\(Legacy\) Activating Virtual Agent NLU and getting started

---
title: \(Legacy\) Activating Virtual Agent NLU and getting started
description: Using the Conversational Interfaces console, you can quickly add Virtual Agent to a portal, configure branding, personalize the greeting, and begin to use pre-built ITSM Virtual Agent conversations.
locale: en-US
canonical_url: https://www.servicenow.com/docs/r/conversational-interfaces/va-quick-start.html
release: brazil
topic_type: concept
last_updated: "2026-09-10"
reading_time_minutes: 4
keywords: [Virtual Agent, Conversational Interfaces, Now Assist, quick start]
breadcrumb: [\(Legacy\) Virtual Agent for NLU, Conversational Interfaces]
---

# \(Legacy\) Activating Virtual Agent NLU and getting started

Using the Conversational Interfaces console, you can quickly add Virtual Agent to a portal, configure branding, personalize the greeting, and begin to use pre-built ITSM Virtual Agent conversations.

Starting with the Brazil release, Virtual Agent for NLU and Virtual Agent Lite are being prepared for future deprecation. It will be hidden and no longer activated on new instances but will continue to be supported. For details, see the [Deprecation Process \[KB0867184\]](https://support.servicenow.com/kb_view.do?sysparm_article=KB0867184) article in the Now Support Knowledge Base. For migration guidance, see [KB3159779: Virtual Agent NLU and Keyword Feature Deprecation Migration Guide](https://support.servicenow.com/kb?id=kb_article_view&sysparm_article=KB3159779).

## Before you begin

If you have a license for Virtual Agent, the following sections will help you get started and create conversations for your organization quickly.

If you do not have a license for Virtual Agent, you can try Virtual Agent Lite, which comes preinstalled. For information about getting started with Virtual Agent Lite, see [\(Legacy\) Quick start for Virtual Agent Lite](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ServiceNow/ServiceNowDocs/brazil/markdown/conversational-interfaces/quick-start-va-lite.md).

## Get started with Virtual Agent

1.  [Activate Virtual Agent for NLU](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ServiceNow/ServiceNowDocs/brazil/markdown/conversational-interfaces/activate-virtual-agent.md)

    You can activate the Glide Virtual Agent plugin \(com.glide.cs.chatbot\) if you have the admin role. This plugin automatically activates other necessary plugins if they are not already active.

2.  [Install NLU conversational plugins](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ServiceNow/ServiceNowDocs/brazil/markdown/conversational-interfaces/activate-va-plugins.md)

    Install predefined conversations for your business applications, NLU tools, and the Conversational Analytics dashboard.

3.  [Add Agent Chat to a portal](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ServiceNow/ServiceNowDocs/brazil/markdown/conversational-interfaces/agent-chat/ac-configure-bot-portal.md)

    Add a chat entry to the menu of your web portal. You can add Virtual Agent to additional portals later.

    For conversations based on generative AI large language models \(LLMs\), you can quickly set up Now Assist in Virtual Agent and add it to a portal. For information about adding Now Assist in Virtual Agent to a portal, see [Configure assistants overview](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ServiceNow/ServiceNowDocs/brazil/markdown/conversational-interfaces/virtual-agent/configure-now-assist-va.md).

4.  [Set up your Virtual Agent bot's branding](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ServiceNow/ServiceNowDocs/brazil/markdown/conversational-interfaces/ac-configure-chat-branding.md)

    Change the way Virtual Agent looks to the end user. You can change the colors, add your company logo, and change the icon that represents your bot.

5.  [Get recommended topics for your instance](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ServiceNow/ServiceNowDocs/brazil/markdown/conversational-interfaces/getting-started-topic-recommendations.md)

    Use the Topic Recommendations app to identify prebuilt Virtual Agent topics that can be quickly implemented in your organization.


## Explore further

As you work with Virtual Agent, you can expand its capabilities by implementing other features. For example, you can do the following:

-   [Set up chat experiences for Virtual Agent NLU users](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ServiceNow/ServiceNowDocs/brazil/markdown/conversational-interfaces/va-conversation-settings-nlu.md)
-   [Create new Virtual Agent NLU topics](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ServiceNow/ServiceNowDocs/brazil/markdown/conversational-interfaces/create-virtual-agent-topic-nlu.md)
-   [Change Virtual Agent and Agent Chat system messages](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ServiceNow/ServiceNowDocs/brazil/markdown/conversational-interfaces/ac-change-system-messages.md)
-   [Enable AI Search](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ServiceNow/ServiceNowDocs/brazil/markdown/conversational-interfaces/va-ai-search.md)
-   [Implement Natural Language Understanding \(NLU\)](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ServiceNow/ServiceNowDocs/brazil/markdown/conversational-interfaces/implement-nlu-va.md)
-   [Use Virtual Agent with a live agent](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ServiceNow/ServiceNowDocs/brazil/markdown/conversational-interfaces/virtual-agent/using-va-agent-chat.md)
-   [Use language detection and dynamic machine translation in Virtual Agent](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ServiceNow/ServiceNowDocs/brazil/markdown/conversational-interfaces/multi-language-options-va.md)
-   [Localize Virtual Agent topics](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ServiceNow/ServiceNowDocs/brazil/markdown/conversational-interfaces/localize-va-topic.md)