Combined Virtual Agent release notes for upgrades from Washington DC to Xanadu

  • Release version: Xanadu
  • Updated June 16, 2026
  • 17 minutes to read

    • Consolidated page of all release notes for Virtual Agent from Washington DC to Xanadu.

    How to use this page

    To help you prepare for your upgrade, we have combined the cross-family Virtual Agent release notes onto one page. Read this summary of the new features, changes, and updated information for your product from Washington DC to Xanadu.

    Tip:
    If there were no updates for a release notes section in a certain family release, we included a short note for your reference. For example, if a product did not have any updates in Tokyo, the row says "No updates for this release."

    Important information for upgrading Virtual Agent to Xanadu

    Before you upgrade to Xanadu, review these pre- and post-upgrade tasks and complete the tasks as needed.

    Release Release notes

    Washington DC

    		 No updates for this release.

    Xanadu

    		 No updates for this release.

    New features

    Between your current release family and Xanadu, new features were introduced for Virtual Agent.

    Release Release notes

    Washington DC
    Now Assist in Virtual Agent
    • Implement Now Assist in Virtual Agent conversations in Microsoft Teams and mobile channels.
    • Test and preview topics in either the mweb or nowassistpanel channel.
    • Added enhancements to Now Assist in Virtual Agent.
    • Create or manage LLM virtual agents using a new option on the Conversational Interfaces admin console or the new Assistants tab.
    • Filter analytics indicators in Now Assist in Virtual Agent Analytics using the new Assistant multi-select filter.
    • Enable Genius Results generated by Now Assist in portal search from a link within the Review section of [Placeholder link text to key configure-now-assist-va].
    • When a user types an irrelevant utterance in the middle of a topic, unified search sees whether there are any results found.
    LLM topic discovery in Virtual Agent
    • Create topics that use LLM instead of Natural Language Understanding (NLU).
    • Analyze Now LLM responses to utterances while testing LLM topics.
    • Get in-depth testing details for LLM topics using the new Topic discovery and Edit variables tabs.
    LLM support in Virtual Agent Designer controls
    • Input Collector user input control:
      • Use the new Input Collector control in LLM topics to gather data from users and create instructions with generative AI.
      • Drag nodes in and out of the Input Collector instead of deleting and adding new ones.
      • Drag nodes from one Input Collector to another if you have multiple Input Collectors on your canvas.
      • Use the From and To drop-down lists to reorder inputs from the node on the table view.
      • Activate the Confirmation message option in the Input Collector to summarize your inputs. Submit the inputs or restart the input collection process, by selecting Yes or No options, or entering a reply in plain language.
    • Secure Text user input control: Use the Secure Text control in LLM topics to gather and encrypt sensitive text, email, and other types of input from users.
    • Date Time user input control: Input DD-MM-YYYY format to the Date Time user input for regions using that format.
    Dynamically pick Virtual Agent notification actions
    When authoring a Virtual Agent topic, you can pass one or more notification actions as parameters instead of a single, static action. All actions must be predefined for the notification.
    Hide or reveal the Show me everything button
    Set the glide.cs.disable_show_me_everything system property for NLU/Keyword topic discovery. Alternatively, update values found in the default Script Action Utility control in Virtual Agent greeting topics that use LLM topic discovery.
    System properties
    The following new system properties affect AI Search results in mid-topic discovery:
    • com.glide.cs.gen_ai.enable_mid_topic_ai_search
    • sn_nowassist_va.enable_mid_topic_ai_search_catalog_result
    Washington DC patch 1
    Beginning with Washington DC patch 1, the following features are available:
    • Carousel user input control: Use the Carousel user input control in a LLM-enabled Virtual Agent topic to present a prompt and a horizontal series of labeled images.
    • Dynamic choice user input control property sheet: Use the Allow the user to select more than one choice field to allow users to choose multiple choices from the list display.
    • Latency feedback system property: The com.glide.cs.message.processing.enabled system property notifies requesters with a temporary latency message whenever the LLM is processing their request in the Virtual Agent web client and Now Assist panel. This system property is off by default and the latency message varies depending on the LLM call.
    • Use Virtual Agent API to support Now Assist experience across multiple provider channels. See Enable Now Assist experience in Virtual Agent API for more information.
    • Use Bot Interconnect to support Now Assist enabled primary and secondary bot use cases.
    Washington DC patch 3
    Beginning with Washington DC patch 3, the following features are available:
    • LLM topic migration: The topic migration workflow in Virtual Agent Designer allows you to convert your existing NLU/Keyword topics into new large language-model (LLM) topics. The topic migration workflow is available to admin and topic_migration_admin roles.
    • Dynamic Choice user input control: Using a script, requesters can view their previously selected choice values and also view and search through secondary field data.
    • LLM assistant associations: Any topic type can be associated with an LLM assistant. LLM topic blocks and custom controls that are not associated with an assistant, but are used within a topic that is associated with an LLM assistant, now display in the Topics page when filtering by the LLM assistant.
    • Now Assist in Virtual Agent guided setup entry point from Virtual Agent Designer: Selecting either Settings or Manage on the Virtual Agent Designer Topics page opens the Conversational Interfaces Guided Setup workflow.
    • Assistant drop-down list: The Assistant drop-down list appears in the chat test window when testing from a single topic when the Include topic discovery option is selected or when testing active LLM assistant topics from the Virtual Agent Topics page. When a topic is associated with just one LLM assistant, the Assistant drop-down list defaults to that assistant name. If you have multiple assistants, select which assistant you want to work with using the Assistant drop-down list.
    • New Virtual Agent translation table: The Text Translations for Dynamic Translation [sys_cs_dynamic_translation_text] table stores copies of the translations found in the Message [sys_ui_message] table and previously dynamically translated messages.
    • Promote or demote Virtual Agent LLM topics: Organize promoted LLM topics by assigning relative order values in the Promoted Skills [sys_cs_context_profile_promoted_skill] table.
    • Topic Properties tab: Setup Topics will remain associated with an Assistant in the topic Properties tab.
    • Topic creation form: Configure channels in LLM topics under Who can access this topic in the Advanced section of the Properties tab.
    New system property
    The com.glide.cs.field.boolean.show.choice_picker system property determines whether a Boolean node or a Dynamic Choice node with a single value displays to users whenever the Dynamic Choice node only has one single value associated.
    Conversational Analytics dashboard in Platform Analytics experience
    The Conversational Analytics dashboard in Platform Analytics experience now meets the compliance requirements of data regulated market environments, for example, Government Community Cloud (GCC). Platform Analytics provides a unified interface for visualizing multiple data sources. The dashboard contains indicators and breakdowns for rich visualizations and detailed analysis.
    Washington DC patch 4
    Beginning with Washington DC patch 4, the following features are available:
    • Create a topic form: Associate LLM-enabled Topics, Setup topics, Topic blocks, Small talk topics, and Custom controls with the Now Assist in Virtual Agent LLM assistant.
    • LLM topic testing: Provide feedback to the Now LLM using thumbs-up and thumbs-down controls when testing Text, Static choice list, Dynamic choice list, Boolean, Date time, and Carousel user inputs.
    • Insert a header card in a Static Choice or Dynamic Choice control: Toggle the Header card switch in the Advanced properties section of the LLM-enabled Static choice list and Dynamic choice list user inputs, to add photos or YouTube videos.
    • Genius Results in chat preview window: Genius Results for LLM topics show skill (topic) discovery, knowledge base (KB) articles, and catalog items in the Analyze test phrases tab of the chat preview window.
    • Topic migration updates: On the topic migration workflow's Publish (optional) page, select the LLM topic link to be redirected to that topic in Virtual Agent Designer through a new browser tab or window. Any edits that you make in Virtual Agent Designer are reflected in the topic migration's Publish (optional) page after refreshing.
    • Topic migration error log updates: New error messages were added to the topic migration workflow in Virtual Agent Designer and existing error messages were updated.
    • NDS cards in Virtual Agent: Next Experience Design System (NDS) cards carousel now appears to requesters in the Virtual Agent whenever multiple results are found from a Genius Result. Feedback with thumbs up or thumbs down is possible on each NDS card.
    • Proactive Triggers work with LLM topics: Proactive Triggers can be used with LLM topics if Now Assist in Virtual Agent is set up.

    Xanadu
    Xanadu Patch 9
    AI agents in Virtual Agent Designer
    View AI agents created in AI Agent Studio in Virtual Agent Designer.
    Quick start tests for Virtual Agent

    After upgrades and deployments of new applications or integrations, run quick start tests to verify that Virtual Agent works as expected. If you customized Virtual Agent, copy the quick start tests and configure them for your customizations.

    Rich text for Static and Dynamic Choice controls: Static Choice user input control and Dynamic Choice user input control
    Use rich text options when creating Static and Dynamic Choice nodes in ServiceNow® Virtual Agent Designer.
    Virtual Agent Web Client branding: Set up your Virtual Agent bot's branding
    Customize colors in the New Messages Above and New Messages Below banners in the chat window.
    LLM topic type association: Create a Virtual Agent topic
    Associate LLM Assistants to Setup topics, Topic blocks, and Custom controls.
    LLM topic testing
    Define an assistant on the Virtual Agent (VA) testing panel, when selecting Test All Active Topics with selecting an assistant.
    LLM Text bot response control
    Use the LLM Text bot response control to generate messages in conversations using LLM topic discovery.
    Conversational Analytics dashboard in Platform Analytics experience
    The Conversational Analytics dashboard in the ServiceNow® Platform Analytics experience meets the compliance requirements of data regulated market environments, for example, Government Community Cloud (GCC). The dashboard contains indicators and breakdowns for rich visualizations and detailed analysis. You can access the dashboard by navigating to All > Conversational Interfaces > Analytics.
    New system properties
    Determine whether actions for Virtual Agent notifications and Proactive Triggers are created after completing the full topic migration workflow via the com.glide.cs.notification.create_llm_actions_after_topic_migration and com.glide.cs.proactive_trigger.create_llm_actions_after_topic_migration system properties.
    NLU to LLM topic migration enhancements
    • Migrate Virtual Agent notifications and Proactive Triggers actions on the Review connections step after publishing the newly migrated LLM topics in the NLU to LLM topic migration workflow.
    • Review, edit, and test LLM topic descriptions against existing NLU utterances, if available, in the Review descriptions step. The Review descriptions step occurs after migration but before publication in the NLU to LLM topic migration workflow.
    • Migrate NLU vocabulary sources automatically into either Dynamic Choice or Static Choice nodes, depending on the vocabulary sources setup in NLU.
    Max wait time queue allows LLM topic selection
    Select LLM topics to be chosen after the max wait time is met during a Now Assist in Virtual Agent conversation. ServiceNow® Advanced Work Assignment queue triggers support LLM topics whenever the Trigger Type field's value is Max Wait and you’re prompted to select a Virtual Agent topic.
    Catalogs for Virtual Agent
    Search for and order services or products from catalog macroponents in Virtual Agent chat by using plain language. Customize the appearance of your catalogs to match your business’ branding.
    Integrating Now Assist in Virtual Agent with Microsoft Copilot
    Use your Self-configured bot to connect with Microsoft Copilot. The process of integrating the Self-configured bot with Microsoft Copilot is similar to that of integrating the Self-configured bot with Microsoft Teams.

    You can @-mention the bot name to initiate a chat within Copilot and Copilot provides you the response based on your utterance.

    Microsoft Copilot, when integrated with Now Assist in Virtual Agent, understands the ServiceNow context and routes users to Now Assist to conduct ServiceNow -related questions and tasks within Microsoft Teams.
    Use your Now Virtual Agent bot to connect with Microsoft Copilot by @-mentioning the bot name.

    Support for using declarative agents with Self-configured bots and transferring to live agents is available.

    Support for the default Now Virtual Agent bot plugin is available on the Microsoft Teams Store.

    Integrating Virtual Agent with enterprise messaging apps
    Now LLM Service support for channels enables LLM-based conversations with Now Assist in Conversational Integration with Microsoft Teams and Conversational Integration with Slack.
    The Now LLM Service support also provides new ServiceNow AI Search experience in channels with the following features:
    • Legal disclaimers
    • Pagination
    • Search
    • Generative AI Q&A card
    Configure rate limiting for providers
    Configure rate limiting at the provider level to control the request flow for requests made within a stipulated time.
    Xanadu Patch 3
    Primary and secondary assistants are honored in Virtual Agent Designer
    View which conversational assets are applicable to primary or secondary assistants.
    Language detection for LLM conversations
    For Now Assist in Virtual Agent users, use language detection for your LLM conversations to improve your user's experience.
    Synthesized response
    For Now Assist in Virtual Agent users, a synthesized response can appear. A synthesized response includes a brief summary of the requested information and search results along with Genius Results. Mid-topic switching can occur during a conversation with synthesized response. Users can continue with their original request or switch the conversation's focus.
    New system properties
    The following system property was added to increase flexibility of the search results and response:
    • sn_nowassist_va.synthesized_autostart_items: When synthesized response only returns a singular action, configure whether to directly launch into that action. By default, whenever synthesized response returns a single Virtual Agent topic, that action is auto-launched. The following actions can be configured to auto-launch:
      • Synthesized response returns a single conversational catalog item.
      • Synthesized response returns a single Virtual Agent topic, along with Knowledge Base information.
      • Synthesized response returns a single conversational catalog item, along with Knowledge Base information.

    Changes

    Between your current release family and Xanadu, some changes were made to existing Virtual Agent features.

    Release Release notes

    Washington DC
    Now Assist in Virtual Agent changes
    Improved flow and enhancements for the Now Assist in Virtual Agent guided setup:
    • Assistants tab contains a list of each Virtual Agent and the ability to create new ones.
    • Skills for each Virtual Agent can be activated or deactivated.
    • A skill can be deactivated across the entire instance.
    • Each Virtual Agent can be associated with a search profile other than the default Virtual Agent search profile.
    • The chat experience has advanced configurations that can replace the default setting.
    • Promoted topics can be defined in Virtual Agent Designer (VAD) and reordered within the setup.
    Fallback options are used to route the user to a live agent, restart a conversation, or create an incident.
    AI search is triggered for knowledge base articles or catalog items when skills are not configured for the user.
    Web client public page default change
    Changed the public page defaults for new customers from Active is True to Active is False for the following pages:
    • $sn-va-web-client-app
    • sn_va_web_client_app_embed
    If desired, enable Public access in Conversational Interfaces > Settings > General for web client on portals only.
    System property changes
    The following changes were made to improve the conversational catalog experience:
    • glide.cs.runtime.max_silent_fields: The default value was changed from 150 to 600.
    • glide.cs.runtime.user_input_max_length: The default value was changed from 10240 to 409600.
    Virtual Agent Designer user input controls
    The Additional instructions for LLM field was removed from all LLM-enabled user input controls in Virtual Agent Designer in Washington DC patch 1 and added back in Washington DC patch 3.

    Xanadu

    		 No updates for this release.

    Removed

    Between your current release family and Xanadu, some Virtual Agent features or functionality were removed.

    Release Release notes

    Washington DC
    • The What is the reason AI is collecting inputs from the user? field was removed from the Input Collector control in Virtual Agent Designer.
    • The Topics category with the topic description was removed from the Prompt discovery tab in the Virtual Agent Designer chat preview window.

    Xanadu

    		 No updates for this release.

    Deprecations

    Between your current release family and Xanadu, some Virtual Agent features or functionality were deprecated.

    Release Release notes

    Washington DC

    		 No updates for this release.

    Xanadu
    • Starting with the Xanadu release, the Conversational Analytics dashboard is being prepared for future deprecation. It will be hidden and no longer available for installation but will continue to be supported. For details, see the Deprecation Process [KB0867184] article in the Now Support Knowledge Base.

    Activation information

    Review information on how to activate Virtual Agent.

    Release Release notes

    Washington DC
    Virtual Agent is a ServiceNow AI Platform feature that is available with activation of the Glide Virtual Agent plugin (com.glide.cs.chatbot), which requires a separate subscription. For details, see Activate Virtual Agent.
    Note:
    The Glide Virtual Agent plugin initially installs the Topic Recommendations and Conversational Analytics apps. Subsequent updates to these apps must be installed from the ServiceNow Store.

    ServiceNow® Virtual Agent Lite is a subset of the Virtual Agent platform that is available to ServiceNow® IT Service Management (ITSM) customers. It doesn't require activation and works with ITSM Virtual Agent Lite conversations, which are also available to ITSM customers.

    Xanadu
    Virtual Agent is a ServiceNow AI Platform feature that is available with activation of the Glide Virtual Agent plugin (com.glide.cs.chatbot), which requires a separate subscription. For details, see Activate Virtual Agent.
    Note:
    The Glide Virtual Agent plugin initially installs the Topic Recommendations and Conversational Analytics apps. Subsequent updates to these apps must be installed from the ServiceNow Store.

    ServiceNow® Virtual Agent Lite is a subset of the Virtual Agent platform that is available to ServiceNow® IT Service Management (ITSM) customers. It doesn't require activation and works with ITSM Virtual Agent Lite conversations, which are also available to ITSM customers.

    Additional requirements

    If any additional requirements were introduced or changed for Virtual Agent we have noted them here.

    Release Release notes

    Washington DC
    Now Assist in Virtual Agent requires a license for at least one Now Assist product:
    • Now Assist for Customer Service Management (CSM)
    • Now Assist for HR Service Delivery (HRSD)
    • Now Assist for IT Service Management (ITSM)

    Xanadu

    		 No updates for this release.

    Browser requirements

    If any specific browser requirements were introduced or changed for Virtual Agent we have noted them here.

    Release Release notes

    Washington DC

    Virtual Agent supports various browsers, including Google Chrome and Microsoft Edge. For more information, see Browser support.

    Xanadu

    Virtual Agent supports various browsers, including Google Chrome and Microsoft Edge. For more information, see Browser support.

    Accessibility information

    Review details on accessibility information for Virtual Agent, such as specific requirements or compliance levels.

    Release Release notes

    Washington DC

    		 No updates for this release.

    Xanadu

    		 No updates for this release.

    Localization information

    If there are specific localization considerations for Virtual Agent we have noted them here.

    Release Release notes

    Washington DC

    The ServiceNow® Localization Framework is integrated in Virtual Agent.

    Xanadu

    The ServiceNow® Localization Framework is integrated in Virtual Agent.

    Highlight information

    If there are specific highlight considerations for Virtual Agent we have noted them here.

    Release Release notes

    Washington DC
    • Create and test Virtual Agent topics that use large language models (LLMs) instead of Natural Language Understanding (NLU).
    • Test LLM-enabled topics using the additional Prompt discovery and Edit variables tabs.
    • Implement Now Assist in Virtual Agent conversations in Microsoft Teams and mobile.
    • For LLM topics, use the Input Collector input control in Virtual Agent Designer to gather data using generative AI prompts.
    • For LLM topics, use the Secure Text input control in Virtual Agent Designer to gather and encrypt sensitive text, email, and other types of input from users.
    See Virtual Agent for more information.
    Note:
    Performance and the user experience are improved by tracking aggregate in-app activity, including interaction with the app. This tracking is focused on aggregated technical information rather than personal information.

    Xanadu
    Xanadu Patch 9
    • View people information in the synthesized response along with people citation when you search a person in Microsoft Teams chat.
    • AI agent support for Virtual Agent.
    • View AI agents in Virtual Agent Designer.
    • Integrate ServiceNow® Now Assist for Virtual Agent with Microsoft Copilot to enable making IT-related calls and resolve tasks without having to leave the Microsoft Teams tenant.
    • Enable Now LLM Service support for Virtual Agent conversations in Conversational Integration with Microsoft Teams and Conversational Integration with Slack.
    • Review and test large language model (LLM) topic descriptions against existing Natural Language Understanding (NLU) utterances, migrate Virtual Agent notifications and Proactive Triggers, and migrate NLU vocabulary sources in the NLU to LLM topic migration workflow.
    • Configure One Extend Rate Limit for incoming requests for providers.
    • Now Assist conversational experience using Now Virtual Agent bot and Self-configured bots within Microsoft Copilot.
    Xanadu Patch 3
    • Use an updated Virtual Agent Designer list-based home page that includes conversational subflows and actions.
    • Work with conversations associated to primary and secondary assistants in Virtual Agent Designer.
    • Use language detection and engage in small talk within LLM conversations.
    • Receive a synthesized response for Now Assist in Virtual Agent users.
    See Virtual Agent for more information.
    Note:
    Performance and the user experience are improved by tracking aggregate in-app activity, including interaction with the app. This tracking is focused on aggregated technical information rather than personal information.