Troubleshooting: Generate Resolution Plan – AI Agentic Workflow<!-- /*NS Branding Styles*/ --> .ns-kb-css-body-editor-container { p { font-size: 12pt; font-family: Lato; color: var(--now-color--text-primary, #000000); } span { font-size: 12pt; font-family: Lato; color: var(--now-color--text-primary, #000000); } h2 { font-size: 24pt; font-family: Lato; color: var(--now-color--text-primary, black); } h3 { font-size: 18pt; font-family: Lato; color: var(--now-color--text-primary, black); } h4 { font-size: 14pt; font-family: Lato; color: var(--now-color--text-primary, black); } a { font-size: 12pt; font-family: Lato; color: var(--now-color--link-primary, #00718F); } a:hover { font-size: 12pt; color: var(--now-color--link-primary, #024F69); } a:target { font-size: 12pt; color: var(--now-color--link-primary, #032D42); } a:visited { font-size: 12pt; color: var(--now-color--link-primary, #00718f); } ul { font-size: 12pt; font-family: Lato; } li { font-size: 12pt; font-family: Lato; } img { display: ; max-width: ; width: ; height: ; } } Workflow Overview Purpose The Generate Resolution Plan (GRP) workflow is an AI-powered agentic workflow that analyzes an open task record and produces a structured set of recommended resolution steps. The plan is derived from similar historical records, knowledge articles, and optionally web search results. Output is written to the record's Work Notes and Activity Stream. Key Components ComponentRoleNext Action Recommendation AI AgentCore orchestrator; runs the ReAct loop to gather data and generate the planRecord Management AI AgentRetrieves full record details before analysis beginsGet Record Details toolFetches incident/case field data; must be present and configured in the agentGet Similar Records toolSearches AI Search for closed records with similar symptomsGet Relevant Knowledge Articles toolQueries the knowledge base via AI Search; subject to document match threshold settingsWeb Search toolOptional fallback; disabled by defaultSave Activity Notes toolWrites the generated plan to Work Notes and Activity Stream; work note write-back is a side effect, not the primary functionRouterAgenticUtilsRoutes user intent to the correct agentic workflow in the NAP context Supported Trigger Methods Workspace UI Action — "Generate Resolution Plan" button on the Incident/Case form.Now Assist Panel (NAP) — Natural-language prompt such as generate resolution plan for INC0012345. Invokes workflows only; standalone agents cannot be triggered from NAP.Virtual Agent (VA) — Invokes AI agents directly, not workflows. Architecturally distinct from NAP.AI Agent Studio Test — For debugging and validation; requires Agent Studio access. Output Locations Resolution steps → Work Notes on the target recordAgent interaction → Activity StreamFull execution trace → sn_aia_execution_plan tableLLM call log → sys_generative_ai_log table 1. Generate Resolution Plan Button Does Not Trigger / Users Cannot Invoke GRP Environment Generate Resolution Plan · Incident / Case records · Workspace UI Action · Now Assist Panel · Platform AI Agents and Skills plugin (sn_uxc_gen_ai) Issue Clicking the "Generate Resolution Plan" button does nothing — the button greys out without a modal, a 500 Internal Server Error is returned from /api/sn_uxc_gen_ai/usecase/trigger, or the agent starts but stalls immediately after the first tool call. Non-admin users fail silently while admin users succeed. Initial Checks Verify the following before troubleshooting further: The user has the role sn_uxc_gen_ai.platform_ai_grp_workflow.The target record is in state Open or In Progress (state == "1" or "2"). The default UI action condition excludes resolved and closed records.The GRP use case is Active in AI Agent Studio.The plugin sn_uxc_gen_ai (Platform AI Agents and Skills) is installed and up to date.On v11.0+: the @servicenow/sn-ai-engagement-experience plugin is installed and not corrupted.On v11.0+: the system property com.glide.agentic_processes_view.enabled is set to true. Resolution Step 1 — Verify and assign required roles Navigate to sys_user.do for the affected user.Confirm the following roles are present as needed: RolePurposesn_uxc_gen_ai.platform_ai_grp_workflowMinimum required to trigger GRPsn_aia.viewerRequired by some versions of the UI action condition checkitil (or table-equivalent)Required in v11.0+ for agent-level record access Assign any missing roles and retest. Step 2 — Evaluate the UI action condition Open the UI action: filter sys_ui_action_list.do by table incident, name contains "Generate Resolution Plan."Navigate to System Definition → Scripts - Background.Impersonate the affected user and run the following script to evaluate the condition: gs.print(new UXCGenAIUtils().canReadOrExecuteAiUsecase());If the output is false, the user is missing a required role. Add the role identified in Step 1 and retest. Step 3 — Fix the API endpoint ACL (500 error) If the user has sn_uxc_gen_ai.platform_ai_grp_workflow but still gets a 500 error, the API endpoint ACL is likely set to snc_internal.Locate the ACL for /api/sn_uxc_gen_ai/usecase/trigger.Change the required role from snc_internal to sn_uxc_gen_ai.grp.This allows non-admin users to trigger the workflow without granting them access to AI Agent Studio. Step 4 — Add data access role at the agent level (v11.0+ / Security Denied error) If the agent starts but stalls with Security Denied Access to sn_uxc_gen_ai.agent_ai_read_record in sys_generative_ai_log: Navigate to AI Agent Studio → Generate Resolution Plan → Define security controls → Define data access.Add the itil role, or the appropriate role for the target table such as sn_customerservice.agent for Cases.Save and retest. Step 5 — Repair the engagement experience plugin (v11.0+) If the button fires no network request and no error appears in the browser console: Navigate to System Applications → All Available Applications.Search for sn-ai-engagement-experience.Repair the plugin.Enable the system property com.glide.agentic_processes_view.enabled.Retest. Note Role masking was introduced in Platform AI Agents and Skills v11.0.x. Configurations that worked on v10.x may silently break after upgrading without explicitly adding the data access role at the agent level. Always validate role configuration after a major plugin version upgrade. Important Validate all ACL and role changes in a non-production environment before applying in production. 2. "I Couldn't Come Up With a Plan" / Resolution Plan Is Empty or Generic Environment Generate Resolution Plan · Incident / Case records · AI Agent Studio · AI Search · Knowledge Base Issue The GRP workflow runs to completion but either writes the default fallback message — "I couldn't come up with a plan as I didn't have the required resources. Thank you for using Now Assist." — or produces a plan that is a direct copy-paste of similar record notes with no synthesis or actionable steps. Initial Checks Verify the following before troubleshooting further: An AI Search source exists for the target table such as incident or sn_customerservice_case.The knowledge base is published, active, and included in the search profile used by the "Get Relevant Knowledge Articles" tool.The target record has a meaningful Short Description of at least 5–10 words.Closed or resolved similar records have Resolution Notes or Work Notes populated.The document match threshold for the KB tool is not set above 0.7. Resolution Step 1 — Verify and configure AI Search sources Navigate to AI Search → Search Sources.Confirm an active search source exists for the target table.If missing, create a search source for the table and configure it to index Short Description, Description, Resolution Notes, and Work Notes.Navigate to ais_ingest_datasource_stats.do and confirm the source has indexed successfully. If stale or failed, trigger a manual re-index. Step 2 — Lower the document match threshold Open AI Agent Studio → Next Action Recommendation AI Agent → Tools → Get Relevant Knowledge Articles.Locate the Document Match Threshold setting.If set above 0.7, which is commonly misconfigured at 0.8, lower it to 0.5–0.65.Save and retest. Step 3 — Validate similar record data quality Open the execution plan for a failed run: sn_aia_execution_plan_list.do → filter by conversation sys_id.Expand the "Get Similar Records" tool step and review the records returned.Open 3–5 of those records and inspect their Resolution Notes and Work Notes.If all closed records share the same generic resolution such as "restarted the PC," the agent output reflects that. This is expected behavior, not a defect. Improving the source data is the only fix. Step 4 — Enable Web Search as a fallback Navigate to AI Agent Studio → Next Action Recommendation AI Agent → Tools.Locate the Web Search tool and confirm it is enabled.If missing or disabled, enable it and save.Retest with a record that previously received the fallback message. Step 5 — Improve record data quality Open the target record and confirm the Short Description is descriptive and at least 5–10 words.If vague or very short, update the record and retest.Consider enforcing a minimum Short Description length via UI policy for future records. Note When the agent writes the fallback message, it has completed successfully — this is not an error. The execution plan will show all tools as successful. The fix is always in data or search configuration, not the agent itself. If "Get Similar Records" shows SearchAPI: NullPointerException in the tool execution log, the root cause is a missing search source for the target table (Step 1 above), not a Search API defect. 3. Work Notes Not Updated Despite Logs Showing Success Environment Generate Resolution Plan · Incident / Case records · Save Activity Notes tool · sys_journal_field Issue The execution plan shows "Save activity notes: SUCCESS" and no errors appear in sys_generative_ai_log, but no work note is created on the target record. Initial Checks Verify the following before troubleshooting further: The execution plan confirms the "Save activity notes" tool reached a SUCCESS state.The target record is open and accessible.The agent execution context has write access to sys_journal_field for the target table. Resolution Step 1 — Confirm the defect pattern Open the execution plan: sn_aia_execution_plan_list.do → filter by conversation sys_id.Confirm "Save activity notes" shows SUCCESS.Navigate to the target record and confirm no work note entry exists.If both are true, this matches the confirmed platform defect. Proceed to Step 2. Step 2 — Check journal field ACL Navigate to sys_security_acl_list.do and search for ACLs on sys_journal_field for the target table.Confirm the agent execution context has write access.If access is missing, add the required role to the ACL and retest.Note: even after fixing the ACL, the tool may still not surface write failures as errors. This is the known defect behavior. Step 3 — Log a Problem record Log a Problem record against the sn_uxc_gen_ai application.Reference cases CSTASK1189763 and CSTASK1227992 as prior investigations.Escalate to Dev-UXC Agents & Skills. Important Do not attempt to patch the "Save activity notes" tool script directly. This tool is shared across four agentic workflows. A fix requires a full rewrite coordinated by the owning dev team and carries significant regression risk. 4. GRP Not Working in Now Assist Panel / Feedback Loop Missing Environment Generate Resolution Plan · Now Assist Panel (NAP) · Virtual Agent (VA) · Xanadu through Zurich releases Issue One or more of the following: Typing a GRP prompt in the Now Assist Panel returns a generic or unrelated response.The agent is not invoked at all from NAP.Iterative feedback and plan refinement are not available within the NAP session. Initial Checks Verify the following before troubleshooting further: The GRP use case is configured as a workflow, not a standalone agent.Under the workflow's Select a UI display setting, the Now Assist Panel option is checked.The instance is on the correct release for the expected behavior (see version notes below). Resolution Step 1 — Confirm workflow vs. agent configuration for NAP NAP and VA have different invocation capabilities: SurfaceCan invokeCannot invokeNow Assist Panel (NAP)WorkflowsStandalone agentsVirtual Agent (VA)Standalone agentsWorkflows Navigate to AI Agent Studio → Use Cases → Generate Resolution Plan.Confirm the use case type is Workflow, not AI Agent.If configured as a standalone agent, wrap it in a workflow or switch users to VA instead. Step 2 — Enable NAP display on the workflow Open the GRP workflow in AI Agent Studio.Navigate to Select a UI display, called "Define availability" in some releases.Confirm Now Assist Panel is checked.Save and retest. Step 3 — Resolve routing failure (generic NAP response) If NAP returns "Unfortunately, there is not enough information available to address this query completely": Ensure the com.glide.cs.genai plugin is up to date.Confirm additionalContext is being passed by RouterAgenticUtils. This is typically a plugin version issue.Retest using the explicit utterance: generate resolution plan for <RECORD_NUMBER>. Step 4 — Enable iterative feedback (Yokohama Patch 6+) Confirm the instance is on Yokohama Patch 6 or later. If below YP6, upgrade — there is no configuration workaround on earlier patches.Once on YP6+, invoke feedback using the utterance: generate resolution plan for <RECORD_NUMBER> and implement feedback as well Note On Xanadu Patch 8 and earlier, AI agents must be invoked via workflow only. Direct agent invocation from NAP is not supported before the Yokohama release. 5. AI Agent Status Card Not Visible / GRP Not Appearing in Service Operations Workspace Environment Generate Resolution Plan · Service Operations Workspace (SOW) · UI Builder · SRP Record page · Zurich and later Issue One or more of the following: The "AI Agent Status Card" component is not visible in UI Builder even for admin users.The "Generate Resolution Plan" declarative action does not appear on the SRP Record page in the Service Operations Workspace.A cloned or duplicated GRP workflow fails at tool steps that work on the OOTB version. Initial Checks Verify the following before troubleshooting further: The user has admin access and is not impersonating a restricted role.The SRP Record page variant is configured for the correct table such as incident.The "Generate resolution plan" declarative form action assignment is enabled.For cloned workflows: the constants file grp-constant-customization has been updated with the correct sys_ids. Resolution Step 1 — Make the AI Agent Status Card visible in UI Builder By default, this component is marked "ServiceNow Internal," hiding it from all non-maint users including admins. Navigate to sys_uib_toolbox_component.do?sys_id=84f5a8382a93aca27bbe728f363fe1b2.Uncheck the Internal Component checkbox.Save the record.Return to UI Builder — the component will now appear in the component panel. Refer to KB2647498 for full details. Step 2 — Configure the declarative action on the SRP Record page Open UI Builder → Service Operations Workspace → SRP Record page variant for the target table.Verify the page variant's table is set to incident or the correct target table. An incorrect sys_id here prevents the card from loading.Navigate to the Declarative Action Assignments for the page.Enable the Generate resolution plan declarative form action.Save and Publish the page.Open the workspace and verify the AI Agent Status Card appears on the record. Step 3 — Fix a cloned workflow Open the OOTB GRP workflow and locate the constants file grp-constant-customization.Compare sys_ids in the constants file against those in the cloned workflow. Update the clone where they differ.Verify the UXCGAFUtil script include matches the expected code for the installed plugin version. If stale or missing methods such as getSysId, repair the sn_uxc_gen_ai plugin.Retest the cloned workflow from AI Agent Studio → Test. Note Cloning OOTB workflows is not recommended without updating the constants file. Each custom workspace page must be configured individually — changes to the OOTB workspace page do not propagate to custom pages. The constants file dependency is being removed in a future release. Important Validate all UI Builder changes in a non-production environment before publishing to production. 6. Logs, Monitoring, and Debugging Log Locations Log TableNavigationPurposesys_generative_ai_logsys_generative_ai_log_list.doAll LLM API calls; agent-level errors and security denialssn_aia_execution_plansn_aia_execution_plan_list.doFull agent execution trace with step-by-step replaysn_aia_tools_executionsn_aia_tools_execution.doPer-tool input and output; linked from execution plansys_cs_conversationsys_cs_conversation.doConversation context for NAP and VA sessions Filtering Logs by Conversation Find the conversation sys_id from sys_cs_conversation.do for the failed interaction, then filter using: sys_generative_ai_log_list.do?sysparm_query=conversation%3D<CONVERSATION_SYS_ID> sn_aia_execution_plan_list.do?sysparm_query=conversation.sys_idSTARTSWITH<CONVERSATION_SYS_ID> Key Log Signals Log PatternMeaningNext StepSecurity Denied Access to sn_uxc_gen_ai.agent_ai_read_recordRole masking; execution context cannot read the recordAdd itil to agent Define data access — Section 1, Step 4SearchAPI: NullPointerExceptionNo search source for the target tableConfigure AI Search source — Section 2, Step 1Zero results from KB tool, no errorThreshold too high or KB not indexedLower threshold; verify source — Section 2, Step 2additionalContext not being passedNAP router cannot match intent to GRP workflowCheck NAP display setting and plugin — Section 4, Step 3Error in evaluating script as mapStale script include codeRepair sn_uxc_gen_ai pluginError deserializing JSON stringPlugin version mismatch or corrupt tool responseAlign and repair all three core pluginsFailed to get skill config for skillConfigIdGRP skill not activatedActivate the skill in Now Assist AdminDefault fallback message in work noteAgent completed with no usable dataSection 2 — search and data qualitySave activity notes SUCCESS with no work noteKnown write-back defectLog Problem record and escalate — Section 3Get Record Details returns nullRole masking; agent cannot read the recordAdd data access role at agent level — Section 1, Step 4 Agent Failure vs. Data Failure Agent failure — An error is present in sys_generative_ai_log or the execution plan; a tool call did not complete; security denial or deserialization error logged; execution halts mid-flow with no output written to Work Notes. Data failure — All tools complete successfully; no errors in logs; the default fallback message is written to Work Notes. The agent ran correctly but had no usable inputs. Fix through data quality improvements, threshold tuning, or enabling web search. 7. Known Limitations NAP invokes workflows only. Standalone agents require Virtual Agent.Feedback and iterative refinement require Yokohama Patch 6 or later. Earlier versions run in a single pass.Work note write-back is not guaranteed. Confirmed platform defect with a pending fix.AI Agent Status Card is hidden from admins by default. The Internal Component flag must be manually unchecked — refer to KB2647498.Cloning OOTB workflows requires constants file updates. Dependency being removed in a future release.Web Search is disabled by default. Must be explicitly enabled.Records without Resolution Notes contribute nothing to the generated plan.Non-English record content may produce empty search results.Very short descriptions of one or two words reliably trigger the fallback message. This is expected behavior.Ready for Review card persists for 5 days before auto-completing. Manual completion planned for a future release.Role masking changed in v11.0.x. Configurations working on v10.x may break silently after upgrade without adding the data access role at the agent level. 8. Best Practices Data and Record Hygiene Ensure all closed incidents and cases have Resolution Notes populated before deploying GRP.Enforce meaningful Short Descriptions of at least 5–10 words at record creation via UI policy or mandatory field. Knowledge Base Keep KB articles published and active. Draft or retired articles are not indexed.Write resolution-oriented content — what to do, not just what the symptom is.Avoid duplicating articles. Repeated content produces repetitive resolution steps. AI Search Configure a dedicated search source for each table used with GRP.Set the document match threshold to 0.5–0.65 for initial deployment.Re-index after bulk record imports or major KB updates.Validate search results via the AI Search test interface before go-live. Plugins and Versions Keep sn_generative_ai, sn_aia, and sn_uxc_gen_ai aligned at current versions.Repair plugins after every upgrade to ensure script includes are current.Test GRP in sub-production before upgrading production. Roles Assign sn_uxc_gen_ai.platform_ai_grp_workflow to all users who need to trigger GRP.In v11.0+, add the required data access role under Agent → Define security controls → Define data access.Audit the API endpoint ACL to avoid unnecessarily granting sn_aia.viewer. Testing Always test GRP in AI Agent Studio → Test before enabling on workspace or NAP.Test with three record types: rich similar records, KB-only match, and no data.Test as a non-admin user with the minimum required role to catch ACL issues early.Re-run this cycle after every plugin repair or version upgrade.