Knowledge Management for ServiceNow

Knowledge Management enables creating, organizing, and sharing knowledge articles.

Knowledge Architecture

Knowledge Base (kb_knowledge_base) ├── Category (kb_category) │ ├── Article (kb_knowledge) │ │ ├── Feedback (kb_feedback) │ │ └── Use (kb_use) │ └── Article └── Category └── Article

Key Tables

Table Purpose

kb_knowledge_base

Knowledge base definitions

kb_knowledge

Knowledge articles

kb_category

Article categories

kb_feedback

User feedback on articles

kb_use

Article usage tracking

Creating Articles (ES5)

Create Knowledge Article

// Create KB article (ES5 ONLY!) var article = new GlideRecord("kb_knowledge") article.initialize()

// Basic info article.setValue("short_description", "How to Reset Your Password") article.setValue("kb_knowledge_base", getKnowledgeBaseSysId("IT Knowledge")) article.setValue("kb_category", getCategorySysId("Self-Service"))

// Content article.setValue( "text", "<h2>Password Reset Instructions</h2>" + "<p>Follow these steps to reset your password:</p>" + "<ol>" + "<li>Go to the Self-Service Portal</li>" + '<li>Click "Forgot Password"</li>' + "<li>Enter your email address</li>" + "<li>Check your email for reset link</li>" + "<li>Create a new password</li>" + "</ol>" + "<h3>Password Requirements</h3>" + "<ul>" + "<li>Minimum 12 characters</li>" + "<li>At least one uppercase letter</li>" + "<li>At least one number</li>" + "<li>At least one special character</li>" + "</ul>", )

// Metadata article.setValue("author", gs.getUserID()) article.setValue("article_type", "text") // text, wiki, html

// Workflow state article.setValue("workflow_state", "draft")

article.insert()

Article with Attachments

// Create article and add attachment (ES5 ONLY!) var article = new GlideRecord("kb_knowledge") article.initialize() article.setValue("short_description", "VPN Setup Guide") article.setValue("kb_knowledge_base", kbSysId) article.setValue("text", "<p>See attached PDF for detailed instructions.</p>") var articleSysId = article.insert()

// Add attachment var attachment = new GlideSysAttachment() attachment.copy("kb_knowledge", templateArticleSysId, "kb_knowledge", articleSysId)

Article Workflow

Workflow States

State Description Next States

draft Initial creation review

review Awaiting approval published, draft

published Visible to users retired

retired No longer visible published

outdated Needs update draft

Submit for Review (ES5)

// Submit article for review (ES5 ONLY!) function submitForReview(articleSysId) { var article = new GlideRecord("kb_knowledge") if (article.get(articleSysId)) { // Validate required fields if (!article.getValue("short_description")) { gs.addErrorMessage("Short description is required") return false } if (!article.getValue("text")) { gs.addErrorMessage("Article content is required") return false }

// Change state
article.setValue("workflow_state", "review")
article.update()

// Notify reviewers
gs.eventQueue("kb.article.review", article, "", "")

return true

} return false }

Publish Article (ES5)

// Publish approved article (ES5 ONLY!) function publishArticle(articleSysId) { var article = new GlideRecord("kb_knowledge") if (article.get(articleSysId)) { // Only publish from review state if (article.getValue("workflow_state") !== "review") { gs.addErrorMessage("Article must be in review state") return false }

// Set publish date
article.setValue("workflow_state", "published")
article.setValue("published", new GlideDateTime())

// Set expiration if configured
var kb = article.kb_knowledge_base.getRefRecord()
var expirationDays = parseInt(kb.getValue("article_expiration_days"), 10)
if (expirationDays > 0) {
  var expDate = new GlideDateTime()
  expDate.addDaysLocalTime(expirationDays)
  article.setValue("valid_to", expDate)
}

article.update()

return true

} return false }

Knowledge Search (ES5)

Search Articles

// Search knowledge articles (ES5 ONLY!) var KnowledgeSearch = Class.create() KnowledgeSearch.prototype = { initialize: function () {},

/**

• Search knowledge articles
• @param {string} query - Search query
• @param {object} options - Search options */ search: function (query, options) { options = options || {} var results = []

var gr = new GlideRecord("kb_knowledge")

// Only published articles
gr.addQuery("workflow_state", "published")
gr.addQuery("active", true)

// Valid date range
var now = new GlideDateTime()
gr.addNullQuery("valid_to").addOrCondition("valid_to", ">", now)

// Search in title and body
var qc = gr.addQuery("short_description", "CONTAINS", query)
qc.addOrCondition("text", "CONTAINS", query)

// Filter by knowledge base
if (options.knowledgeBase) {
  gr.addQuery("kb_knowledge_base", options.knowledgeBase)
}

// Filter by category
if (options.category) {
  gr.addQuery("kb_category", options.category)
}

// Limit results
gr.setLimit(options.limit || 10)

// Order by views/rating
gr.orderByDesc("sys_view_count")

gr.query()

while (gr.next()) {
  results.push({
    sys_id: gr.getUniqueValue(),
    number: gr.getValue("number"),
    title: gr.getValue("short_description"),
    category: gr.kb_category.getDisplayValue(),
    views: gr.getValue("sys_view_count"),
    rating: gr.getValue("rating"),
    snippet: this._getSnippet(gr.getValue("text"), query),
  })
}

return results

},

_getSnippet: function (text, query) { // Strip HTML var plainText = text.replace(/<[^>]*>/g, "")

// Find query position
var lowerText = plainText.toLowerCase()
var lowerQuery = query.toLowerCase()
var pos = lowerText.indexOf(lowerQuery)

if (pos === -1) {
  return plainText.substring(0, 200) + "..."
}

// Extract context around match
var start = Math.max(0, pos - 50)
var end = Math.min(plainText.length, pos + query.length + 150)

var snippet = ""
if (start > 0) snippet += "..."
snippet += plainText.substring(start, end)
if (end < plainText.length) snippet += "..."

return snippet

},

type: "KnowledgeSearch", }

Article Templates (ES5)

Create Article from Template

// Create article from template (ES5 ONLY!) function createFromTemplate(templateName, data) { // Get template var template = new GlideRecord("kb_template") template.addQuery("name", templateName) template.query()

if (!template.next()) { gs.error("Template not found: " + templateName) return null }

// Create article var article = new GlideRecord("kb_knowledge") article.initialize()

// Copy template fields article.setValue("kb_knowledge_base", template.getValue("kb_knowledge_base")) article.setValue("kb_category", template.getValue("kb_category")) article.setValue("article_type", template.getValue("article_type"))

// Process template text with data var text = template.getValue("text") for (var key in data) { if (data.hasOwnProperty(key)) { var pattern = new RegExp("\{\{" + key + "\}\}", "g") text = text.replace(pattern, data[key]) } }

article.setValue("text", text) article.setValue("short_description", data.title || "New Article") article.setValue("workflow_state", "draft")

return article.insert() }

// Usage var articleId = createFromTemplate("Troubleshooting Guide", { title: "Outlook Not Connecting", problem: "Outlook shows disconnected", solution: "Check network connection and restart Outlook", steps: "<ol><li>Close Outlook</li><li>Check WiFi</li><li>Reopen Outlook</li></ol>", })

Feedback & Ratings (ES5)

Record Article Feedback

// Record user feedback (ES5 ONLY!) function recordFeedback(articleSysId, rating, comments) { var feedback = new GlideRecord("kb_feedback") feedback.initialize() feedback.setValue("article", articleSysId) feedback.setValue("user", gs.getUserID()) feedback.setValue("rating", rating) // 1-5 feedback.setValue("comments", comments) feedback.setValue("useful", rating >= 4 ? "yes" : "no") feedback.insert()

// Update article rating updateArticleRating(articleSysId) }

function updateArticleRating(articleSysId) { var ga = new GlideAggregate("kb_feedback") ga.addQuery("article", articleSysId) ga.addAggregate("AVG", "rating") ga.addAggregate("COUNT") ga.query()

if (ga.next()) { var avgRating = parseFloat(ga.getAggregate("AVG", "rating")) var count = parseInt(ga.getAggregate("COUNT"), 10)

var article = new GlideRecord("kb_knowledge")
if (article.get(articleSysId)) {
  article.setValue("rating", Math.round(avgRating * 10) / 10)
  article.setValue("u_feedback_count", count)
  article.update()
}

} }

MCP Tool Integration

Available Tools

Tool Purpose

snow_knowledge_search

Search knowledge base

snow_query_table

Query kb_knowledge

snow_find_artifact

Find articles

snow_execute_script_with_output

Test KB scripts

Example Workflow

// 1. Search for existing articles await snow_knowledge_search({ query: "password reset", limit: 5, })

// 2. Create new article await snow_execute_script_with_output({ script: var article = new GlideRecord('kb_knowledge'); article.initialize(); article.setValue('short_description', 'New Article'); article.setValue('text', '<p>Content here</p>'); article.setValue('workflow_state', 'draft'); gs.info('Created: ' + article.insert()); , })

// 3. Find articles needing review await snow_query_table({ table: "kb_knowledge", query: "workflow_state=review", fields: "number,short_description,author,sys_created_on", })

Best Practices

• Clear Titles - Descriptive, searchable titles

• Structured Content - Use headings and lists

• Keywords - Add relevant keywords

• Categories - Proper categorization

• Review Process - Quality control workflow

• Expiration - Set article validity dates

• Feedback - Enable user ratings

• ES5 Only - No modern JavaScript syntax