---
title: Assistant Designer utilities
description: You 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.
locale: en-US
canonical_url: https://www.servicenow.com/docs/r/australia/conversational-interfaces/virtual-agent/va-utilities.html
release: australia
product: Virtual Agent
classification: virtual-agent
topic_type: reference
last_updated: "2026-03-12"
reading_time_minutes: 2
breadcrumb: [Assistant Designer interface reference, Virtual Agent reference, Virtual Agent, Conversational Interfaces]
---

# Assistant Designer utilities

You 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.

The following utilities are available for use within a Virtual Agent topic.

-   **[Lookup utility](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ServiceNow/ServiceNowDocs/australia/markdown/australia/conversational-interfaces/virtual-agent/va-lookup.md)**  
Use the Lookup utility in a Virtual Agent topic to return a ServiceNow record query.
-   **[Script Action utility](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ServiceNow/ServiceNowDocs/australia/markdown/australia/conversational-interfaces/virtual-agent/va-script-action.md)**  
Use the Script Action utility in a Virtual Agent topic to run a script.
-   **[Record Action utility](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ServiceNow/ServiceNowDocs/australia/markdown/australia/conversational-interfaces/virtual-agent/va-record-action-util.md)**  
Use the Record Action utility in a Virtual Agent topic to create or update a ServiceNow record in a table.
-   **[Decision utility](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ServiceNow/ServiceNowDocs/australia/markdown/australia/conversational-interfaces/virtual-agent/va-decision.md)**  
Use the Decision utility in a Virtual Agent topic to add two or more branches that represent different paths in a conversation.
-   **[Topic Block utility](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ServiceNow/ServiceNowDocs/australia/markdown/australia/conversational-interfaces/virtual-agent/va-topic-blocks.md)**  
Use a Topic Block in a Virtual Agent conversation to perform a specific function or subflow that runs certain steps in a calling topic.
-   **[Action utility](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ServiceNow/ServiceNowDocs/australia/markdown/australia/conversational-interfaces/virtual-agent/va-action.md)**  
Use 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.
-   **[Custom control utility](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ServiceNow/ServiceNowDocs/australia/markdown/australia/conversational-interfaces/virtual-agent/va-custom-control-util.md)**  
Use 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.
-   **[AI Connector utility](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ServiceNow/ServiceNowDocs/australia/markdown/australia/conversational-interfaces/virtual-agent/vad-ai-connector-utility.md)**  
Use this utility to link generative AI to custom skills for added versatility in your Virtual Agent LLM \(large language model\) conversations.
-   **[Deflection utility](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ServiceNow/ServiceNowDocs/australia/markdown/australia/conversational-interfaces/virtual-agent/va-deflection.md)**  
Use the Deflection utility in Virtual Agent to track issues that Virtual Agent helped to resolve or actually resolved for a user.
-   **[Diagnostic Topic Executor utility](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ServiceNow/ServiceNowDocs/australia/markdown/australia/conversational-interfaces/virtual-agent/va-diagnostic-topic-executor.md)**  
Use the Diagnostic Topic Executor utility in Virtual Agent to ensure the proper function of components in a topic.
-   **[Geolocation utility](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ServiceNow/ServiceNowDocs/australia/markdown/australia/conversational-interfaces/virtual-agent/va-geolocation-utility.md)**  
Use 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.
-   **[Multi File Upload utility](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ServiceNow/ServiceNowDocs/australia/markdown/australia/conversational-interfaces/virtual-agent/va-multi-file-upload.md)**  
Use the Multi File Upload utility to upload more than one file at a time in a Virtual Agent conversation.
-   **[Pause utility](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ServiceNow/ServiceNowDocs/australia/markdown/australia/conversational-interfaces/virtual-agent/va-pause.md)**  
Use the Pause utility to create a temporary halt in your Virtual Agent conversations.

**Parent Topic:**[Assistant Designer interface reference](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ServiceNow/ServiceNowDocs/australia/markdown/australia/conversational-interfaces/virtual-agent/vad-reference.md)