Business Rule Best Practices for ServiceNow

Business Rules are server-side scripts that execute when records are displayed, inserted, updated, or deleted.

When to Use Each Type

Type	Timing	Use Case	Performance Impact
Before	Before database write	Validate, modify current record	Low
After	After database write	Create related records, notifications	Medium
Async	Background (after commit)	Heavy processing, integrations	None (background)
Display	When form loads	Modify form display, set defaults	Low

Available Objects

// In Business Rules, these are always available:
current // The record being operated on
previous // The record BEFORE changes (update/delete only)
gs // GlideSystem utilities

Before Business Rules

Use for validation and field manipulation:

// Prevent update if condition not met
;(function executeRule(current, previous) {
  if (current.state == 7 && previous.state != 6) {
    current.setAbortAction(true)
    gs.addErrorMessage("Must resolve before closing")
  }
})(current, previous)

// Auto-populate fields
;(function executeRule(current, previous) {
  if (current.isNewRecord()) {
    current.setValue("caller_id", gs.getUserID())
    current.setValue("opened_by", gs.getUserID())
  }
})(current, previous)

Never do in Before rules:

• Call current.update() (causes recursion!)
• Query other tables (keep it fast)
• External API calls

After Business Rules

Use for related record operations:

// Create child record when priority is P1
;(function executeRule(current, previous) {
  if (current.priority.changesTo(1)) {
    var task = new GlideRecord("task")
    task.initialize()
    task.setValue("short_description", "P1 Follow-up: " + current.number)
    task.setValue("parent", current.sys_id)
    task.insert()
  }
})(current, previous)

// Update parent record
;(function executeRule(current, previous) {
  var parent = new GlideRecord("problem")
  if (parent.get(current.problem_id)) {
    parent.setValue("related_incidents", parent.related_incidents + 1)
    parent.update()
  }
})(current, previous)

Async Business Rules

Use for heavy processing that shouldn't block the transaction:

// External integration
;(function executeRule(current, previous) {
  var integrator = new ExternalSystemIntegration()
  integrator.syncIncident(current.sys_id)
})(current, previous)

// Send custom notification
;(function executeRule(current, previous) {
  gs.eventQueue("incident.priority.high", current, current.assigned_to, gs.getUserID())
})(current, previous)

Useful Methods

current Methods

current.isNewRecord() // True if insert
current.isValidRecord() // True if record exists
current.getValue("field") // Get field value
current.setValue("field", val) // Set field value
current.setAbortAction(true) // Cancel the operation
current.operation() // 'insert', 'update', 'delete'
current.isActionAborted() // Check if aborted

Field Change Detection

current.priority.changes() // Field changed (any value)
current.priority.changesTo(1) // Changed TO this value
current.priority.changesFrom(3) // Changed FROM this value
current.priority.nil() // Field is empty

previous Comparisons

// Check if field was modified
if (current.state != previous.state) {
  gs.info("State changed from " + previous.state + " to " + current.state)
}

// Check specific change
if (current.assigned_to.changes() && !previous.assigned_to.nil()) {
  gs.info("Reassignment occurred")
}

Condition Examples

Use conditions to limit when the rule runs:

Condition	Meaning
current.active == true	Only active records
current.isNewRecord()	Only on insert
current.priority.changes()	Only when priority changes
gs.hasRole('admin')	Only for admins
current.assignment_group.nil()	Only when unassigned

Performance Best Practices

1. Use conditions - Limit when the rule runs
2. Keep Before rules fast - No queries if possible
3. Use Async for integrations - Don't block transactions
4. Avoid Display rules - Slows form load
5. Set Order - Lower numbers run first (100-500 range)
6. Check "when to run" - insert, update, delete, query

Common Patterns

Auto-Assignment

// Before Insert/Update
if (current.assignment_group.changes() && !current.assignment_group.nil()) {
  var members = new GroupMembers(current.assignment_group)
  current.assigned_to = members.getNextAvailable()
}

Cascade Updates

// After Update
if (current.state.changesTo(7)) {
  // Closed
  var tasks = new GlideRecord("task")
  tasks.addQuery("parent", current.sys_id)
  tasks.addQuery("state", "!=", 7)
  tasks.query()
  while (tasks.next()) {
    tasks.setValue("state", 7)
    tasks.update()
  }
}