Why this article?

During my recent ServiceNow AI Implemntation training sessions , I received several questions from participants who had successfully created AI agents and their associated skills to address specific use cases, but could not find those agents in the Now Assist panel for testing.

A common assumption is that once an AI agent is configured, tested, published, and activated in AI Agent Studio , it will automatically become available in the Now Assist panel. However, there is an additional step involved.

The AI agent needs to be promoted through the appropriate assistant in Assistant Designer before it can be surfaced in the Now Assist panel for users who meet the applicable access criteria.

This article provides a quick step-by-step guide to:

• Identify the Now Assist Panel – Platform assistant.
• Locate the AI agents available for promotion.
• Promote an AI agent so that it can be surfaced in the Now Assist panel.
• Verify the agent from the user experience.
• Troubleshoot common reasons why an agent may still not appear or may not be usable.

The goal is to help AI Agent implementers quickly move from “My agent is built and published” to “My agent is available in Now Assist and ready to test.”

Summary

Creating, testing, and publishing an AI agent in AI Agent Studio does not automatically make the agent visible in the Now Assist panel.

To make an active AI agent available to users through the Now Assist panel, you must promote the agent in the Now Assist Panel – Platform assistant in Assistant Designer.

Estimated completion time: 2–3 minutes

Audience

• ServiceNow administrators
• AI implementers

Prerequisites

Before you begin, confirm that:

• You have the virtual _ agent_admin role or equivalent administrative access (sn_aia.admin).
• The required Now Assist product and applicable conversational experience are installed and enabled.
• The AI agent is configured, tested, published, and active in AI Agent Studio.
• The AI agent is enabled for display in the Now Assist panel.
• You have access to Assistant Designer.

Procedure

1. Open Assistant Designer

• In the All menu, navigate to Conversational Interface.
• Select Assistants module.

      

 

1. Open the Now Assist panel assistant

• Locate the Now Assist Panel – Platform assistant in your instance.
• Select Edit.

             

 

1. Open the AI agents list

• In the assistant configuration, select the information source configuration tab.
• Select AI agents from the available asset types.

          

 

1. Promote the AI agent

• Locate the AI agent that you want users to access from the Now Assist panel.
• Select the agent row or its actions menu.
• Select Promoted or Promote , depending on your ServiceNow release and interface.
• Confirm that the AI agent is also Active.
• Save the configuration, if prompted.

      

Important: An AI agent can be successfully created, tested, and published in AI Agent Studio and still not appear in the Now Assist panel. The agent must also be promoted in the appropriate Assistant Designer configuration.

1. Verify the AI agent in the Now Assist panel

Open the Now Assist panel as a user who meets the applicable access requirements.

Confirm that the promoted AI agent is available.

• Select the AI agent.
• Start a test interaction.
• Verify that the agent responds as expected.

             

 

If the agent is not visible, see the Troubleshooting section.

Expected result

The promoted AI agent appears in the Now Assist panel and can be used by authorized users.

You should be able to:

• See the agent among the available or promoted conversational assets.
• Select the agent.
• Start and complete a test interaction.

Troubleshooting

The AI agent does not appear in the Now Assist panel

Check the following:

• Confirm that the AI agent is published and active in AI Agent Studio.
• Confirm that display of the agent in the Now Assist panel is enabled.
• Verify that the agent is marked as Promoted in the correct assistant.
• Check the user's roles, audience criteria, and other access restrictions.
• Confirm that the Now Assist panel is enabled for the target conversational experience.
• After configuration changes, sign out and sign back in or test in a fresh browser session.

The AI agent appears but cannot be used

Check the following:

• Verify the AI agent configuration, tools, skills, and agentic workflow dependencies.
• Retest the agent in AI Agent Studio and review any reported errors.
• Confirm that the required plugins, licenses, and model provider are available and configured in the instance.
• Verify that the user has the required access to the agent and its dependent components.

Key takeaway

Publishing an AI agent does not necessarily make it visible in the Now Assist panel.

If an agent has been created and published in AI Agent Studio but is not appearing in the Now Assist panel, verify that it has been promoted through the Now Assist Panel – Platform assistant in Assistant Designer , in addition to checking activation and user access.

Additional information

For current interface details, role requirements, and AI agent configuration options, see the following ServiceNow product documentation:

• Managing AI agents in Assistant Designer
• AI Agent Studio

Similar steps can be followed to promote an AI skill and make it visible in the Now Assist panel.