Reporting & Dashboards for ServiceNow

ServiceNow provides comprehensive reporting capabilities for data visualization and business intelligence.

Report Types

Type Use Case Example

List Tabular data Incident list

Bar Category comparison Incidents by priority

Pie/Donut Distribution Tickets by category

Line/Area Trends over time Weekly ticket volume

Pivot Table Multi-dimensional Priority x Category

Single Score KPI value Open P1 count

Gauge Progress/threshold SLA compliance

Creating Reports

List Report (ES5)

// Create list report var report = new GlideRecord("sys_report") report.initialize()

report.setValue("title", "Open High Priority Incidents") report.setValue("table", "incident") report.setValue("type", "list")

// Filter condition report.setValue("filter", "active=true^priority<=2")

// Columns report.setValue("field", "number,short_description,priority,state,assigned_to,opened_at")

// Sorting report.setValue("orderby", "priority") report.setValue("order", "ASC")

// Grouping (optional) report.setValue("group", "assignment_group")

// Access control report.setValue("user", gs.getUserID()) report.setValue("roles", "itil")

report.insert()

Bar Chart Report (ES5)

// Create bar chart var barReport = new GlideRecord("sys_report") barReport.initialize()

barReport.setValue("title", "Incidents by Priority") barReport.setValue("table", "incident") barReport.setValue("type", "bar")

// Aggregation barReport.setValue("aggregate", "COUNT") barReport.setValue("group", "priority")

// Filter barReport.setValue("filter", "active=true")

// Chart options barReport.setValue("show_data_label", true) barReport.setValue("show_legend", true) barReport.setValue("chart_color", "blue")

barReport.insert()

Trend Report (ES5)

// Create trend line chart var trendReport = new GlideRecord("sys_report") trendReport.initialize()

trendReport.setValue("title", "Incident Volume - Last 30 Days") trendReport.setValue("table", "incident") trendReport.setValue("type", "line")

// Time-based grouping trendReport.setValue("trend", "opened_at") trendReport.setValue("trend_interval", "day")

// Aggregation trendReport.setValue("aggregate", "COUNT")

// Time filter var thirtyDaysAgo = new GlideDateTime() thirtyDaysAgo.addDaysLocalTime(-30) trendReport.setValue("filter", "opened_at>=" + thirtyDaysAgo.getValue())

// Stacked by category trendReport.setValue("stack", "priority")

trendReport.insert()

Pivot Table (ES5)

// Create pivot table var pivotReport = new GlideRecord("sys_report") pivotReport.initialize()

pivotReport.setValue("title", "Incidents: Priority vs Category") pivotReport.setValue("table", "incident") pivotReport.setValue("type", "pivot")

// Dimensions pivotReport.setValue("group", "priority") // Rows pivotReport.setValue("stack", "category") // Columns

// Aggregation pivotReport.setValue("aggregate", "COUNT")

// Filter pivotReport.setValue("filter", "active=true")

// Show totals pivotReport.setValue("show_row_total", true) pivotReport.setValue("show_column_total", true)

pivotReport.insert()

Dashboards

Creating Dashboard (ES5)

// Create dashboard var dashboard = new GlideRecord("sys_dashboard") dashboard.initialize()

dashboard.setValue("name", "IT Service Desk Dashboard") dashboard.setValue("description", "Key metrics for service desk operations")

// Layout dashboard.setValue("layout", "3") // 1, 2, 3, or 4 columns

// Access dashboard.setValue("view_as", "desktop") dashboard.setValue("roles", "itil")

var dashboardSysId = dashboard.insert()

Adding Widgets to Dashboard (ES5)

// Add report widget function addReportToDashboard(dashboardId, reportId, row, column, width, height) { var widget = new GlideRecord("sys_dashboard_widget") widget.initialize() widget.setValue("dashboard", dashboardId) widget.setValue("report", reportId) widget.setValue("row", row) widget.setValue("column", column) widget.setValue("width", width || 1) // columns wide widget.setValue("height", height || 1) // rows tall return widget.insert() }

// Layout example (3-column dashboard) // Row 0: Three single-score cards addReportToDashboard(dashboardSysId, openIncidentsReport, 0, 0, 1, 1) addReportToDashboard(dashboardSysId, avgResolutionReport, 0, 1, 1, 1) addReportToDashboard(dashboardSysId, slaComplianceReport, 0, 2, 1, 1)

// Row 1: Full-width trend chart addReportToDashboard(dashboardSysId, trendReport, 1, 0, 3, 2)

// Row 2: Two charts side by side addReportToDashboard(dashboardSysId, priorityPieChart, 3, 0, 1, 2) addReportToDashboard(dashboardSysId, categoryBarChart, 3, 1, 2, 2)

Scheduled Reports

Create Scheduled Report (ES5)

// Schedule report for email delivery var schedule = new GlideRecord("sys_report_schedule") schedule.initialize()

schedule.setValue("report", reportSysId) schedule.setValue("name", "Weekly Incident Summary")

// Recipients schedule.setValue("recipients", "it-managers@company.com") schedule.setValue("recipient_users", managersSysIds) // comma-separated schedule.setValue("recipient_groups", itManagersGroup)

// Schedule (cron) schedule.setValue("run", "weekly") schedule.setValue("day", "monday") schedule.setValue("time", "08:00:00")

// Format schedule.setValue("format", "pdf") // pdf, xlsx, csv

// Email settings schedule.setValue("subject", "Weekly IT Incident Summary") schedule.setValue("message", "Please find attached the weekly incident summary report.")

schedule.setValue("active", true)

schedule.insert()

Advanced Reporting

Report with Formula Field (ES5)

// Report with calculated field var report = new GlideRecord("sys_report") report.initialize()

report.setValue("title", "SLA Breach Analysis") report.setValue("table", "task_sla") report.setValue("type", "bar")

// Custom formula aggregation report.setValue("aggregate", "SUM") report.setValue("field", "has_breached") // Boolean to count

// Percentage calculation report.setValue("formula", "CASE WHEN {has_breached} = 1 THEN 1 ELSE 0 END")

report.setValue("group", "sla.name")

report.insert()

Drill-Down Report (ES5)

// Create report with drill-down capability var summaryReport = new GlideRecord("sys_report") summaryReport.initialize()

summaryReport.setValue("title", "Incidents by Assignment Group") summaryReport.setValue("table", "incident") summaryReport.setValue("type", "bar") summaryReport.setValue("aggregate", "COUNT") summaryReport.setValue("group", "assignment_group")

// Enable drill-down summaryReport.setValue("is_drillable", true) summaryReport.setValue("drill_down_report", detailReportSysId)

summaryReport.insert()

Export & Integration

Export Report Data (ES5)

// Export report to CSV function exportReportToCSV(reportSysId) { var report = new GlideRecord("sys_report") if (!report.get(reportSysId)) return null

var ga = new GlideAggregate(report.getValue("table"))

// Apply filter var filter = report.getValue("filter") if (filter) { ga.addEncodedQuery(filter) }

// Apply grouping var groupField = report.getValue("group") if (groupField) { ga.addAggregate("COUNT") ga.groupBy(groupField) }

ga.query()

var results = [] while (ga.next()) { results.push({ group: ga.getValue(groupField), count: ga.getAggregate("COUNT"), }) }

return results }

REST API for Reports

// Get report data via REST // GET /api/now/stats/{table}?sysparm_query={filter}&sysparm_count=true&sysparm_group_by={field}

// Example: Incidents by priority // GET /api/now/stats/incident?sysparm_query=active=true&sysparm_count=true&sysparm_group_by=priority

MCP Tool Integration

Available Reporting Tools

Tool Purpose

snow_create_report

Create report

snow_create_dashboard

Create dashboard

snow_create_scheduled_report

Schedule delivery

snow_discover_reporting_tables

Find available tables

snow_discover_report_fields

Get field options

snow_export_report_data

Export data

snow_create_data_visualization

Create chart

Example Workflow

// 1. Discover available tables var tables = await snow_discover_reporting_tables({ category: "itsm", })

// 2. Get fields for table var fields = await snow_discover_report_fields({ table: "incident", })

// 3. Create report var reportId = await snow_create_report({ title: "Incident Overview", table: "incident", type: "bar", group: "priority", aggregate: "COUNT", filter: "active=true", })

// 4. Create dashboard var dashboardId = await snow_create_dashboard({ name: "Service Desk Overview", layout: "3-column", })

// 5. Add report to dashboard await snow_add_dashboard_widget({ dashboard: dashboardId, report: reportId, row: 0, column: 0, })

// 6. Schedule report await snow_create_scheduled_report({ report: reportId, frequency: "weekly", recipients: "managers@company.com", format: "pdf", })

Best Practices

• Clear Titles - Descriptive, action-oriented names

• Appropriate Type - Match chart type to data

• Filter Wisely - Default to relevant subset

• Color Meaning - Consistent color conventions

• Mobile Friendly - Test on smaller screens

• Performance - Limit rows, use aggregations

• Access Control - Role-based visibility

• Regular Refresh - Keep data current