Managing custom skills in Virtual Agent Designer

  • Release version: Xanadu
  • Updated January 13, 2025
  • 2 minutes to read
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    Summary of Managing custom skills in Virtual Agent Designer

    This content explains how ServiceNow customers can view and manage custom skills within Virtual Agent Designer, specifically in the context of the updated user interface available when Now Assist is installed and the Now Assist Topics skill is enabled. It clarifies that while custom skills can be viewed in Virtual Agent Designer, their creation, testing, and deletion must be performed exclusively within the Now Assist Skill Kit.

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    Key Features

    • Viewing Custom Skills: Customers can access a list of custom skills through Virtual Agent Designer, where each skill's name, type, status, activation state, last modified time, and description are displayed.
    • Skill Details and Actions: Selecting a skill opens it in Now Assist Skill Kit for detailed management. In Virtual Agent Designer, customers can toggle visibility settings including Promoted (suggested conversational asset), Discoverable (invoked by user utterance), Visible (shown when "Show me everything" is selected), and Active (available in conversation).
    • Management Restrictions: Creating, testing, and deleting custom skills cannot be done in Virtual Agent Designer. These actions are exclusive to the Now Assist Skill Kit environment.
    • Deployment Settings: To make custom skills available in Virtual Agent Designer, customers must configure deployment settings in Now Assist Skill Kit by selecting “Platform skills” in the Feature list and enabling the skill through the Now Assist panel card.

    Practical Implications for ServiceNow Customers

    Customers with the virtualagentadmin role can efficiently view and manage the visibility and activation of custom skills directly in Virtual Agent Designer, streamlining the process of tuning skill availability in conversations. However, skill lifecycle management (creation, testing, deletion) must be done via Now Assist Skill Kit, ensuring consistent skill development workflows. Proper deployment settings in Now Assist Skill Kit are essential to surface skills within Virtual Agent Designer and make them accessible in virtual assistant conversations.

    View custom skills through Virtual Agent Designer.

    Note:
    An updated Virtual Agent Designer user interface is available when you install Now Assist in Virtual Agent and turn on the Now Assist Topics skill. This content assumes that you have activated this skill and can see the list view. If this skill is not enabled, you will see the legacy UI and topics page. For more information, see Virtual Agent Designer legacy topics page.

    Role required: virtual_agent_admin

    When you select a custom skill, it opens the skill in Now Assist Skill Kit. Custom skills currently can't be created in Virtual Agent Designer. You can only view them in Virtual Agent Designer. The skills can be created, tested, and deleted only in Now Assist Skill Kit. For more details on creating skills, see Create a skill.

    Figure 1. Custom skills as viewed in Virtual Agent Designer
    Custom skills pill in Virtual Agent Designer.
    Column Description
    Name Name of the skill. Select the skill to open it in Now Assist Skill Kit.
    Type Custom skill.
    Status Status type such as Published.
    Active Whether the skill is active or inactive.
    Last modified Time that the skill was last modified.
    Description Description of the custom skill.

    Use the row actions icon KB link to work with visibility settings for Promoted, Discoverable, Visible, and Active:

    Option Description
    Promoted Option to toggle the skill's Promoted status to show as a suggested conversational asset in the virtual assistant.
    Discoverable Option to toggle the skill's Discoverable status. If discoverable, the skill is invoked when matched with a user's utterance.
    Visible Option to toggle the skill's visibility to users. If visible, the skill appears whenever the Show me everything option is selected in the conversation.
    Active Option to toggle the skill's active status. If active, the skill is available within the conversation.
    Delete Delete option for skills is inactive in Virtual Agent Designer. The skills can only be deleted from Now Assist Skill Kit.

    Custom skills become available in Virtual Agent Designer based on the deployment settings in Now Assist Skill Kit.

    1. Navigate to Now Assist Skill Kit > Home and select the skill.
    2. Select Skill settings > Deployment settings.
    3. For the skill to become available in Virtual Agent Designer, the following options should be selected:
      • Select Platform skills in the Feature list.
      • Select the Now Assist panel card to enable the skill through the Now Assist Panel.