support, you can prioritize AI agents during skills discovery. For more information, see Use agentic support for a chat assistant.
      • In Display experiences, you can select at least one portal, or integrate with your preferred messaging channels, to display your assistant. For more information, see Display your chat assistant on a portal, channel, or mobile app.
      • In Branding, configure branding for standard, enhanced, or premium chat experiences. For more information, see Brand and personalize an assistant.
      • In Chat features, by default, all chat experiences except web search, are turned on. For more information, see Enable additional chat features.
      • In Chat experience, you can edit your greeting and closing messages, and fallback options. When an instance is upgraded, your premium messages and premium fallbacks are pre-filled with your legacy messages and legacy fallbacks.
        Note:
        Premium messages and premium fallbacks are only pre-filled with your legacy messages and legacy fallbacks upon an instance upgrade. After upgrading your instance, if you create an assistant that uses enhanced chat and later switch to premium chat, the legacy messages and legacy fallbacks from enhanced chat must be reconfigured in premium messages and premium fallbacks.
        For more information, see Manage an assistant chat experience.
      • In Response feedback, when a user rates a response, a response feedback form appears. Configure the options so that users can share feedback regarding what worked about the response, or what needs improvement. For more information, see Manage response feedback.