Konverso Kbot for Snow virtual agent can act as a generic federated search engine, which means it can use the search capabilities of multiple items and combine search results from a number of data sources, including ServiceNow knowledge bases. This page describes how to set up the knowledge base search.

Key points

In a standard Snow setup, the Konverso Kbot for Snow virtual agent search works out of the box, if the portal’s sys_id is configured in Konverso Kbot for Snow virtual agent.

Setup

Using the default knowledge base

By default, Konverso Kbot for Snow virtual agent uses the knowledge base that is configured in your ServiceNow portal. You do not need to configure anything - it works out of the box.

Using another knowledge base

Retrieve the knowledge base sys_id

1. Open the Snow back office and navigate to the list of the kb_knowledge_base instances.

2. Find the instance of interest, right-click it and copy its sys_id.

Open

Configure the KB in Kbot

1. In Konverso Kbot for Snow virtual agent, go to Development > Advanced ServiceNow configuration.

2. Specify the copied sys_id in the corresponding field.

3. Click Apply and Save at the bottom of the page.

Other knowledge base settings

You can configure the knowledge base connector in Konverso Kbot for Snow virtual agent.

1. Go to Content > Knowledge Bases > Configuration.

2. Click ServiceNow KB to start editing.

Open

Article identification

Konverso Kbot for Snow virtual agent, just like ServiceNow, uses a “number” to identify an article. This number is a string in the following format: KB1234. In some cases a number is not accessible, so you can use an alternative identifier, such as sys_id.

Choose either a number or sys_id as the article identifier.

Customizing snippets

Kbot allows you to customize the search: you can specify whether your virtual agent must look for information in an article's title, snippet, or in both title and snippet. Also it is possible to fine-tune the search results: for example, instead of snippet content you can display the content from another field.

To customize the field that is used for displaying snippets, set the variable snow_kb_knowledge_snippet. As a value, type the name of the ServiceNow knowledge base field, the content of which must be displayed instead of the article’s snippet.

Testing

Managing permissions

To test the search functionality, you need a user with the set of proper permissions. To manage them:

1. In Konverso Kbot for Snow virtual agent, go to Configuration > Users and roles > Roles.

2. Edit the permissions and click Save.

Permissions

Permissions required for the #rawsearch command:

Permissions required for the Content > Knowledge bases > Sandbox report:

Testing the search functionality

After the search is configured, we recommend using the following capabilities to test the search functionality:

The #rawsearch command line

1. Identify one word that you are sure can be used as a valid search term in your portal or selected knowledge base and type it in the chat:

2. When the bot asks you to select a knowledge base, select ServiceNow KB.

The Sandbox report

1. Identify one word that you are sure can be used as a valid search term in your portal or selected knowledge base.

2. Go to Content > Knowledge bases > Sandbox report.

3. Select the appropriate knowledge base.

Troubleshooting

In case you find any problems with the search functionality, study the most common issues listed below.

Wrong configuration

Search might not work in case a knowledge base is not properly configured. To check if there are any configuration issues, go to DevOps > Errors > Configuration errors.