ServiceNow Skill

Query and manage records on any ServiceNow instance via the REST Table API.

Setup

Set environment variables for your ServiceNow instance:

export SN_INSTANCE="https://yourinstance.service-now.com"
export SN_USER="your_username"
export SN_PASSWORD="your_password"

All tools below use scripts/sn.sh which reads these env vars.

Tools

sn_query — Query any table

bash scripts/sn.sh query <table> [options]

Options:

• --query "<encoded_query>" — ServiceNow encoded query (e.g. active=true^priority=1)
• --fields "<field1,field2>" — Comma-separated fields to return
• --limit <n> — Max records (default 20)
• --offset <n> — Pagination offset
• --orderby "<field>" — Sort field (prefix with - for descending)
• --display <true|false|all> — Display values mode

Examples:

# List open P1 incidents
bash scripts/sn.sh query incident --query "active=true^priority=1" --fields "number,short_description,state,assigned_to" --limit 10

# All users in IT department
bash scripts/sn.sh query sys_user --query "department=IT" --fields "user_name,email,name"

# Recent change requests
bash scripts/sn.sh query change_request --query "sys_created_on>=2024-01-01" --orderby "-sys_created_on" --limit 5

sn_get — Get a single record by sys_id

bash scripts/sn.sh get <table> <sys_id> [options]

Options:

• --fields "<field1,field2>" — Fields to return
• --display <true|false|all> — Display values mode

Example:

bash scripts/sn.sh get incident abc123def456 --fields "number,short_description,state,assigned_to" --display true

sn_create — Create a record

bash scripts/sn.sh create <table> '<json_fields>'

Example:

bash scripts/sn.sh create incident '{"short_description":"Server down","urgency":"1","impact":"1","assignment_group":"Service Desk"}'

sn_update — Update a record

bash scripts/sn.sh update <table> <sys_id> '<json_fields>'

Example:

bash scripts/sn.sh update incident abc123def456 '{"state":"6","close_code":"Solved (Permanently)","close_notes":"Restarted service"}'

sn_delete — Delete a record

bash scripts/sn.sh delete <table> <sys_id> --confirm

The --confirm flag is required to prevent accidental deletions.

sn_aggregate — Aggregate queries

bash scripts/sn.sh aggregate <table> --type <TYPE> [options]

Types: COUNT, AVG, MIN, MAX, SUM

Options:

• --type <TYPE> — Aggregation type (required)
• --query "<encoded_query>" — Filter records
• --field "<field>" — Field to aggregate on (required for AVG/MIN/MAX/SUM)
• --group-by "<field>" — Group results by field
• --display <true|false|all> — Display values mode

Examples:

# Count open incidents by priority
bash scripts/sn.sh aggregate incident --type COUNT --query "active=true" --group-by "priority"

# Average reassignment count
bash scripts/sn.sh aggregate incident --type AVG --field "reassignment_count" --query "active=true"

sn_schema — Get table schema

bash scripts/sn.sh schema <table> [--fields-only]

Returns field names, types, max lengths, mandatory flags, reference targets, and choice values.

Use --fields-only for a compact field list.

sn_batch — Bulk update or delete records

bash scripts/sn.sh batch <table> --query "<encoded_query>" --action <update|delete> [--fields '{"field":"value"}'] [--limit 200] [--confirm]

Performs bulk update or delete operations on all records matching a query. Runs in dry-run mode by default — shows how many records match without making changes. Pass --confirm to execute.

Options:

• --query "<encoded_query>" — Filter records to operate on (required)
• --action <update|delete> — Operation to perform (required)
• --fields '<json>' — JSON fields to set on each record (required for update)
• --limit <n> — Max records to affect per run (default 200, safety cap at 10000)
• --dry-run — Show match count only, no changes (default behavior)
• --confirm — Actually execute the operation (disables dry-run)

Examples:

# Dry run: see how many resolved incidents older than 90 days would be affected
bash scripts/sn.sh batch incident --query "state=6^sys_updated_on<javascript:gs.daysAgo(90)" --action update

# Bulk close resolved incidents (actually execute)
bash scripts/sn.sh batch incident --query "state=6^sys_updated_on<javascript:gs.daysAgo(90)" --action update --fields '{"state":"7","close_code":"Solved (Permanently)","close_notes":"Auto-closed by batch"}' --confirm

# Dry run: count orphaned test records
bash scripts/sn.sh batch u_test_table --query "u_status=abandoned" --action delete

# Delete orphaned records (actually execute)
bash scripts/sn.sh batch u_test_table --query "u_status=abandoned" --action delete --limit 50 --confirm

Output (JSON summary):

{"action":"update","table":"incident","matched":47,"processed":47,"failed":0}

sn_health — Instance health check

bash scripts/sn.sh health [--check <all|version|nodes|jobs|semaphores|stats>]

Checks ServiceNow instance health across multiple dimensions. Default is --check all which runs every check.

Checks:

• version — Instance build version, date, and tag from sys_properties
• nodes — Cluster node status (online/offline) from sys_cluster_state
• jobs — Stuck/overdue scheduled jobs from sys_trigger (state=ready, next_action > 30 min past)
• semaphores — Active semaphores (potential locks) from sys_semaphore
• stats — Quick dashboard: active incidents, open P1s, active changes, open problems

Examples:

# Full health check
bash scripts/sn.sh health

# Just check version
bash scripts/sn.sh health --check version

# Check for stuck jobs
bash scripts/sn.sh health --check jobs

# Quick incident/change/problem dashboard
bash scripts/sn.sh health --check stats

Output (JSON):

{
  "instance": "https://yourinstance.service-now.com",
  "timestamp": "2026-02-16T13:30:00Z",
  "version": {"build": "...", "build_date": "...", "build_tag": "..."},
  "nodes": [{"node_id": "...", "status": "online", "system_id": "..."}],
  "jobs": {"stuck": 0, "overdue": []},
  "semaphores": {"active": 2, "list": []},
  "stats": {"incidents_active": 54, "p1_open": 3, "changes_active": 12, "problems_open": 8}
}

sn_attach — Manage attachments

# List attachments on a record
bash scripts/sn.sh attach list <table> <sys_id>

# Download an attachment
bash scripts/sn.sh attach download <attachment_sys_id> <output_path>

# Upload an attachment
bash scripts/sn.sh attach upload <table> <sys_id> <file_path> [content_type]

Common Tables

Encoded Query Syntax

ServiceNow encoded queries use ^ as AND, ^OR as OR:

• active=true^priority=1 — Active AND P1
• active=true^ORactive=false — Active OR inactive
• short_descriptionLIKEserver — Contains "server"
• sys_created_on>=2024-01-01 — Created after date
• assigned_toISEMPTY — Unassigned
• stateIN1,2,3 — State is 1, 2, or 3
• caller_id.name=John Smith — Dot-walk through references

Notes

• All API calls use Basic Auth via SN_USER / SN_PASSWORD
• Default result limit is 20 records; use --limit to adjust
• Use --display true to get human-readable values instead of sys_ids for reference fields
• The script auto-detects whether SN_INSTANCE includes the protocol prefix