{"revision":"c10276e953456835cdbb1f3a60d58ae1980be353","document":{"id":5302,"path":"conversational-interfaces/virtual-agent/va-utilities.md","title":"Assistant Designer utilities","bundle":null,"doc_type":null,"release":"australia","body":"\n# Assistant Designer utilities\n\nYou can control interactions within a topic by using utilities in Assistant Designer. These utilities perform various actions such as adding topic blocks \\(reusable components\\), running a script, or adding different conversation paths \\(branches\\) in a topic. Utilities are represented as nodes in a conversation flow but do not display anything to the user.\n\nThe following utilities are available for use within a Virtual Agent topic.\n\n-   **[Lookup utility](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ServiceNow/ServiceNowDocs/australia/markdown/australia/conversational-interfaces/virtual-agent/va-lookup.md)**  \nUse the Lookup utility in a Virtual Agent topic to return a ServiceNow record query.\n-   **[Script Action utility](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ServiceNow/ServiceNowDocs/australia/markdown/australia/conversational-interfaces/virtual-agent/va-script-action.md)**  \nUse the Script Action utility in a Virtual Agent topic to run a script.\n-   **[Record Action utility](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ServiceNow/ServiceNowDocs/australia/markdown/australia/conversational-interfaces/virtual-agent/va-record-action-util.md)**  \nUse the Record Action utility in a Virtual Agent topic to create or update a ServiceNow record in a table.\n-   **[Decision utility](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ServiceNow/ServiceNowDocs/australia/markdown/australia/conversational-interfaces/virtual-agent/va-decision.md)**  \nUse the Decision utility in a Virtual Agent topic to add two or more branches that represent different paths in a conversation.\n-   **[Topic Block utility](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ServiceNow/ServiceNowDocs/australia/markdown/australia/conversational-interfaces/virtual-agent/va-topic-blocks.md)**  \nUse a Topic Block in a Virtual Agent conversation to perform a specific function or subflow that runs certain steps in a calling topic.\n-   **[Action utility](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ServiceNow/ServiceNowDocs/australia/markdown/australia/conversational-interfaces/virtual-agent/va-action.md)**  \nUse the Action utility in a Virtual Agent topic to select the flow action properties that the node should create. The Action utility integrates Virtual Agent with the ServiceNow Workflow Studio product.\n-   **[Custom control utility](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ServiceNow/ServiceNowDocs/australia/markdown/australia/conversational-interfaces/virtual-agent/va-custom-control-util.md)**  \nUse the Custom Control utility in a Virtual Agent topic or topic block to reference a custom input control or a custom response control. Custom controls complement the controls provided in Assistant Designer.\n-   **[AI Connector utility](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ServiceNow/ServiceNowDocs/australia/markdown/australia/conversational-interfaces/virtual-agent/vad-ai-connector-utility.md)**  \nUse this utility to link generative AI to custom skills for added versatility in your Virtual Agent LLM \\(large language model\\) conversations.\n-   **[Deflection utility](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ServiceNow/ServiceNowDocs/australia/markdown/australia/conversational-interfaces/virtual-agent/va-deflection.md)**  \nUse the Deflection utility in Virtual Agent to track issues that Virtual Agent helped to resolve or actually resolved for a user.\n-   **[Diagnostic Topic Executor utility](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ServiceNow/ServiceNowDocs/australia/markdown/australia/conversational-interfaces/virtual-agent/va-diagnostic-topic-executor.md)**  \nUse the Diagnostic Topic Executor utility in Virtual Agent to ensure the proper function of components in a topic.\n-   **[Geolocation utility](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ServiceNow/ServiceNowDocs/australia/markdown/australia/conversational-interfaces/virtual-agent/va-geolocation-utility.md)**  \nUse the Geolocation utility to gather map coordinates from a user, to personalize topics to a user's location, provide data for navigation or on-site tasks, and other services.\n-   **[Multi File Upload utility](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ServiceNow/ServiceNowDocs/australia/markdown/australia/conversational-interfaces/virtual-agent/va-multi-file-upload.md)**  \nUse the Multi File Upload utility to upload more than one file at a time in a Virtual Agent conversation.\n-   **[Pause utility](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ServiceNow/ServiceNowDocs/australia/markdown/australia/conversational-interfaces/virtual-agent/va-pause.md)**  \nUse the Pause utility to create a temporary halt in your Virtual Agent conversations.\n\n**Parent Topic:**[Assistant Designer interface reference](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ServiceNow/ServiceNowDocs/australia/markdown/australia/conversational-interfaces/virtual-agent/vad-reference.md)\n\n"}}