UI Actions & UI Policies for ServiceNow

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

Before modifying an existing form, reach for snow_analyze_form — it returns every active UI policy, client script, data policy, record + field ACL, and UI action on the target table in one call. Use it to answer "why is this form behaving like this?" before guessing.

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_artifact_manage (action=find) | Find existing UI elements | | snow_artifact_manage (action=update) | 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