ServiceNow for Workflows

Use the ServiceNow integration in Workflows to connect ControlUp with ServiceNow and automate task and incident management. You can create and update tasks and incidents, retrieve incident, category, user, and group data, and upload attachments as part of a workflow.

This article explains how to configure the ServiceNow integration and use the available ServiceNow action nodes.

Supported ServiceNow Actions

The ServiceNow integration supports the following actions:

• Incident Management:

  • Create New Incident

  • Get Incident

  • List Incidents

  • Update Incident

  • Upload Attachment

• System Management:

  • List Categories

  • List User Groups

  • List Users

• Task Management:

  • Create Task

  • Update Task

Add the ServiceNow Integration

Before you can use a ServiceNow action in a workflow, add and configure a ServiceNow integration. Learn more about Workflow Integrations.

1. Go to Workflows > Integrations.

2. Click Add new integration.

3. In Select integration you want to connect, select ServiceNow.

4. Enter an Integration name. This name appears in the Select integration config field when you configure a ServiceNow action node.

5. Under Instance URL, enter your ServiceNow instance subdomain.

6. Enter the following credentials:        

   • Username: The username for the ServiceNow account used by the integration.

   • Password: The password for the ServiceNow account used by the integration.

7. Set the Permissions for the integration:        

   • All organization: Everyone in your organization can access and use the integration.

   • Specific users: Only the users you select can access and use the integration.

   • Just me: Only you can access and use the integration.

8. Click Add Integration.

Add a ServiceNow Action to a Workflow

After you configure the integration, add a ServiceNow action node to a workflow.

1. Go to Workflows > Flows and create or open a flow.

2. Add an action node.

3. Search for ServiceNow.

4. Select the ServiceNow action you want to add.

5. In Select integration config, select the ServiceNow integration to use.

6. Configure the action as described in the sections below.

To learn more about creating flows, adding nodes, and configuring standard node settings such as Flow logic and Retry Configuration, see Create a Flow.

ServiceNow Actions

Create New Incident

Creates a new incident in ServiceNow.

Configure the following fields:

• Urgency: How quickly the incident requires attention.

• Short Description: A brief summary of the incident that appears as its main title in ServiceNow.

• Description: A detailed description of the incident.

• Assignment group: The team or group responsible for handling the incident.

• Assigned To: The person responsible for handling the incident.

• Category: The incident category, such as Hardware, Software, or Network.

• Comment: Additional context, troubleshooting information, or other details about the incident.

For fields that support variables, enter a string or use a workflow variable.

Add Custom Fields

Use Custom Fields to send additional ServiceNow fields that are not available as built-in fields in the action.

1. Under Custom Fields, click + Add.

2. In Name, enter the ServiceNow field name, such as caller_id or a custom field beginning with u_.

3. In Value, enter a string or use a variable.

You can add multiple fields. Duplicate field names cannot be added.

Get Incident

Retrieves details about a specific ServiceNow incident.

1. In Retrieve By, select how to identify the incident:        

   • Incident Number

   • System ID (sys_id)

2. Enter the corresponding incident number or system ID. You can enter a string or use a variable.

3. Optionally, select Return Display Values to return human-readable values for reference fields instead of sys_id values.

List Categories

Retrieves a list of incident categories from ServiceNow. Use this action to retrieve categories that can be used to classify incidents.

List Incidents

Retrieves a list of incidents from ServiceNow. You can optionally filter the incidents returned by the action.

• Query: Filters incidents using ServiceNow query syntax. Leave this field empty to retrieve incidents without applying a query filter.

• Limit: The maximum number of incidents to return. Leave the field empty or enter 0 to retrieve all matching incidents.

List User Groups

Retrieves a list of user groups from ServiceNow.

• Limit: The maximum number of user groups to return in a single request.

• Offset: The position in the list of user groups from which to start returning results. Use 0 to start from the first group.

List Users

Retrieves a list of users from ServiceNow. Use this action to retrieve user information or find users for use in later workflow actions.

• Limit: The maximum number of users to return.

• Filters: Conditions used to narrow the list of users, such as by department, status, or role.

Update Incident

Updates an existing ServiceNow incident.

In Incident SYS ID, enter the incident's sys_id, then configure the fields you want to change.

Fields that are left empty or unchanged are not sent to ServiceNow, so their existing values remain unchanged.

• Assigned To: Changes the person responsible for the incident. Leave this field empty to keep the current assignment unchanged.

• Urgency: Changes how quickly the incident requires attention.

• Impact: Changes how many users or systems are affected.

• State: Changes the incident's workflow state, such as In Progress, Resolved, or Closed.

• Severity: Changes the severity assigned to the incident.

• Comment: Adds a comment or update to the incident.

• Add as work note: Select this option to post the comment as an internal work note visible only to staff. Clear it to post the comment as a public comment visible to end users.

Add Custom Fields

Use Custom Fields to update additional ServiceNow fields that are not available as built-in fields in the action.

1. Under Custom Fields, click + Add.

2. In Name, enter the ServiceNow field name, such as caller_id or a custom field beginning with u_.

3. In Value, enter a string or use a variable.

You can add multiple fields. Duplicate field names cannot be added.

Upload Attachment

Uploads an attachment to a ServiceNow record from a local file or a publicly reachable file URL.

Configure the following fields:

• Table Name: The ServiceNow table that contains the record. For incidents, use incident.

• Table Record: The record sys_id. For the incident table, you can also enter the incident number.

• File Source: Select whether to upload a local file or retrieve a file from a URL.

Upload a Local File

1. In File Source, select Upload file.

2. In File, select the file to upload.

File Name and Content Type are automatically filled from the uploaded file.

When testing the action in the workflow editor, you can select a file up to 20 MB.

Upload a File from a URL

1. In File Source, select File URL.

2. In File URL, enter a publicly reachable URL for the file.

File Name and Content Type are optional:

• File Name: If left empty, the file name is inferred from the URL.

• Content Type: If left empty, the content type is inferred from the URL response.

Create Task

Creates a new record in a ServiceNow task table, such as sc_task, task, or incident_task.

Configure the following required fields:

• Table Name: The backend name of the ServiceNow table in which to create the task, such as sc_task, task, or incident_task.

• Short Description: A brief summary of the task.

You can also configure the following fields:

• Description: A detailed description of the task.

• State: The task state. Enter its numeric value or display label.

• Assignment Group: The display name of the group responsible for the task.

• Assigned To: The display name of the user responsible for the task.

• Work Notes: An internal note added when the task is created. Work notes are visible only to fulfillers.

Add Custom Fields

Use Custom Fields to set additional writable fields in the selected ServiceNow table.

1. Under Custom Fields, click + Add.

2. In Name, enter the exact ServiceNow backend column name.

3. In Value, enter a string or use a variable.

You can add multiple fields. ServiceNow ignores read-only fields.

Update Task

Updates an existing record in a ServiceNow task table, such as sc_task, task, or incident_task.

Configure the following required fields:

• Table Name: The backend name of the ServiceNow table that contains the task, such as sc_task, task, or incident_task.

• Task SYS ID: The task record's 32-character sys_id. You can use a value returned by a trigger or an earlier ServiceNow action.

Configure any fields you want to change. Fields left empty are not updated.

• State: The task state. Enter its numeric value or display label.

• Assignment Group: The display name of the group responsible for the task.

• Assigned To: The display name of the user responsible for the task.

• Work Notes: An internal note appended to the task. Each workflow run adds a new work note without replacing existing notes.

• Short Description: A new summary for the task. Leave this field empty to keep the existing summary.

Add Custom Fields

Use Custom Fields to update additional writable fields in the selected ServiceNow table.

1. Under Custom Fields, click + Add.

2. In Name, enter the exact ServiceNow backend column name.

3. In Value, enter a string or use a variable.

You can add multiple fields. ServiceNow ignores read-only fields.

Use Case Examples

• Create or update a task in a ServiceNow task table as part of an automated process

• Create an incident automatically when a specific system alert occurs, such as a failed employee onboarding process.

• Update an existing incident when its status, priority, or assignment changes.

• Retrieve ServiceNow users, groups, or incident data for use in later workflow actions.

• Upload a file or other attachment to a ServiceNow incident.