Conversational subflows

Run a Workflow Studio subflow from a Now Assist conversation. Create and configure the conversational skill from Workflow Studio.

Workflow Studio offers a selection of preconfigured subflows that are available to run from Conversational Interfaces.

Conversational requirements

Currently, you can't make a subflow conversational. You can only modify the conversational settings of preconfigured conversational subflows. When editing a preconfigured conversational action, you must follow these guidelines to keep the action conversational.

• All subflow inputs are compatible with Conversational Interfaces.
• All subflow inputs have tooltip text.
• The subflow is active and published.
• You have an appropriate role to access conversational subflows.
• You activate the subflows and actions skill.

Activating the subflows and actions skill

To activate the subflows and actions skill, see .

User role access

Personnel with the following user roles can access conversational subflows.

Role	Description	Contains roles	Groups with this role	Special considerations
Virtual Agent administrator [virtual_agent_admin]	Provides read and write access to all Virtual Agent tables, conversational experiences, and Now Assist admin operations	action_designer,flow_designer	None	Avoid granting an admin role when more specialized roles are available.
Workflow Conversational Admin [sn_conv_fa.conv_fa_admin]	Provides read access to flows, subflows, and actions. Provides read and write access to conversational experience settings.	sn_conv_fa.conv_fa_designer, fd_read_actions, fd_read_flows	None	Avoid granting an admin role when more specialized roles are available.
Flow/Action Designer Conversational Workflow [sn_conv_fa.conv_fa_designer]	Provides read and write access to conversational experience settings.	None	None	This is a specialized role with limited access.
Action Designer [action_designer]	Provides read and write access to Workflow Studio actions.	sn_conv_fa.conv_fa_designer	None	This is a specialized role with limited access.
Flow Designer [flow_designer]	Provides read and write access to Workflow Studio flows and subflows.	sn_conv_fa.conv_fa_designer	None	This is a specialized role with limited access.

Conversational settings

You can use the conversational settings menu to manage conversational subflows and actions from Workflow Studio. Options include:

• Toggle off or on the option to make an action or subflow conversational.
• See the subflow or action skill name.
• Select one or more assistants that can discover the action or subflow skill.
• Select one or more roles users must have to access the action or subflow skill.
• Set the advanced option to make the action or subflow skill discoverable.
• Set the advanced option to include the action or subflow skill in the list of topics.

Figure 1. Example conversational settings

When you set these options in Workflow Studio, the system also sets the corresponding options in Virtual Agent Designer.

Supported conversational subflows and actions input data types

Conversational subflows and actions support a limited number of input data types. To be compatible with conversational interfaces, an action or a subflow must only include inputs that use supported data types.

ServiceNow AI Platform data type name	Workflow Studio data type label
array.string	Array of Strings
boolean	True/False
calendar	Calendar Date/Time
choice	Choice
date	Date
datetime	Date/Time
document_id	Document ID
date_time	Date/Time
due_date	Due Date
email	Email
glide_date	Date
glide_time	Time
glide_date_time	Date/Time
GUID	Sys ID (GUID)
html	HTML
integer	Integer
long	Long
longint	Long Integer String
reference	Reference
schedule_date_time	Schedule Date/Time
string	String
string_full_utf8	String (Full UTF-8)
table_name	Table Name

• Available conversational subflows
  Workflow Studio provides a set of subflows that are preconfigured to be compatible with and callable by conversational interfaces such as Now Assist.