Servicenow

Jace's ServiceNow CLI (jsn)

Explore and manage ServiceNow instances. Interactive paginated pickers with server-side search on all list commands.

Discovery

jsn --help                # All commands grouped by domain
jsn <command> --help      # Flags, subcommands, and examples

Interactive Picker

All list subcommands use a paginated interactive picker in TTY mode:

• Arrow through items (10 per page)
• Type to search (server-side LIKE query)
• Scroll past last loaded item to load next page
• Enter to select, Esc to cancel
• Falls back to table output with --json

Agent Rules

1. Output modes — --json when parsing data; text when presenting to humans
2. Use sys_id for updates — All update/delete operations require sys_id
3. Check auth first — Run jsn auth status before operations
4. NEVER logout — Only run jsn auth logout if the user explicitly asks
5. Use --profile <name> to target a specific instance, or jsn profiles use <name> to change default
6. Before using eval or rest — Ask: "Is there a more specific jsn command?" Prefer specific over generic over escape hatch over eval.
7. CONFIRM before destructive operations — Show what will be created/updated/deleted and ask for approval.

Command Hierarchy

Pick the most specific tool for the job. Never default to eval — it's the last resort:

1. Specific commands — jsn flows, jsn rules, jsn catalogitems, etc.
2. jsn records --table <name> — generic CRUD on any table
3. jsn rest — raw Table API escape hatch
4. jsn eval — ⚠️ LAST RESORT ONLY
5. Ask the human — if none of the above work

Key Commands

Domain	Commands
Core	incidents, changes, requests, tasks
Catalog	catalogitems list/show/create — items with variables and flow info
Automation	flows, actions, rules, workflows, triggers, scheduledjobs
Access	acls, b4rules, roles, groups, users
UX	forms (section/element layout), lists, clientscripts, uipolicies
Data	tables, columns, includes, logs, properties, records
Config	setup, auth, profiles, updatesets, scopes
Developer	eval, rest, skill, version

jsn rest examples

# Query any table by name
jsn rest --table incident --query "active=true" --limit 5 --json

# GET a single record
jsn rest --table incident --sys-id abc123... --json

# Raw endpoint access
jsn rest "/api/now/table/incident?sysparm_limit=3" --json

Troubleshooting Field Behavior

Check order (priority):

1. Before-query business rules — sys_script with when=before, action=query

   jsn b4rules list --query "collection=sys_user"
   

2. ACLs — jsn acls list --query "name=incident"
3. Dictionary overrides — jsn records list --table sys_dictionary --query "name=incident^element=caller_id"
4. Client scripts / UI policies — form-level field behavior

Configuration

~/.config/servicenow/
├── config.json               # Profiles and settings
└── credentials.json          # Auth tokens (fallback)