Generating VIs with NI Nigel AI

You can prompt NI Nigel AI to generate VIs, and can provide Nigel with existing VIs or text files to add additional information to your queries.

Introduced in LabVIEW 2026 Q3

Nigel can serve as a coding assistant in LabVIEW, generating VIs based on your prompts. You can ask Nigel to generate a single or multiple VIs, and can iterate on the generated VIs with Nigel until the generated code matches your expected behavior.
Note When iterating on generated VIs, Nigel creates new VIs instead of modifying previously generated ones. Nigel discards previously generated VIs during the iteration process.
Nigel excels at writing VIs which perform the following tasks:
  • Taking measurements using your installed NI drivers
  • Packaging generated code into a FlexLogger plugin, which you can use to expand the capabilities of FlexLogger
  • Performing general computational functions
There are some VI types that Nigel can't write yet. For more information on the limitations of VI generation, refer to the Limitations section.

Best Practices

Follow these prompting suggestions to maximize the effectiveness of generating VIs with Nigel.
  • Include as much information as you can in your prompt. Mention specific APIs that you want Nigel to use, and attach relevant VIs and text files you want Nigel to use as a reference.
    Note The LabVIEW Coding Agent does not have access to the active VI during a discussion with Nigel. You must attach files to the chat if you want the LabVIEW Coding Agent to access them.
    Note VIs generated by Nigel cannot call other user-generated VIs directly.
  • Set the model Nigel uses to GPT 5.4 or later to guarantee the best VI generation results.

Limitations

If you are unsure of the generation capabilities of Nigel or if it can create a VI with a certain functionality, prompt Nigel to explain its capabilities. This gives you the most up-to-date information on the kinds of VIs Nigel can create. You can use the following prompt to get information on the code generation limitations of Nigel:
What are the limitations of the LabVIEW coding agent? Give me a list of program types, domains and node families not yet supported.

Examples

Use the following example prompts as guides for your own VI generation prompts.
Table 18. Example VI Generation Prompts
Prompt Use Case
Create a VI that averages a list of user-defined numbers. This prompt asks Nigel to set up a VI performing a simple mathematical operation, and illustrates the general construction of a VI generation request.
Create a VI that uses the DCPower Pulse API to generate a single voltage pulse. This prompt mentions the DCPower Pulse API to guide Nigel to use that library during code generation.
Create a VI similar to the attached VI that organizes usernames alphabetically instead of by length. This prompt directs Nigel to use the content in an attached file during VI generation.