What is GlideRecord?

Setting the Stage

GlideRecord is the single most important API in ServiceNow development. If there's one thing you need to know for any technical interview, it's this. Every developer, admin, and consultant uses GlideRecord daily.

What Is GlideRecord?

GlideRecord is a server-side JavaScript API that lets you query, insert, update, and delete records from any ServiceNow table. It's your primary tool for interacting with the database — like SQL queries, but in JavaScript.

Basic Operations

// === QUERY (SELECT) ===
var gr = new GlideRecord('incident');     // Target the incident table
gr.addQuery('priority', 1);               // WHERE priority = 1
gr.addQuery('state', '!=', 6);            // AND state != Resolved
gr.addQuery('assignment_group.name', 'Network Support'); // AND group name
gr.orderByDesc('sys_created_on');         // ORDER BY created descending
gr.setLimit(50);                          // LIMIT 50
gr.query();                               // Execute the query

while (gr.next()) {                       // Iterate through results
  gs.info('Incident: ' + gr.getValue('number'));
  gs.info('Caller: ' + gr.getDisplayValue('caller_id'));
  gs.info('Created: ' + gr.getValue('sys_created_on'));
}

// === INSERT ===
var newInc = new GlideRecord('incident');
newInc.initialize();
newInc.short_description = 'Server Down - Building A';
newInc.priority = 1;
// Look up the caller by user_name to get their sys_id
var caller = new GlideRecord('sys_user');
caller.addQuery('user_name', 'john.smith');
caller.query();
if (caller.next()) {
  newInc.caller_id = caller.sys_id;
}
var newSysId = newInc.insert();  // Returns the sys_id of new record

// === UPDATE ===
var gr = new GlideRecord('incident');
gr.get('number', 'INC0010001');   // Get a specific incident
gr.state = 6;                     // Set state to Resolved
gr.close_notes = 'Fixed by restarting the service';
gr.update();                      // Save changes

// === DELETE ===
var gr = new GlideRecord('incident');
gr.get('number', 'INC0010001');
gr.deleteRecord();                // Delete the record

Key Methods to Know

• addQuery(field, value) — adds a WHERE condition
• addQuery(field, operator, value) — adds a WHERE with operator (!=, >, <, IN, etc.)
• addEncodedQuery(string) — adds a complex filter as encoded query string
• query() — executes the query
• next() — moves to the next record (returns false when done)
• getValue(field) — returns the raw database value
• getDisplayValue(field) — returns the display value
• getRowCount() — executes a full COUNT(*) query; avoid on large tables. Use GlideAggregate with addAggregate('COUNT') instead
• get(field, value) — shortcut to query a single record