Automated Test Framework (ATF) for ServiceNow

ATF provides automated testing capabilities for ServiceNow applications, enabling regression testing and continuous integration.

ATF Architecture

Test Hierarchy

Test Suite: Incident Management Tests ├── Test: Create Incident │ ├── Step 1: Impersonate User │ ├── Step 2: Open New Record │ ├── Step 3: Set Field Values │ ├── Step 4: Submit Form │ └── Step 5: Assert Values ├── Test: Assign Incident │ └── Steps... └── Test: Resolve Incident └── Steps...

Key Tables

Table Purpose

sys_atf_test

Test definitions

sys_atf_step

Individual test steps

sys_atf_test_suite

Test suite groupings

sys_atf_test_suite_test

Suite-test relationships

sys_atf_test_result

Test execution results

Test Step Types

Common Step Types

Step Type Purpose Example

Impersonate Run as specific user Test as ITIL user

Open a New Form Create new record New incident form

Open an Existing Form Edit record Open INC0010001

Set Field Values Populate fields Set priority, description

Click a UI Action Trigger button Click "Save"

Assert Field Values Validate values Priority = 1

Run Server Side Script Execute script Custom validation

Wait Pause execution Wait for async

Creating Tests

Basic Test Structure (ES5)

// Create a new ATF test var test = new GlideRecord("sys_atf_test") test.initialize() test.setValue("name", "Test: Create High Priority Incident") test.setValue("description", "Verify high priority incident creation workflow") test.setValue("active", true) test.setValue("application", "global") // or scoped app sys_id var testSysId = test.insert()

// Add test steps function addTestStep(testId, order, stepType, config) { var step = new GlideRecord("sys_atf_step") step.initialize() step.setValue("test", testId) step.setValue("order", order) step.setValue("step_config", stepType)

// Set step-specific configuration for (var key in config) { if (config.hasOwnProperty(key)) { step.setValue(key, config[key]) } }

return step.insert() }

Impersonate Step

// Step 1: Impersonate ITIL user addTestStep(testSysId, 100, "sys_atf_step_config_impersonate", { description: "Impersonate ITIL user", inputs: JSON.stringify({ user: "itil", // or sys_id }), })

Open New Form Step

// Step 2: Open new incident form addTestStep(testSysId, 200, "sys_atf_step_config_open_new_form", { description: "Open new incident form", inputs: JSON.stringify({ table: "incident", }), })

Set Field Values Step

// Step 3: Set field values addTestStep(testSysId, 300, "sys_atf_step_config_set_field_values", { description: "Set incident fields", inputs: JSON.stringify({ table: "incident", values: [ { field: "short_description", value: "ATF Test Incident" }, { field: "priority", value: "1" }, { field: "category", value: "network" }, { field: "caller_id", value: "admin" }, ], }), })

Submit Form Step

// Step 4: Submit form (click Save) addTestStep(testSysId, 400, "sys_atf_step_config_click_ui_action", { description: "Save the incident", inputs: JSON.stringify({ ui_action: "sysverb_insert", // Submit/Insert action }), })

Assert Field Values Step

// Step 5: Assert values addTestStep(testSysId, 500, "sys_atf_step_config_assert_field_values", { description: "Verify incident was created correctly", inputs: JSON.stringify({ table: "incident", assertions: [ { field: "priority", operator: "equals", value: "1", }, { field: "state", operator: "equals", value: "1", // New }, { field: "number", operator: "is not empty", }, ], }), })

Server-Side Script Steps

Custom Validation Script (ES5)

// Step: Run Server Side Script // Script (ES5 only!):

;(function (outputs, steps, params, stepResult) { // Access outputs from previous steps var incidentSysId = steps["step_sys_id"].record_id

// Perform custom validation var gr = new GlideRecord("incident") if (gr.get(incidentSysId)) { // Check business rule fired if (gr.getValue("assignment_group") === "") { stepResult.setOutputMessage("Assignment group not set by business rule") stepResult.setFailed() return }

// Check SLA attached
var sla = new GlideRecord("task_sla")
sla.addQuery("task", incidentSysId)
sla.query()

if (!sla.hasNext()) {
  stepResult.setOutputMessage("No SLA attached to incident")
  stepResult.setFailed()
  return
}

// All validations passed
outputs.incident_number = gr.getValue("number")
outputs.sla_count = sla.getRowCount()
stepResult.setOutputMessage("All validations passed")

} else { stepResult.setOutputMessage("Incident not found") stepResult.setFailed() } })(outputs, steps, params, stepResult)

Data Setup Script (ES5)

// Step: Setup test data ;(function (outputs, steps, params, stepResult) { // Create test user if needed var user = new GlideRecord("sys_user") user.addQuery("user_name", "atf_test_user") user.query()

if (!user.next()) { user.initialize() user.setValue("user_name", "atf_test_user") user.setValue("first_name", "ATF") user.setValue("last_name", "Test User") user.setValue("email", "atf@test.com") user.setValue("active", true) outputs.user_sys_id = user.insert() } else { outputs.user_sys_id = user.getUniqueValue() }

stepResult.setOutputMessage("Test user ready: " + outputs.user_sys_id) })(outputs, steps, params, stepResult)

Cleanup Script (ES5)

// Step: Cleanup test data (always runs) ;(function (outputs, steps, params, stepResult) { var testRecordId = steps["create_incident_step"].record_id

if (testRecordId) { var gr = new GlideRecord("incident") if (gr.get(testRecordId)) { gr.deleteRecord() stepResult.setOutputMessage("Cleaned up test incident: " + testRecordId) } } })(outputs, steps, params, stepResult)

Test Suites

Creating Test Suite

// Create test suite var suite = new GlideRecord("sys_atf_test_suite") suite.initialize() suite.setValue("name", "Incident Management Regression Suite") suite.setValue("description", "Full regression tests for incident management") suite.setValue("active", true) var suiteSysId = suite.insert()

// Add tests to suite function addTestToSuite(suiteId, testId, order) { var link = new GlideRecord("sys_atf_test_suite_test") link.initialize() link.setValue("test_suite", suiteId) link.setValue("test", testId) link.setValue("order", order) return link.insert() }

addTestToSuite(suiteSysId, createTestId, 100) addTestToSuite(suiteSysId, assignTestId, 200) addTestToSuite(suiteSysId, resolveTestId, 300)

Parameterized Tests

Using Test Parameters

// Test with parameters var test = new GlideRecord('sys_atf_test'); test.initialize(); test.setValue('name', 'Test: Create Incident with Priority'); test.setValue('parameters', JSON.stringify({ priority: '2', category: 'software' })); test.insert();

// In step, reference parameter { "values": [ { "field": "priority", "value": "${priority}" }, { "field": "category", "value": "${category}" } ] }

MCP Tool Integration

Available ATF Tools

Tool Purpose

snow_create_atf_test

Create test

snow_create_atf_test_step

Add step to test

snow_create_atf_test_suite

Create suite

snow_execute_atf_test

Run test

snow_get_atf_results

Get results

snow_discover_atf_tests

Find existing tests

Example Workflow

// 1. Create test var testId = await snow_create_atf_test({ name: "Test: Incident Priority Escalation", description: "Verify priority changes trigger notifications", })

// 2. Add steps await snow_create_atf_test_step({ test_id: testId, order: 100, type: "impersonate", user: "itil", })

await snow_create_atf_test_step({ test_id: testId, order: 200, type: "server_script", script: createIncidentScript, })

// 3. Execute test var resultId = await snow_execute_atf_test({ test_id: testId, })

// 4. Get results var results = await snow_get_atf_results({ result_id: resultId, })

Best Practices

• Isolate Test Data - Create and cleanup test data in each test

• Use Impersonation - Test as actual user roles

• Atomic Tests - Each test validates one scenario

• Descriptive Names - Clear test and step descriptions

• Order Steps - Use 100, 200, 300 for easy insertion

• Handle Async - Add wait steps for async operations

• Cleanup Always - Use finally steps for cleanup

• Parameterize - Use parameters for reusable tests

Common Assertions

Assertion Use Case

equals

Exact value match

not equals

Value exclusion

is empty

Field should be empty

is not empty

Field must have value

contains

Substring match

starts with

Prefix match

greater than

Numeric comparison

less than

Numeric comparison