Scoped Application Development for ServiceNow

Scoped applications provide isolation and portability for custom development in ServiceNow.

Why Use Scoped Apps?

Feature Global Scope Scoped App

Naming conflicts Possible Prevented (x_prefix)

Portability Difficult Easy (Update Sets)

Security Open Controlled (Cross-scope)

Store publishing No Yes

Dependencies Implicit Explicit

Creating a Scoped Application

Via Studio (Recommended)

1. Navigate: System Applications > Studio
2. Click: Create Application
3. Enter:
   • Name: "My Custom App"
   • Scope: "x_mycom_myapp" (auto-generated)
   • Version: 1.0.0
4. Configure:
   • Runtime access: Check tables needing cross-scope access

Via MCP

snow_create_application({ name: "My Custom Application", scope: "x_mycom_custom", version: "1.0.0", description: "Custom application for...", })

Scope Naming Convention

x_[vendor]_[app]

Examples:

• x_acme_hr (ACME Corp HR App)
• x_mycom_inventory (My Company Inventory)
• x_snc_global (ServiceNow Global)

Table Naming

// Scoped tables are automatically prefixed // Table name in Studio: "task_tracker" // Actual table name: "x_mycom_myapp_task_tracker"

// Creating records var gr = new GlideRecord("x_mycom_myapp_task_tracker") gr.initialize() gr.setValue("name", "My Task") gr.insert()

Script Include in Scoped App

var TaskManager = Class.create() TaskManager.prototype = { initialize: function () { this.tableName = "x_mycom_myapp_task_tracker" },

createTask: function (name, description) { var gr = new GlideRecord(this.tableName) gr.initialize() gr.setValue("name", name) gr.setValue("description", description) return gr.insert() },

// Mark as accessible from other scopes // Requires: "Accessible from: All application scopes" getTask: function (sysId) { var gr = new GlideRecord(this.tableName) if (gr.get(sysId)) { return { name: gr.getValue("name"), description: gr.getValue("description"), } } return null },

type: "TaskManager", }

Cross-Scope Access

Calling Other Scope's Script Include

// From scope: x_mycom_otherapp // Calling: x_mycom_myapp.TaskManager

// Option 1: Direct call (if accessible) var tm = new x_mycom_myapp.TaskManager() var task = tm.getTask(sysId)

// Option 2: GlideScopedEvaluator var evaluator = new GlideScopedEvaluator() evaluator.putVariable("sysId", sysId) var result = evaluator.evaluateScript("x_mycom_myapp", "new TaskManager().getTask(sysId)")

Accessing Other Scope's Tables

// Check if cross-scope access is allowed var gr = new GlideRecord("x_other_app_table") if (!gr.isValid()) { gs.error("No access to x_other_app_table") return }

// If accessible, query normally gr.addQuery("active", true) gr.query()

Application Properties

Define Properties

// In Application > Properties // Name: x_mycom_myapp.default_priority // Value: 3 // Type: string

// In Application > Modules // Create "Properties" module pointing to: // /sys_properties_list.do?sysparm_query=name=x_mycom_myapp

Use Properties

// Get property value var defaultPriority = gs.getProperty("x_mycom_myapp.default_priority", "3")

// Set property value (requires admin) gs.setProperty("x_mycom_myapp.default_priority", "2")

Application Files Structure

x_mycom_myapp/ ├── Tables │ ├── x_mycom_myapp_task │ └── x_mycom_myapp_config ├── Script Includes │ ├── TaskManager │ └── ConfigUtils ├── Business Rules │ └── Validate Task ├── UI Pages │ └── task_dashboard ├── REST API │ └── Task API ├── Scheduled Jobs │ └── Daily Cleanup └── Application Properties ├── default_priority └── enable_notifications

REST API in Scoped App

Define Scripted REST API

// Resource: /api/x_mycom_myapp/tasks // HTTP Method: GET

;(function process(request, response) { var tasks = [] var gr = new GlideRecord("x_mycom_myapp_task_tracker") gr.addQuery("active", true) gr.query()

while (gr.next()) { tasks.push({ sys_id: gr.getUniqueValue(), name: gr.getValue("name"), status: gr.getValue("status"), }) }

response.setBody({ result: tasks, count: tasks.length, }) })(request, response)

Calling the API

curl -X GET
"https://instance.service-now.com/api/x_mycom_myapp/tasks"
-H "Authorization: Bearer token"

Application Dependencies

Declare Dependencies

Application > Dependencies Add:

• sn_hr_core (HR Core)
• sn_cmdb (CMDB)

Check Dependencies in Code

// Check if plugin is active if (GlidePluginManager.isActive("com.snc.hr.core")) { // HR Core is available var hrCase = new sn_hr_core.hr_case() }

Publishing to Store

Checklist Before Publishing

□ All tables have proper ACLs □ No hard-coded sys_ids □ No hard-coded instance URLs □ All dependencies declared □ Properties have default values □ Documentation complete □ Test cases pass □ No global scope modifications □ Update Set tested on clean instance

Version Management

Major.Minor.Patch 1.0.0 - Initial release 1.1.0 - New feature added 1.1.1 - Bug fix 2.0.0 - Breaking change

Common Mistakes

Mistake Problem Solution

Global modifications Won't deploy cleanly Keep changes in scope

Hard-coded sys_ids Fails on other instances Use properties or lookups

Missing ACLs Security vulnerabilities Create ACLs for all tables

No error handling Silent failures Add try/catch, logging

Accessing global tables directly Upgrade conflicts Use references, not copies

Best Practices

• Single Responsibility - One app per business function

• Explicit Dependencies - Declare all requirements

• Property-Driven - Configurable without code changes

• Defensive Coding - Check access before operations

• Documentation - Include README, release notes

• Testing - Automated tests for critical functions

• Versioning - Semantic versioning for updates