Before you can include external actions in your action flows, you must connect the action builder to the external system.

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Summary: ◀▼

You can connect action flows to ServiceNow to automate creating, updating, searching, and looking up incidents, cases, and users. Use OAuth with a dedicated service account for secure integration. This connection lets you manage ITSM incidents and customer service cases directly within your workflows, improving collaboration and data accuracy across platforms.

By connecting the action builder to external systems, such as ServiceNow, admins can integrate Zendesk with external systems in automated workflows, improving collaboration and maintaining a seamless experience across multiple platforms.
Note: The steps associated with external systems in action flows are referred to collectively as external actions.
This article contains the following topics:
  • Connecting ServiceNow to action builder
  • Using ServiceNow actions in action flows

Connecting ServiceNow to action builder

Before you can include external actions in your action flows, you must connect the action builder to the external system.

When connecting to external systems for use in action flows, the following best practices are recommended:
  • All external actions performed by an action flow are attributed to the user who connected the external system. Therefore, it's a best practice to use a dedicated service account rather than personal credentials when connecting to each external system.
  • All integrations request access to necessary scopes. However, it's important that you review and validate the scopes before authorizing the connection to the external system.
  • When managing credentials for API key-based tools, such as OpenAI, it's best to store keys in a secure vault or credential manager.

To set up OAuth in ServiceNow

Before connecting, you must register an OAuth application in ServiceNow.

The ServiceNow connection requires the useraccount OAuth scope, which enables read and write access to ServiceNow user accounts, incidents, cases, and related records. Review the scope carefully before authorizing the connection. This permission allows action flows to create and modify ServiceNow records on your behalf.

  1. Log into your ServiceNow instance as an admin.
  2. Navigate to System OAuth > Application Registry.
  3. Click New > Create an OAuth API endpoint for external clients.
  4. Enter a name for your application (for example, "Zendesk Action Flows").
  5. Set the Redirect URL to the value provided in the Zendesk connection dialog.
  6. Copy the Client ID and Client Secret values.
  7. Save the application registry entry.
To connect action builder to ServiceNow
  1. In Admin Center, click Apps and integrations in the sidebar, then select Actions > Action flows.
  2. Create or edit an action flow.
  3. Open the step sidebar.
  4. Under External actions, click ServiceNow.
  5. Click Connect.
  6. Enter your ServiceNow instance subdomain (for example, "dev12345" from dev12345.service-now.com).
  7. Enter your OAuth Client ID and OAuth Client Secret from your ServiceNow application registry.
  8. Follow ServiceNow's prompts to authenticate and complete the connection.
    Note: All external actions performed by an action flow are attributed to the user who connected the external system. Therefore, it is a best practice to use a dedicated service account rather than personal credentials when connecting to each external system.

After you've connected to the system, you'll see an indicator that it's connected and details about the instance you're connected to, as well as the actions available for ServiceNow.

Using ServiceNow actions in action flows

The following ServiceNow actions are available:
  • Create incident
  • Update incident
  • Search incidents
  • Lookup incident
  • Create case
  • Update case
  • Search cases
  • Lookup case
  • Lookup user
  • Search users

Creating an incident

Use the Create incident action to create a new ITSM incident record in ServiceNow. This action dynamically loads all available fields (standard and custom) from your ServiceNow incident table at runtime.

This action has the following inputs and outputs:

  Variables
Inputs Required: Short Description, Caller

Optional: Dynamic fields loaded from your ServiceNow instance (standard and custom fields)
Output Incident details including sys_id, number, short description, state, priority, assignment information, timestamps, and activity status.

Updating an incident

Use the Update incident action to modify fields and status of an existing ServiceNow incident. This action dynamically loads all available incident fields from your ServiceNow instance.

This action has the following inputs and outputs:

  Variables
Inputs Required: Sys ID

Optional: Dynamic fields loaded from your ServiceNow instance (standard and custom fields)
Output Updated incident details including sys_id, number, description, state, priority, assignment information, resolution details, and timestamps.

Searching for incidents

Use the Search incidents action to find incidents matching specific filter criteria.

This action has the following inputs and outputs:

  Variables
Inputs Optional: Number, Short Description, State, Priority, Assignment Group, Assigned To, Caller, Category, Active, Opened At From, Opened At To, Created From, Created To, Limit, Offset, Query

All search filters are optional. Combine multiple filters to narrow results. Use Limit and Offset for pagination.
Output Array of incident objects containing sys_id, number, descriptions, state, priority, assignment details, dates, and activity information, plus total count and pagination flag.

Looking up an incident

Use the Lookup incident action to retrieve a single incident by sys_id or incident number.

This action has the following inputs and outputs:

  Variables
Inputs Optional: Sys ID, Incident Number, Display Value, Exclude Reference Link

You must provide Sys ID or Incident Number to look up an incident.

Use Display Value to control whether reference fields return sys_ids or display names.
Output Complete incident details including sys_id, number, descriptions, state, priority, urgency, impact, assignment information, caller details, resolution details, timestamps, and SLA information.

Creating a case

Use the Create case action to create a new customer service case in ServiceNow CSM. This action dynamically loads all available fields from your ServiceNow case table.

This action has the following inputs and outputs:

  Variables
Inputs Required: If dynamic loading fails, this action requires Short Description, Account, Contact, and State as minimum fields.

Optional: Dynamic fields loaded from your ServiceNow case table.
Output Case details including sys_id, number, short description, state, priority, category, account and contact information, assignment details, and timestamps.

Updating a case

Use the Update case action to modify fields and status of an existing ServiceNow case. This action dynamically loads all available case fields from your ServiceNow instance.

This action has the following inputs and outputs:

  Variables
Inputs Required: Sys ID

Optional: Dynamic fields loaded from your ServiceNow case table (standard and custom fields)
Output Updated case details including sys_id, number, description, state, priority, assignment information, escalation status, and timestamps.

Searching for cases

Use the Search cases action to find customer service cases matching specific filter criteria.

This action has the following inputs and outputs:

  Variables
Inputs Optional: Multiple filter fields including case number, description, state, priority, account, contact, assignment details, dates, and pagination controls.

All search filters are optional. Combine multiple filters to narrow results. Use Limit and Offset for pagination.
Output Array of case objects containing sys_id, number, descriptions, state, priority, account and contact information, assignment details, and timestamps, plus total count and pagination flag.

Looking up a case

Use the Lookup case action to retrieve a single case by sys_id or case number.

This action has the following inputs and outputs:

  Variables
Inputs Optional: Sys ID, Case Number, Display Value, Exclude Reference Link (at least one of Sys ID or Case Number required)

You must provide either Sys ID or Case Number to lookup a case. Use Display Value to control whether reference fields return sys_ids or display names.
Output Complete case details including sys_id, number, descriptions, state, priority, account and contact information, assignment details, resolution information, and timestamps.

Looking up a user

Use the Lookup user action to retrieve a single ServiceNow user by sys_id or email address.

This action has the following inputs and outputs:

  Variables
Inputs Optional: Sys ID, Email, Display Value, Active (at least one of Sys ID or Case Number required)

You must provide either Sys ID or Email to look up a user. Use the Active filter to return only active users.
Output User details including sys_id, username, first and last name, full name, email, active status, job title, department, manager, phone numbers, timezone, and creation date

Searching for users

Use the Search users action to find ServiceNow users by name, email, username, or department.

This action has the following inputs and outputs:

  Variables
Inputs

Optional: Name, Email, Username, Active, Department, Limit, Offset

All search filters are optional and support partial matching (except Username which requires exact match). Use Limit and Offset for pagination.
Output Array of user objects containing sys_id, username, names, email, active status, job title, department, manager, contact information, and timezone, plus total count and pagination flag.
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