What are Notifications in ServiceNow?

Context

Notifications are one of the first things configured in any ITSM implementation. Every interviewer expects you to know how they work — from basic configuration to when scripts are needed.

How Notifications Work

ServiceNow Notifications are email (or SMS/push) alerts triggered by record events. They have three parts: WHO gets it, WHEN it fires, and WHAT it says.

Configuring a P1 Incident Notification

// Notification Configuration:
//
// NAME: 'P1 Incident Created Alert'
// TABLE: incident
//
// WHEN TO SEND:
//   Send when: Record inserted
//   Conditions: Priority = 1 - Critical
//   (Optional advanced condition script for complex logic)
//
// WHO RECEIVES:
//   Users: (specific users, e.g., IT Director)
//   Groups: 'Critical Incident Team'
//   Users in fields: Assignment Group Manager
//   Events: Can also trigger via Event Registry
//
// WHAT IT SAYS:
//   Subject: 'P1 CRITICAL: ${number} - ${short_description}'
//   Body (HTML):
//   'A Critical incident has been created.
//    Number: ${number}
//    Description: ${short_description}
//    Caller: ${caller_id.name}
//    Created: ${sys_created_on}
//    Link: ${URI_REF}'
//
// ${field_name} = mail script variable — replaced with actual values

Three Ways to Trigger Notifications

• Direct conditions: When a record matches specific conditions on insert/update. Simplest approach — configured entirely through the UI.
• Event-driven: A Business Rule fires an event → the event triggers the notification. More flexible — decouples the trigger logic from the notification. Better for complex scenarios.

  // Business Rule fires the event:
  gs.eventQueue('incident.priority.critical', current, 
    current.assigned_to, current.assignment_group);
  
  // Notification listens for the event:
  // Event name: incident.priority.critical

• Flow Designer: A flow action sends the notification as part of an automated workflow. Best for multi-step processes.

Key Configuration Points

• Weight: Each notification has a numeric weight. When multiple notifications for the same record and recipients would send, only the highest-weight one is delivered — the rest are skipped. The default weight 0 means the notification always sends. Use weights to prevent duplicate emails.
• Digest: Batch multiple notifications into a single daily/hourly email instead of spamming users.
• Subscribe: Users can subscribe/unsubscribe from certain notification types.