Event handler generation

  • Release version: Australia
  • Updated June 16, 2026
  • 3 minutes to read
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    Summary of Event handler generation

    Now Assist event handler generation in UI Builder enables ServiceNow customers to configure event handlers for UI components using natural language. This feature eliminates the need for manual setup of complex routing parameters and binding expressions, streamlining how components respond to user interactions such as button clicks or reference link selections. By describing the desired behavior in plain language, Now Assist automatically interprets the prompt, identifies destinations, maps parameters, and generates a full configuration for review and editing before application.

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    Key Features

    • Natural language input: Replace manual form-filling with intuitive plain language prompts, significantly accelerating event handler setup.
    • Automatic complexity reduction: Now Assist interprets intent and populates routing parameters, destination pages, and bindings without manual effort.
    • Intelligent parameter binding: Supports dynamic binding from state parameters or event payloads, enabling context-aware navigation without writing binding expressions.
    • Contextual sample prompts: Provides relevant prompt examples based on current pages and components to help users start quickly.
    • Human review: Generated configurations are presented as read-only previews, allowing developers to accept, edit, or reject before committing changes.

    How It Works

    When adding an event handler in UI Builder, users enter a natural language description of the desired behavior in the Now Assist panel. Now Assist processes the input against the current experience's pages, parameters, and event payloads to generate a configuration preview. Users review destination targets, parameter bindings, and triggers, and can then accept and edit or reject the configuration. Accepted configurations are applied and can be further modified through standard form controls.

    Supported Event Handlers

    • Open page or URL: Navigate to an internal page or external URL with support for dynamic or static parameter binding, including opening in a new tab.
    • Open and close modal dialog: Open or close modal dialogs within the experience based on descriptive conditions.
    • Viewport load requested: Trigger the loading of a specific viewport upon a defined event.

    Event Payloads and Parameter Binding

    For events that emit payloads (data values from the source component), Now Assist can automatically bind destination parameters to payload fields, enabling dynamic navigation. For example, clicking a reference link in a list component dispatches multiple payload fields that Now Assist maps to a record page’s parameters. When no payload is available, parameter binding relies on state parameters or static values.

    Now Assist event handler generation enables you to configure event handlers for UI components using natural language, eliminating the need for manual configuration of complex routing parameters and binding expressions.

    In UI Builder, event handlers define how a component responds to user interactions, such as a button select or a reference link selection. Configuring these handlers manually requires knowledge of specific parameters, page routing structures, and binding syntax — all of which can be time-consuming and error-prone, particularly for developers who are new to the platform.

    With Now Assist event handler generation, you describe the desired behavior in plain language. Now Assist interprets the prompt, identifies the correct destination page or URL, maps any required parameters, and generates a complete configuration. You review the result before applying it, and you can edit any field using the standard form controls before saving.

    Benefits

    Now Assist event handler generation provides the following benefits:

    Faster configuration
    Natural language input replaces manual form-filling, significantly reducing the time needed to set up event handlers.
    Reduced complexity
    Now Assist interprets intent and populates routing parameters, destination pages, and bindings automatically.
    Intelligent parameter binding
    Now Assist can bind page parameters dynamically from state parameters or event payloads, enabling context-aware navigation without manual binding expressions.
    Contextual sample prompts
    The Now Assist panel displays relevant sample prompts based on the pages and components available in the current experience, so you can start quickly without composing a prompt from scratch.
    Human review before applying
    Generated configurations are presented as a read-only preview before being committed. Developers can accept and edit, or reject and re-prompt, ensuring accuracy at every step.

    How Now Assist generates event handler configurations

    When you add an event handler to a component in UI Builder and open the Now Assist configuration panel, the system presents a text field where you describe the behavior you want. You can enter your own prompt or select from the sample prompts displayed.

    Now Assist processes the prompt against the available pages, parameters, and event payloads in the current experience and generates a configuration. The result is displayed as a read-only preview. You review the destination, parameter bindings, and trigger settings, then choose to accept and edit, or reject the result.

    If you accept, the configuration is applied to the component. You can continue editing individual fields using the standard form controls before selecting Add to save the handler.

    Supported event handlers

    Now Assist event handler generation supports the three most commonly used event handlers in UI Builder:

    Open page or URL

    The Open page or URL event handler navigates the user to a page when a component event triggers. The destination can be a page within the current experience or an external URL.

    For pages in the current experience, you select the target page and provide any required parameters, such as a table name or sys_id. For external URLs, you enter the full URL. Both destination types support an Open in new tab option.

    Parameters can be bound statically or dynamically from state parameters or event payload fields. Advanced mode exposes additional binding fields for route, fields, and params.

    Open and close modal dialog

    The Open and close modal dialog event handler opens or closes a modal dialog in the current experience when a component event triggers. Now Assist can configure this handler based on a natural language description of which dialog to open or close and under what conditions.

    Viewport load requested

    The Viewport load requested event handler triggers the loading of a specific viewport within the experience when a specified event triggers. Now Assist can configure this handler based on a natural language description of the target viewport and the triggering event.

    Event payloads and parameter binding

    Some component events dispatch a payload — a set of data values emitted by the source component when the event triggers. When a payload is available, Now Assist can bind destination parameters directly to payload fields, enabling fully dynamic navigation without any static values.

    For example, the Reference link clicked event on a list component dispatches the following payload fields: listTable, nativeEvent, record_id, row, sys_id, and table. Now Assist can map these fields to the corresponding parameters of a record page destination automatically, so that selecting any reference link in the list opens the correct record.

    When an event has no payload — such as the Button clicked event — parameters must be bound from state parameters or entered as static values.