--- title: Exploring Enterprise Architecture query agent description: The Enterprise Architecture query agent answers natural language questions about your enterprise architecture portfolio, returning AI-generated answers grounded into their Enterprise Architecture data. locale: en-US canonical_url: https://www.servicenow.com/docs/r/australia/application-portfolio-management/ea-qna-overview.html release: australia topic_type: concept last_updated: "2026-05-26" reading_time_minutes: 8 breadcrumb: [Exploring Enterprise Architecture Workspace, Enterprise Architecture Workspace, Enterprise Architecture] --- # Exploring Enterprise Architecture query agent The Enterprise Architecture query agent answers natural language questions about your enterprise architecture portfolio, returning AI-generated answers grounded into their Enterprise Architecture data. \[Omitted image "ea-qna.png"\] Alt text: Enterprise Architecture Workspace home page with the ServiceNow Otto panel open, displaying a prompt to enter a natural language question about enterprise architecture. **Note:** Depending on your license, you will have access to certain application features, generative AI skills, agentic workflows, and AI agents. For more information, see [ServiceNow product tiers](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ServiceNow/ServiceNowDocs/australia/markdown/intelligent-experiences/ai-native-sku-overview.md). **Important:** This generative AI skill is turned on by default. The skill will be automatically available to appropriate role users for the application. For more information, see [AI agents, skills, and agentic workflows on by default](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ServiceNow/ServiceNowDocs/australia/markdown/intelligent-experiences/now-assist-skills-on-by-default.md). The Enterprise Architecture Explorer Query Agent is a ServiceNow Otto agent for Enterprise Architecture. It lets architects and portfolio managers query their EA data using natural language, without navigating dashboards or building reports manually. The agent interprets the structure of your EA portfolio, including business applications, capabilities, value streams, technology standards \(TRM\), and information objects. It returns structured answers based on your data. When processing a question, the agent searches for relevant data and actions before generating a response. After answering, the agent may display suggestions for related questions to help you explore further. Responses are generated by the large language model \(LLM\) that your organization has subscribed to on the ServiceNow® platform. The responses may also differ depending on the selected LLM. **Note:** Starting with the September 2026 release, Gemma 4 joins our growing portfolio of open-weight models available through Now LLM Service. We're committed to bringing you the latest industry advancements while maintaining sovereignty-focused options, all hosted and governed by ServiceNow with the infrastructure and data protections you rely on today. Older models will remain available for existing published AI skills, agents, and agentic workflows, but will no longer be available for new development or configuration. For details, see the [KB3066214: ServiceNow Otto Model Upgrades](https://support.servicenow.com/kb?id=kb_article_view&sysparm_article=KB3066214) article in the Now Support Knowledge Base. You can ask questions about individual records, apply multiple filter conditions, compare trends across fiscal periods, or model impact scenarios such as decommissioning an application. **Note:** The Enterprise Architecture query agent is read-only. It retrieves and analyzes your EA data but does not create, modify, or delete any records in your instance. When a response references a specific record, such as a business application or a capability, the record name appears as linked text. Select the linked text to navigate directly to that record in Enterprise Architecture Workspace. ## What you can ask about The Enterprise Architecture Explorer Query Agent answers questions across the following EA data domains:
Domain Topics covered Example queries
Business applications Ownership, lifecycle phase, application category, CSAT and technical risk scores, retirement candidates - Get the owner of a business application - Which applications are candidates for retirement?
Business capabilities Hierarchy, scores, capability-to-application coverage What are the top-level capabilities?
App capability relationships Applications supporting a capability, applications with no capability assignments - List business apps supported by multiple capabilities - Which business applications aren't assigned to capabilities?
Trends Score comparisons for one or more applications Compare the quarterly trends for two business applications
TRM and technology Software versions, lifecycle phase - List all versions of a specific software - What is the lifecycle phase of an application?
Information objects Producing and consuming applications, orphaned objects Which information objects have no producing or consuming applications?
Impact analysis Capability and information object impact of decommissioning an application If a business application is decommissioned, which capabilities and information objects are impacted?
Infrastructure impact analysis Business capabilities, business applications, and application services affected by an infrastructure CI such as a database, database instance, server, or storage device. Includes the infrastructure that an entity depends on. - Which business capabilities are impacted if a specific database fails? - Which entities are affected by a failure of a specific server or storage device? - Which servers and databases support a business application?
Technical debt Applications flagged for technical debt Can you share a list of technical debts?
## Infrastructure impact analysis You can ask the Enterprise Architecture query agent about the impact of an infrastructure configuration item \(CI\), such as a database, database instance, server, or storage device. The agent follows the CMDB relationships from the CI up through the application services and business applications that depend on it. It then traces those applications to the business capabilities they support. You can also ask what infrastructure a named application service or business application depends on. Infrastructure impact responses work as follows: - If the CI name that you enter is partial or spaced differently from the stored name, the agent searches for similar names. If more than one CI matches, the agent lists the matching CIs with their class so that you can specify the correct one. - If a CI supports multiple application services or business applications, the response includes every impacted record, not only the first match. - The response can include the path from the CI to each impacted record, with the relationship type at each step, so that you can validate the result. - If the CI isn't related to any application service or business application, or the chain stops before the requested entity type, the response names the missing relationship. - If the CI has many relationships, the response indicates that the results may be partial. ## Important information to derive the best results To get the most accurate responses from the agent, remember the following: - The agent works best for questions involving one or two relationship types. For queries with three or more relationships, it's recommended to check the results against your source records for completeness. Example of a query with three or more relationships, List all child capabilities, their providing applications, the information objects those applications use, and the services they consume. - Large-scale aggregations — For counts and percentages across large data sets, treat results as indicative figures. For precise values, verify against your source records. - The agent queries your enterprise architecture data using the Knowledge Graph, which is updated through scheduled jobs. If new relationship types, tables, or custom fields are added to your instance, the Knowledge Graph does a scheduled refresh to generate updated descriptions. Some specialized or less common data points may not be fully represented yet, which could lead to partial responses for certain queries. - For questions about a specific record, include the record name or identifier in your query to help the agent return the most relevant response. For example, Is Order Management a leaf capability? ## Access The Enterprise Architecture query agent is available through the ServiceNow Otto panel across Enterprise Architecture Workspace. Select the ServiceNow Otto icon to open the panel and start a conversation with the agent directly. \[Omitted image "ea-qna-icons.png"\] Alt text: The Enterprise Architecture Workspace home page with the ServiceNow Otto icon and Ask Otto icons highlighted. ## ServiceNow Knowledge Graph dependency The Enterprise Architecture query agent uses the ServiceNow Knowledge Graph to answer questions about CMDB relationships and infrastructure data. An administrator must enable the required Knowledge Graph system properties before the agent can access this data. After the system properties are enabled, Knowledge Graph runs scheduled jobs to process your CMDB data. The time required for initial processing varies by the volume of data in your instance and may take several days or longer. During this period, responses that rely on CMDB relationship data may be incomplete. Results improve progressively as processing continues. If the Knowledge Graph data processing is in progress, the Knowledge Graph Designer displays a notification. This means that the scheduled jobs required to set up the enterprise graph are still running. The Enterprise Architecture query agent is not available until this process is complete and the notification is no longer displayed. To speed up the process, you can import enterprise graph descriptions from a sub-production instance where setup has already completed. For more information, see [Enterprise Graph initial setup in production instance](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ServiceNow/ServiceNowDocs/australia/markdown/intelligent-experiences/initial-setup-for-enterprise-graph-schema.md). \[Omitted image "ea-qna-kg-setup-banner.png"\] Alt text: Knowledge Graph Designer page showing a setup-in-progress notification banner indicating the Enterprise Graph is not yet available for queries. For enable the Knowledge Graph system properties, see [Enable Knowledge Graph system properties for the Enterprise Architecture query agent](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ServiceNow/ServiceNowDocs/australia/markdown/australia/application-portfolio-management/set-kg-system-properties-ea-qna.md). All data displayed by the Enterprise Architecture query agent is sourced directly from the ServiceNow® Knowledge Graph, which is built from and continuously updated by your instance's CMDB data. When you submit a question, the agent queries the Knowledge Graph to identify relevant records, relationships, and attributes before generating a response. This means the agent does not draw on general knowledge or external sources. Every answer is grounded in the data that exists in your instance — such as CI relationships, application ownership, capability mappings, and lifecycle information stored in your CMDB. If a record does not exist in your CMDB, the agent will not surface it. **Note:** The accuracy and completeness of the agent's responses depend on the quality and completeness of your CMDB data. Keeping your CMDB up to date ensures the most reliable answers. For information on the ServiceNow Knowledge Graph see the links. - [Exploring Knowledge Graph](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ServiceNow/ServiceNowDocs/australia/markdown/intelligent-experiences/exploring-knowledge-graph.md) - [Setting up Enterprise graph in sub-production instance](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ServiceNow/ServiceNowDocs/australia/markdown/intelligent-experiences/setting-up-global-graph-in-production-instance.md) - [Configuration item relationships and Knowledge Graph](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ServiceNow/ServiceNowDocs/australia/markdown/intelligent-experiences/ci-relationships-knowledge-graph.md) **Parent Topic:**[Exploring Enterprise Architecture Workspace](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ServiceNow/ServiceNowDocs/australia/markdown/australia/application-portfolio-management/explore-eaw.md) **Related topics** [Working with Enterprise Architecture query agent](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ServiceNow/ServiceNowDocs/australia/markdown/australia/application-portfolio-management/ea-qna-use.md) [Working with AI agent agentic workflow in ServiceNow Otto for Enterprise Architecture \(EA\)](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ServiceNow/ServiceNowDocs/australia/markdown/australia/application-portfolio-management/using-na-ea-ai-agents.md) [Enable Knowledge Graph system properties for the Enterprise Architecture query agent](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ServiceNow/ServiceNowDocs/australia/markdown/australia/application-portfolio-management/set-kg-system-properties-ea-qna.md) [Activate the ServiceNow Otto panel standard chat](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ServiceNow/ServiceNowDocs/australia/markdown/intelligent-experiences/activate-now-assist-panel.md) [Access Enterprise Architecture data using MCP tools](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ServiceNow/ServiceNowDocs/australia/markdown/australia/application-portfolio-management/access-ea-data-using-mcp-tools.md)