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Release: Australia · Updated: 2026-03-12 · Official documentation · View source

Default input and output rich controls for a custom chat integration

Input and output rich controls must be mapped to your custom chat integration in the Custom Adapter Configurations [sys_cs_custom_adapter_config] table. If a rich control is missing an outbound transformer implementation, a response is not served to the end user and that user may get an unsatisfactory chat experience.

The following default rich controls map to input and output rich controls. The uiType parameter refers to a topic control used to build conversations in Virtual Agent Designer.

Rich controlDescription
ActionRichControl

This component handles the different events and actions that occur in a conversation. Some actions may not apply to all channels. For example, StartSpinnerActionMsg is ignored in SMS.ServiceNow® Virtual Agent produces the following types of action messages through this framework. The custom chat interface only recognizes certain action message types.

  • SeparatorActionMsg \|\|actionMsg instanceof
  • SystemActionMsg \|\|actionMsg instanceof
  • TopicFinishedActionMsg \|\|actionMsg instanceof
  • SwitchToVirtualAgentActionMsg \|\|actionMsg instanceof
  • SwitchConversationActionMsg \|\|actionMsg instanceof
  • ChatSubHeaderActionMsg \|\|actionMsg instanceof
  • StartSpinnerActionMsg \|\|actionMsg instanceof EndSpinnerActionMsg
  • SubscribetoSupportQueue \|\|actionMsg instanceof
  • SubscribeToChatPresence \|\|actionMsg instanceof
  • SwitchToLiveAgentActionMsg \|\|actionMsg instanceof

ActionRichControl wraps these messages inside the actionMsg element. So, a single outbound transformer for ActionRichControl can handle all of these messages. There is no need for an inbound transformer for this component.

agentInfo parameter

If the rich control is sent from a live agent, then the agentInfo attribute is added to the rich control.Example:

{
     uiType: "someType",
     group: "someGroup"
     agentInfo: { sentFromAgent: true }  // please note that this object may contain more info in subsequent releases.
     ...
} 
DefaultPicker

Maps to File Picker, Topic Picker, and Boolean controls.Example:

{
    uiType: "Picker/TopicPicker/Boolean",
    group: "DefaultPicker",  
    nluTextEnabled: true/false,
    promptMsg: "", // optional (needed for TopicPicker)
    label: "The question for the list",   // always filled
    itemType: "Picture/List"  // needed to user key to expect picture attached
    options: [
        {
            label: "display label prompt",
            value: "the value required to satisfy the question",
            description: "a description of value_1 item"
        attachment: "www.foo",
            enabled: true/false
        }, 
    ...
    ]
}

The optional order parameter lets you specify the order in which promoted topics should display. For example:

"options": [ { label: "Check IT Ticket Status", value: "55720b465bf0201024f11fc40a81c72d", order: 100, enabled: true }, { label: "Live Agent Support", value: "ce2ee85053130010cf8cddeeff7b12bf", order: 200, enabled: true }, { label: "Open IT Ticket 2", value: "2a46cffbc7602010v088bbf603c260a7", order: 300, enabled: true } ]

DefaultTextMaps to Input Text, Output Text, and File Upload controls.Example:
{
    uiType: "InputText/OutputText/FileUpload/Picture",
    group: "DefaultText", 
    required: true/false,
    nluTextEnabled: true/false,
    itemType: "file/image/inputtext/outputtext",
    maskType: "SECURE/SENSITIVE/NONE"  // null except for InputText/OutputText
    label: "The Question?"        
}
DefaultDateMaps to Date and Time controls.
{
    uiType: "Date/DateTime/Time",
    group: "DefaultDate", 
    required: true/false,
    nluTextEnabled: true/false,   
    label: "The Question?"

}
DefaultOutputLinkMaps to link response controls.Example:
{
    uiType: "OutputLink",
    group: "DefaultOutputLink",
    label: "link label",
    header: "link header",
    type: "link",
    value: {
        action: "www.foo",
    }   
}

}
DefaultOutputImageMaps to image response controls.Example:
{
    uiType: "OutputImage",
    group: "DefaultOutputImage",
    value: "www.foo"
}
DefaultOutputCardMaps to card response controls.Example:
{
    uiType: "OutputCard",
    group: "DefaultOutputCard",
    templateName: "Card",
    data: "some json data string"
}
DefaultOutputHtmlMaps to HTML response controls.Example:
{
    uiType: "OutputHtml",
    group: "DefaultOutputHtml",
    style: "inline",
    height: 100,
    width: 100,
    value: "<div>html</div>"
}
DefaultOutputTableMaps to table response controls.Example:
{
    uiType: "OutputTable",
    group: "DefaultOutputTable",
    label: "Table Title",
    headers: ["Column 1", "Column 2"],
    navigationBtnLabel: "See next",
    data: [
        ["foo1", "foo2"],
        ["bar1", "bar2"]
    ]
}
DefaultGroupedPartsOutputControlMaps to multi-response controls.Example:
{
    uiType: "GroupedPartsOutputControl",
    group: "DefaultGroupedPartsOutputControl"
    groupPartType: "Link",
    header: "header message",
    values: [
    {
        action: "www.foo",
        description: "description",
        label: "link_1 label",
        context: "ITSM"
    },
    ...
    ]
}
DefaultMultiPartOutputMaps to multi-response controls.Example:
{
    uiType: "MultiPartOutput",
    group: "DefaultMultiPartOutput"
    navigationBtnLabel: "Go next",
    content: {
        uiType: "OutputHtml",
        style: "inline",
        type: "html",
        height: 100,
        width: 100,
        value: "<div>html</div>"
     }
}
DefaultCustomControlMaps to custom controls.Example:
{
    uiType: "CustomControl",
    group: "DefaultCustomControl",
    name: "The name of the Custom Control (sys_cs_custom_control.name)",
    required: true/false,
    uxComponentDefinitionSysId: "seismicComponentId" // or null if not
    isInput: true/false, // whether to wait for a response value or if just output
    serializedControlData: "User defined JSON from generateControlData function";    
}

Parent Topic:Creating conversational custom chat integrations in Virtual Agent