Virtual Agent pre-built topic blocks for NLU

  • Release version: Zurich
  • Updated March 12, 2026
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    Summary of Virtual Agent pre-built topic blocks for NLU

    Virtual Agent provides a set of pre-built topic blocks designed to assist topic authors and administrators in implementing specific platform-related functions within bot conversations. These topic blocks enable tasks such as checking live agent availability, tracking deflections, integrating FAQ content, managing user location permissions, and leveraging AI Search capabilities. They come included with the Glide Virtual Agent plugin and Virtual Agent Lite, with the latter offering read-only access.

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    Topic blocks can be duplicated and customized using Virtual Agent Designer; however, updates to default blocks do not propagate to duplicates. Inputs are passed from calling topics, and outputs are returned for use within conversations.

    Key Features

    • Agent Availability Topic Block: Retrieves live agent status, wait time, and queue information to manage agent handoffs effectively. Requires the Agent Chat plugin with Advanced Work Assignment.
    • Deflection Topic Block: Tracks instances where Virtual Agent successfully resolves user issues, supporting deflection configurations and linking to relevant activity records.
    • FAQ Conversation Builder: Utilizes existing FAQ knowledge articles or imported Q&A data to create simple bot conversations, leveraging contextual search. Snippet length is configurable via system properties.
    • Form Content Popup: Opens forms in popup windows from the chat widget, allowing users to submit information that appears as cards in the chat. Supports both viewing existing records and creating new ones.
    • Geolocation Topic Block: Requests user permission to access location data and returns latitude/longitude coordinates or error details if retrieval fails.
    • Pause Topic Block: Introduces delays in conversations to control pacing, displayed as typing indicators, with configurable wait times up to 60 seconds.
    • Run AI Search Topic Block: Generates AI-driven search results in conversations without requiring input parameters. Supports customization through Search Application Configuration and configurable timeout settings.
    • Runtime Language Detection: Detects the user’s language mid-conversation, prompts for language switch if supported, and changes conversation language upon user confirmation. Requires activation of the Virtual Agent Language Detection and Translation plugin.

    Practical Application for ServiceNow Customers

    These pre-built topic blocks empower ServiceNow customers to streamline and enhance Virtual Agent conversations by:

    • Efficiently managing live agent handoffs based on real-time availability and wait times.
    • Monitoring and analyzing Virtual Agent deflections to improve resolution effectiveness.
    • Leveraging existing FAQ content to build informative and context-aware conversational flows.
    • Collecting user input through popup forms seamlessly integrated into chat sessions.
    • Respecting user privacy by requesting geolocation permissions and handling location data securely.
    • Improving user experience with natural pauses in conversation flow.
    • Integrating AI Search results directly into conversations to enhance information retrieval.
    • Supporting multilingual users dynamically by detecting and switching conversation languages.

    By utilizing these topic blocks, customers can accelerate Virtual Agent development, reuse common conversational components, and deliver personalized, efficient, and compliant chatbot experiences within their ServiceNow environments.

    Virtual Agent provides pre-built topic blocks that topic authors or admins can use to perform specific platform-related functions or tasks in bot conversations. For example, certain topic blocks enable you to check agent availability or generate AI Search results.

    Overview of pre-built topic blocks

    Certain pre-built topic blocks are included automatically with the Glide Virtual Agent (com.glide.cs.chatbot) plugin and Virtual Agent Lite. If you're using Virtual Agent Lite, you have read access to the topic blocks but you can't create topic blocks or add them to calling topics.

    You can duplicate pre-built topic blocks and modify the duplicates by using Virtual Agent Designer. For information about working with topic blocks and how to add them to calling topics, see Maximizing code reuse with topic blocks and Add a reusable topic block to a calling topic or topic block.

    The following sections describe the input and output parameters for calling different types of platform topic blocks. The topic block input parameters are passed from the calling topic, and the output parameters are returned from the topic block to the calling topic.
    Note:
    Upgrades to the default topic blocks are not applied to the duplicated topic blocks.

    Agent Availability topic block

    Use this topic block to get relevant live agent information for use in agent handoff conversations. This information includes agent availability, wait time (how long before an agent is available), and queue information. You can use the information returned, such as a long wait time for an agent, to initiate a case or customer callback.

    This topic block requires the Agent Chat (com.glide.interaction.awa) plugin, which includes Advanced Work Assignment.

    The following table lists the output parameters for this topic block.

    Table 1. Agent Availability output parameters
    Parameter Description
    agentAvailable Agent availability. The value is true if an agent is available for this queue. Otherwise, the value is false.
    supportQueue sys_id of the queue that is associated with the conversation. The value is null if an agent is not available or if there is no associated queue.
    waitingTime Average numeric wait time for the queue. The value is null if an agent is not available.

    Deflection topic block

    Use the deflection topic block in Virtual Agent conversation topics to track the issues that Virtual Agent helped to resolve or actually resolved for a user.

    For example, the pre-built Auto Resolution Virtual Agent topic uses a deflection topic block to track deflections. For more information, see Using the deflection topic block to track deflections in Virtual Agent.

    The following table lists the input parameters for this topic block.

    Table 2. Deflection input parameters
    Parameter Description
    Deflection Configuration Group of deflection patterns.
    Deflection Pattern Deflection pattern in the deflection configuration that you have chosen.
    Activity Table Table where the deflection activity occurs. This table is associated with the primary activity table. For more information, see Create deflection configurations and patterns.
    Activity Ids

    List of comma-separated activity system IDs. For example, incident ID or task ID. You can also add output from the AI Search or Contextual Search topic block to create a link between a deflection occurrence and the content that contributed to the same deflection.

    FAQ Conversation Builder topic block

    Use this topic block to build bot conversations that use your existing FAQ content. With this topic block, you can enable topic authors to build simple conversations by using existing knowledge articles that are published in the FAQ template or by using Q&A data that was imported from sources such as spreadsheets.

    The FAQ Conversation Builder topic block uses contextual search to find an appropriate match in the FAQ content. FAQ content is access-controlled based on requester role, access rights, and context.

    Activate the Knowledge Management Advanced plugin to use the FAQ Knowledge template.

    Note:
    The default length of an FAQ snippet that is returned in the conversation is 400 characters. The snippet length includes the HTML tags and links that are used in the snippet. To change the snippet length, change the value in the com.glide.cs.faq.display_size system property. In addition to applying the specified length, the system applies word-wrap logic to prevent words and links in the snippet from being truncated arbitrarily.

    The following tables list the input and output parameters for this topic block.

    Table 3. FAQ Conversation Builder input parameters
    Parameter Description
    query Search term or phrase that is passed to the topic block. Select Input Variables or Script Variables.
    portal Context for the search. Select Input Variables or Script Variables.
    kb_knowledge Knowledge base for the search. Select Input Variables or Script Variables.
    Table 4. FAQ Conversation Builder output parameters
    Parameter Description
    Results_Returned Boolean value that indicates whether any results were returned from the query.
    Results_Helpful Boolean value that indicates whether the user found the results helpful.

    Form Content Popup topic block

    Use this topic block to open a form in a popup window from the chat widget. Once the user submits the required information, the record appears as a card in the Virtual Agent chat window. If a new record is created, the sys ID for that record is sent to the server so that the Virtual Agent topic has that information. For information about creating a pop-up window from a link, see Create a smart link preference.

    Table 5. Form Content Popup topic block input parameters
    Parameter Description
    sysId Sys ID of the record you want to display from the table specified in the table parameter. If you don't want a specific record, enter -1to create a new record.
    table Name of the table you want to query or create a record in.
    view Name of a view that you created for the table. If not specified, the default view is used.

    Geolocation topic block

    Use this topic block to retrieve information about the location of users, if the users agree to that. Before the topic block is called in a conversation, the users are asked if they want their location to be known. For example, the users see a prompt similar to the following:
    Figure 1. User permission prompt
    Dialog box with block and allow buttons, and message from anonymized website requesting to know user's location.

    Users can choose to block the request or allow their location to be known. If the users click Allow, they are later asked if they would like to share their location.

    The following tables list the input and output parameters for this topic block.

    Table 6. Geolocation input parameters
    Parameter Description
    permissionPrompt (String) Text asking permission to use the user's location. This text is shown to the user.
    isGeoPermissionGrantedForNextUse Boolean value that determines if users have granted permission to retrieve their location coordinates if this request is asked more than once during the conversation. The variable can be set as follows:
    • True: Don't display permission prompt again because the user has granted permission on this device.
    • False: Display the permission prompt because the user has either denied permission or has allowed the coordinates to be retrieved one time only.
    Table 7. Geolocation output parameters
    Parameter Description
    Latitude Latitude coordinates.
    Longitude Longitude coordinates.
    errormessage Message that is associated with the error if there are any errors.
    errortype Variable that is returned from the topic block. Types of errors include:
    • PERMISSION_DENIED
    • POSITION_UNAVAILABLE
    • TIMED_OUT
    • UNKNOWN_ERROR
    status Variable that is returned from the topic block. The status can be:
    • OK: Location coordinates were retrieved successfully.
    • ERROR: Retrieval was unsuccessful.

    Pause topic block

    Use this topic block to create a pause to control the pacing of a conversation. To end users, this feedback is seamless and is displayed as a typing indicator.

    For example, if the chat generated a list of knowledge base links, you may want to add a delay before continuing the conversation to give your end user time to read the information.

    The Pause topic block appears on the Utilities section of the palette for easier access.

    The following table lists the input parameter for this topic block.

    Table 8. Pause input parameter
    Parameter Description
    Seconds Number of seconds to wait before continuing the chat. The maximum value allowed is 60 seconds.

    If the value entered is 30 seconds (the default value) or less, the block should unpause in near real time. If the value entered is greater than 30 seconds, expect the unpause to occur with a maximum latency of +30 seconds. For example, if you set the value to 31 seconds, it could take up to 61 seconds to unpause (at most).

    Run AI Search topic block

    Note:
    If you're upgrading from Rome or a prior release, you must replace the legacy AI Search topic block with the Run AI Search topic block in order for it to work.

    Use this topic block to generate AI Search results in a conversation. This block doesn't require specific input parameters from a calling topic because it is controlled by the AI Search application in Virtual Agent. The default Virtual Agent Search Application and EVAM configuration set in the chat experience control how AI Search results are displayed in conversations.

    For information about how Virtual Agent uses AI Search, see Improving the user experience with AI Search. To learn more about Virtual Agent chat experiences and how to configure them, see Customizing a Virtual Agent chat experience.

    You can control certain aspects of the Run AI Search topic block:

    • Optionally customize the AI Search experience - You can customize the search experience by creating a custom Search Application Configuration to be used by the topic block, rather than the default Virtual Agent Search Application Configuration. The Search Application Configuration defines the search results returned in the conversation. For details on using a custom Search Application Configuration in the topic block, see Create a custom AI Search experience for Virtual Agent conversations.

      To use the default Virtual Agent configuration for AI Search, leave the Search Application Configuration field empty in the Topic Block Properties sheet when you're adding the Run AI Search topic block to a topic.

    • Specify an AI Search flow action timeout value - The AI Search flow action in the topic block automatically times out at 10 seconds. You can change the length of time before this flow action times out by adding the system property com.glide.cs.fdih.atlassearch.timeout and setting these fields to change the timeout value:
      Table 9. System property fields for com.glide.cs.fdih.atlassearch.timeout
      Field Value
      Name Enter the system property name: com.glide.cs.fdih.atlassearch.timeout
      Description Enter an explanation for this property: AI Search action timeout (in seconds)
      Type Select integer.
      Value

      Enter the number of seconds before the AI Search action times out. The default value is 10 seconds.

    The following tables list the input and output parameters for this topic block. For the output parameters, you have the option to deactivate any of the variables returned by the topic block.

    Table 10. Run AI Search input parameters
    Parameter Description
    search_term Phrase entered by a user during the conversation.
    Table 11. Run AI Search output parameters
    Parameter Description
    genius_results Variable that identifies the Genius Results returned.
    search_results Variable that identifies the regular search results (multi-list output) returned.
    search_metadata Variable that identifies the search result metadata used for click metrics in Conversational Analytics, such as the search term used, query language, and more.

    Runtime Language Detection topic block

    Use this topic block to detect the user’s language during a conversation and switch to that language mid-conversation if the language is supported in the ServiceNow AI Platform.

    For example, in conversations where guest users are interacting with the bot in a language different from the current conversation language, you can use this topic block to change the language accordingly. This topic block enables your bot to:
    • Detect the language in conversations across all supported Virtual Agent channels.
    • Determine if the language is supported in the ServiceNow AI Platform, and if so, ask the user whether to switch to the detected language.
    • Switch to the detected language during the conversation if the user agrees to the switch.

    Activate the Virtual Agent Language Detection and Translation plugin [com.glide.cs.runtime_language_detection_translation] to use this topic block.

    The following table lists the input parameters for this topic block.

    Table 12. Runtime Language Detection input parameters
    Parameter Description
    utterance (String) Text entered by the user.
    Change language (Boolean) Option that displays a message to the user that does the following:
    • Indicates the bot has detected that the user is typing in a different language.
    • Asks whether to continue the conversation in the supported language. If the user responds yes, the conversation changes to the supported language.