Prebuilt Virtual Agent topics, topic blocks, and ServiceNow NLU models

  • Release version: Australia
  • Updated March 12, 2026
  • 4 minutes to read
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    Summary of Prebuilt Virtual Agent topics, topic blocks, and ServiceNow NLU models

    ServiceNow provides prebuilt Virtual Agent topics, reusable topic blocks, and Natural Language Understanding (NLU) models designed to streamline common self-service tasks across various business applications, including Customer Service Management (CSM), HR Service Delivery (HRSD), IT Service Management (ITSM), and more. These components facilitate efficient user interactions by automating case creation, updates, and responses to frequently asked questions.

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    Prebuilt Topics, Topic Blocks, and NLU Models

    • Prebuilt Virtual Agent topics: Complete conversation flows tailored to business needs.
    • Topic blocks: Modular, reusable components (similar to subflows) that perform specific functions and can be integrated into conversation topics.
    • ServiceNow NLU models: Business-specific language models that enable Virtual Agent to understand user intents; each intent corresponds to a single conversation topic.

    Application-Specific Availability and Activation

    Prebuilt topics and NLU models are available through plugins or applications downloadable from the ServiceNow Store for various domains:

    • Customer Service Management (CSM): Activated via the com.sncsm.virtualagent plugin.
    • Field Service: Available as separate Virtual Agent Conversations and NLU Model apps from the ServiceNow Store.
    • Human Resources (HRSD): Offered through the HR Service Delivery Virtual Agent Conversations app.
    • IT Service Management (ITSM): Provided as ITSM Virtual Agent and NLU Model apps.
    • Legal: Accessible via Legal Virtual Agent Conversations app.
    • Virtual Agent Platform: Includes platform-level topics and topic blocks (e.g., Agent Availability, AI Search) via the com.glide.cs.chatbot plugin.

    Activating these plugins or apps automatically installs the associated prebuilt NLU models and topic blocks.

    Working with Prebuilt Components in Virtual Agent Designer

    • Previewing: Administrators can test prebuilt topics and topic blocks directly in Virtual Agent Designer to evaluate their functionality.
    • Customization: Although prebuilt topics and blocks are read-only, you can duplicate and modify them to tailor conversations to your specific requirements.
    • Deployment: After testing duplicates, publish them to make the customized topics and topic blocks available to Virtual Agent clients.

    Managing Prebuilt ServiceNow NLU Models in NLU Workbench

    • Review: View intents, entities, and utterances of installed prebuilt NLU models in NLU Workbench or Virtual Agent Designer.
    • Duplication and Extension: Prebuilt NLU models are read-only but can be duplicated to create new models; intents can be imported from prebuilt or custom models for further customization.

    Practical Benefits for ServiceNow Customers

    By leveraging these prebuilt resources, customers can rapidly deploy Virtual Agent conversations tailored to their business applications, reducing development effort and accelerating time to value. The modular design and NLU integration ensure that Virtual Agent interactions are both adaptable and capable of understanding user intent accurately, improving self-service experiences and operational efficiency.

    Prebuilt Virtual Agent conversations (topics), reusable topic blocks, and ServiceNow NLU models are available for the Virtual Agent platform and various business applications, such as Customer Service Management, HR Service Delivery, IT Service Management, and more.

    These predefined conversations help users with common self-service tasks in each business area, such as creating or updating cases or providing answers to frequently asked questions. Prebuilt topic blocks are reusable components (similar to subflows) that perform a specific function or task and can be added to a conversation topic. Prebuilt NLU models define the business-specific language understanding needed for Virtual Agent to understand and process user requests. Each NLU intent in a model maps to a single Virtual Agent conversation topic.

    Summaries of prebuilt topics and topic blocks

    For more information on the Virtual Agent prebuilt topics and topic blocks provided by various ServiceNow applications, refer to the documentation for those applications. For example, the CSM, HRSD, and ITSM applications provide information on their prebuilt topics in the following sections:

    Predefined topics and topic blocks Activation
    Customer Service Virtual Agent conversations

    Plugin name: com.sn_csm.virtualagent

    For more information about activating a plugin, see Activate a plugin.

    Field Service Virtual Agent Conversations

    Request the Field Service Virtual Agent Conversations and Field Service NLU Model for Virtual Agent Conversations apps from the ServiceNow Store.

    Visit the ServiceNow Store to view all the available apps, and for information about submitting requests to the store. For cumulative release notes information for all released apps, see the ServiceNow Store version history release notes.

    Human Resources Virtual Agent conversations

    Request the HR Service Delivery Virtual Agent Conversations app from the ServiceNow Store.

    Visit the ServiceNow Store to view all the available apps, and for information about submitting requests to the store. For cumulative release notes information for all released apps, see the ServiceNow Store version history release notes.

    ITSM Virtual Agent Conversations

    Request ITSM Virtual Agent and the ITSM NLU Model for Virtual Agent Conversations from the ServiceNow Store.

    Visit the ServiceNow Store to view all the available apps, and for information about submitting requests to the store. For cumulative release notes information for all released apps, see the ServiceNow Store version history release notes.

    Legal Virtual Agent Conversations

    Request Legal Virtual Agent Conversations from the ServiceNow Store.

    Visit the ServiceNow Store to view all the available apps, and for information about submitting requests to the store. For cumulative release notes information for all released apps, see the ServiceNow Store version history release notes.

    Virtual Agent Platform topics and topic blocks

    Plugin name: com.glide.cs.chatbot

    For more information about activating a plugin, see Activate a plugin.

    Note:
    The plugins for the CSM, HR Service Delivery, and ITSM predefined conversations also install their prebuilt ServiceNow NLU models and topic blocks. The Glide Virtual Agent plugin installs the prebuilt NLU model for setup topics, as well as platform topic blocks.

    After installing the plugins or apps, you can preview (test) the topics and topic blocks using Virtual Agent Designer. You can review the intents, utterances, and entities in the prebuilt NLU models using ServiceNow NLU Workbench or within Virtual Agent Designer if your NLU-enabled topics are associated with intents in ServiceNow NLU models.

    Working with prebuilt topics and topic blocks in Virtual Agent Designer

    • Previewing topics and topic blocks – After you install the plugins for prebuilt topics, admins or Virtual Agent admins can access the prebuilt topics and topic blocks in the Virtual Agent Designer home page. Select the topic and in the Flow tab, select Test. Review the conversation as it runs in the test window to determine the topics and topic blocks that you want to use.
    • Using prebuilt topics and topic blocks – Although prebuilt topics and topic blocks are read only and can't be changed, you can reuse them by duplicating and modifying them as needed. After you test a duplicated topic and are ready to deploy it to your Virtual Agent clients, publish the topic. Similarly, after testing a duplicated topic block, publish it to make it available for use in conversation (calling) topics.

    For details on creating, testing (previewing), duplicating, and publishing a topic, see Getting started with Virtual Agent Designer. For details on working with topic blocks, see Maximizing code reuse with topic blocks.

    Working with prebuilt ServiceNow NLU models in ServiceNow NLU Workbench

    • Reviewing a prebuilt NLU model – After you install the plugins for predefined topics, you can view the prebuilt models in NLU Workbench. The prebuilt NLU models for ServiceNow applications define the intents, entities, and utterances used for the predefined topics. These models are also trained and published. You can also review the utterances for a prebuilt model in Virtual Agent Designer. However to copy a prebuilt model, you use NLU Workbench.
    • Duplicating prebuilt NLU models – Although prebuilt NLU models are read only and can't be edited, you can Duplicate an NLU model prebuilt NLU models to create your own NLU models and Import an NLU intent from prebuilt models or other NLU models that you create in NLU Workbench.

    For details on creating, training, and publishing ServiceNow NLU models, see Natural Language Understanding.