UI Actions & UI Policies for ServiceNow

UI Actions add buttons, links, and context menus. UI Policies control form field behavior dynamically.

UI Actions

UI Action Types

Type Location Example

Form Button Form header "Resolve Incident"

Form Context Menu Right-click menu "Copy Record"

Form Link Related links "View CI"

List Button List header "Export Selected"

List Context Menu Right-click on row "Assign to Me"

List Choice Actions dropdown "Update State"

List Link List header links "New Record"

Form Button UI Action (ES5)

// Table: sys_ui_action // Name: Resolve Incident // Table: incident // Form button: true // Active: true // Condition: current.active == true && current.state != 6

// Script (Server-side - ES5 ONLY): ;(function executeAction() { // Validate before resolving if (!current.resolution_code) { gs.addErrorMessage("Please select a resolution code") action.setRedirectURL(current) return }

if (!current.close_notes) { gs.addErrorMessage("Please provide resolution notes") action.setRedirectURL(current) return }

// Set resolved state current.state = 6 // Resolved current.resolved_at = new GlideDateTime() current.resolved_by = gs.getUserID() current.update()

gs.addInfoMessage("Incident " + current.number + " has been resolved") action.setRedirectURL(current) })()

Client-Side UI Action (ES5)

// Table: sys_ui_action // Name: Quick Assign // Client: true // Onclick: quickAssign()

// Client script (ES5 ONLY): function quickAssign() { // Get current user var userId = g_user.userID var userName = g_user.getFullName()

// Confirm action var confirmed = confirm("Assign this incident to yourself (" + userName + ")?") if (!confirmed) { return false }

// Set the field value g_form.setValue("assigned_to", userId) g_form.setValue("assignment_group", g_user.getGroupID())

// Save the form gsftSubmit(null, g_form.getFormElement(), "save") return false }

List UI Action (ES5)

// Table: sys_ui_action // Name: Close Selected Incidents // Table: incident // List button: true // List choice: true // Condition: gs.hasRole('itil')

// Script (Server-side - ES5 ONLY): ;(function executeAction() { // Get selected records var selectedRecords = RP.getParameterValue("sysparm_checked_items") if (!selectedRecords) { gs.addErrorMessage("No records selected") return }

var sysIds = selectedRecords.split(",") var closedCount = 0

for (var i = 0; i < sysIds.length; i++) { var gr = new GlideRecord("incident") if (gr.get(sysIds[i])) { if (gr.state != 7) { // Not already closed gr.state = 7 // Closed gr.closed_at = new GlideDateTime() gr.closed_by = gs.getUserID() gr.update() closedCount++ } } }

gs.addInfoMessage("Closed " + closedCount + " incident(s)") })()

UI Action with GlideAjax (ES5)

// Client-side UI Action calling server // Client: true // Onclick: checkAndEscalate()

function checkAndEscalate() { var incidentId = g_form.getUniqueValue()

// Check if escalation is allowed var ga = new GlideAjax("IncidentAjax") ga.addParam("sysparm_name", "canEscalate") ga.addParam("sysparm_incident_id", incidentId) ga.getXMLAnswer(function (answer) { var result = JSON.parse(answer) if (result.canEscalate) { // Proceed with escalation g_form.setValue("priority", 1) g_form.setValue("escalation", 1) gsftSubmit(null, g_form.getFormElement(), "escalate_incident") } else { alert("Cannot escalate: " + result.reason) } }) return false }

UI Policies

UI Policy Structure

Field Purpose

Short description Policy name

Table Target table

Conditions When to apply

Reverse if false Undo when condition false

On load Run when form loads

UI Policy Actions Field behaviors

Basic UI Policy (No Script)

UI Policy: Make Resolution Required on Resolve

Table: incident Short description: Require resolution fields when resolving Conditions: state = 6 (Resolved) On load: true Reverse if false: true

UI Policy Actions:

• Field: resolution_code Mandatory: true Visible: true

• Field: close_notes Mandatory: true Visible: true

• Field: resolved_by Read only: true

UI Policy with Script (ES5)

// UI Policy Script - Execute if true // Runs when condition becomes true (ES5 ONLY!)

function onCondition() { // Show/hide fields based on category var category = g_form.getValue("category")

if (category === "hardware") { g_form.setDisplay("cmdb_ci", true) g_form.setMandatory("cmdb_ci", true) g_form.setDisplay("software", false) } else if (category === "software") { g_form.setDisplay("software", true) g_form.setMandatory("software", true) g_form.setDisplay("cmdb_ci", false) } }

Complex UI Policy Script (ES5)

// UI Policy: VIP Caller Handling // Condition: None (script handles logic) // On load: true // Run scripts: true

// Script - Execute if true (ES5 ONLY!): function onCondition() { var callerId = g_form.getValue("caller_id") if (!callerId) { return }

// Check if VIP via GlideAjax var ga = new GlideAjax("UserAjax") ga.addParam("sysparm_name", "isVIP") ga.addParam("sysparm_user_id", callerId) ga.getXMLAnswer(function (answer) { var isVIP = answer === "true"

if (isVIP) {
  // Highlight form
  g_form.flash("caller_id", "#FFD700", 0)
  g_form.showFieldMsg("caller_id", "VIP Customer", "info")

  // Set default priority
  if (!g_form.getValue("priority")) {
    g_form.setValue("priority", 2)
  }

  // Make assignment group mandatory
  g_form.setMandatory("assignment_group", true)
}

}) }

Dynamic Field Visibility (ES5)

// UI Policy: Show fields based on incident type // Table: incident // On load: true

function onCondition() { var incidentType = g_form.getValue("u_incident_type")

// Reset all conditional fields var conditionalFields = ["u_network_details", "u_hardware_model", "u_software_name"] for (var i = 0; i < conditionalFields.length; i++) { g_form.setDisplay(conditionalFields[i], false) g_form.setMandatory(conditionalFields[i], false) }

// Show relevant fields switch (incidentType) { case "network": g_form.setDisplay("u_network_details", true) g_form.setMandatory("u_network_details", true) break case "hardware": g_form.setDisplay("u_hardware_model", true) g_form.setMandatory("u_hardware_model", true) break case "software": g_form.setDisplay("u_software_name", true) g_form.setMandatory("u_software_name", true) break } }

Creating via Scripts (ES5)

Create UI Action Programmatically

// Create UI Action via background script (ES5 ONLY!) var uiAction = new GlideRecord("sys_ui_action") uiAction.initialize() uiAction.setValue("name", "Escalate to Manager") uiAction.setValue("table", "incident") uiAction.setValue("active", true) uiAction.setValue("form_button", true) uiAction.setValue("form_style", "btn-warning") uiAction.setValue("hint", "Escalate this incident to the caller's manager") uiAction.setValue("condition", "current.active == true && current.priority > 2") uiAction.setValue( "script", "(function executeAction() {\n" + " current.priority = 2;\n" + " current.escalation = 1;\n" + ' current.work_notes = "Escalated by " + gs.getUserDisplayName();\n' + " current.update();\n" + ' gs.addInfoMessage("Incident escalated");\n' + " action.setRedirectURL(current);\n" + "})();", ) uiAction.insert()

Create UI Policy Programmatically

// Create UI Policy (ES5 ONLY!) var policy = new GlideRecord("sys_ui_policy") policy.initialize() policy.setValue("short_description", "Require Close Notes on Close") policy.setValue("table", "incident") policy.setValue("active", true) policy.setValue("on_load", true) policy.setValue("reverse_if_false", true) policy.setValue("conditions", "state=7") var policySysId = policy.insert()

// Add UI Policy Action var action = new GlideRecord("sys_ui_policy_action") action.initialize() action.setValue("ui_policy", policySysId) action.setValue("field", "close_notes") action.setValue("mandatory", true) action.setValue("visible", true) action.setValue("disabled", false) action.insert()

MCP Tool Integration

Available Tools

Tool Purpose

snow_create_ui_action

Create UI Action

snow_create_ui_policy

Create UI Policy

snow_find_artifact

Find existing UI elements

snow_edit_artifact

Modify UI elements

Example Workflow

// 1. Create UI Action await snow_create_ui_action({ name: "Approve Change", table: "change_request", form_button: true, condition: 'current.state == "assess"', script: "/* approval script */", })

// 2. Create UI Policy await snow_create_ui_policy({ short_description: "Require justification for high priority", table: "change_request", conditions: "priority=1", actions: [{ field: "justification", mandatory: true }], })

Best Practices

• Descriptive Names - Clear purpose in name

• Conditions First - Use conditions before scripts

• Minimal Scripts - Keep scripts short

• Reverse If False - Clean up field states

• Test Thoroughly - Multiple scenarios

• Role Security - Add role conditions

• ES5 Only - No modern JavaScript syntax

• Form vs List - Choose appropriate action type