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Administrator Guide
Last Updated: 2026-11-06
Connect a ServiceNow Account to Self-Service Agent

Connect a ServiceNow Account to Self-Service Agent

  • A ServiceNow administrator who can register an inbound OAuth application in your instance and give the integration account read access to:
    • User criteria (user_criteria and its membership tables) and the knowledge base user criteria tables (kb_uc_*_mtom).
    • sys_user, sys_user_grmember, and sys_user_has_role.
    • The related group, role, department, location, and company tables.
    • The glide.knowman.apply_article_read_criteria and glide.knowman.ownership_group.enabled system properties.
      Self-Service Agent follows the read access your workers have in ServiceNow, based on the user criteria and roles on your knowledge bases and articles. Workday applies article-level user criteria only when the glide.knowman.apply_article_read_criteria system property is set to true.
  • A dedicated ServiceNow integration account to connect with. It needs read access to the knowledge bases you plan to connect, plus the user criteria, users, and groups that control who can read them. Use a dedicated account rather than an employee’s account so the connection isn’t disrupted when someone leaves.
  • Your ServiceNow instance URL, for example https://yourcompany.service-now.com.
  • Set up and enable Agent System of Record and Self-Service Agent:
You can enable the Self-Service Agent to use documents in your ServiceNow account to answer your employee's policy-related questions. Adding ServiceNow as a document connector increases the relevancy of Self-Service Agent responses without the need to manually upload your existing documents to Workday.
When you don't have the Help SKU, ensure you connect to ServiceNow before enabling the Policy Intelligence skill on the Self-Service Agent so that you don't encounter an error.
  1. Copy the Redirect URL from Workday.
    1. In Workday, access
      Agent Management Hub
      Agent Registry
      Self-Service Agent
      Documents
      Manage Connectors
      Add Connector
      ServiceNow
      .
    2. Select
      Connect
      OAuth
       and copy the Redirect URL.
      Workday sets this URL based on your data center.
    3. Keep this dialog open while you complete step 2.
  2. Register an inbound OAuth application in ServiceNow.
    1. In ServiceNow, access
      All
      System OAuth
      Application Registry
       and select
      New
      .
    2. Select
      New Inbound Integration Experience
      New Integration
      OAuth - Authorization code grant
      .
      On newer ServiceNow releases, this form is under
      Machine Identity Console
      Inbound integrations
      .
    3. Enter a name, such as
      Workday Self-Service Agent
      , and paste the Redirect URL you copied in step 1.
    4. Add the
      useraccount
       auth scope.
    5. Set
      Refresh token lifespan
       to a value that meets your security policy.
      By default, ServiceNow refresh tokens expire after 100 days, and the connection then has to be authorized again. You’ll need to reconnect from Workday.
    6. Leave the other settings at their defaults and save.
    7. Copy the Client ID and Client Secret.
  3. Complete the ServiceNow connection in Workday.
    1. In the ServiceNow connection dialog from step 1, enter your instance URL, Client ID, and Client Secret.
    2. Confirm that the
      Redirect URL
       and
      Permissions
       fields match your ServiceNow application.
    3. When ServiceNow prompts you, sign in with the integration account, through your single sign-on provider if you use one, and allow the connection.
  4. Select ServiceNow document folders in Workday.
    1. Access
      Agent Management Hub
      Agent Registry
      Self-Service Agent
      .
    2. On the
      Documents
      tab, click
      Add Documents
      ServiceNow
      .
    3. Workday ingests only the published articles in each knowledge base you select. To keep an article out of answers, ensure it’s not published, or move it to a knowledge base you don’t select.
      Workday is optimized to ingest up to 400 MB of content within a 24-hour window. Workday won’t process beyond 200 MB and doesn't not indicate which files it didn't not process. The ingestion can take up to 24 hours to process the files and the associated permissions. Check back later to confirm that there were no errors during the ingestion process. The files will display a
      Synced
       status once completed.
  5. Enable the
    Policy Intelligence
     skill and configure the
    search_policy_documents
     tool.
    When you don’t have the Help SKU, ensure you connect to ServiceNow before enabling the Policy Intelligence skill on the Self-Service Agent so that you don’t encounter an error.
    You no longer need the Help SKU to enable the
    Policy Intelligence
     skill. If you have the Help SKU, the Self-Service Agent will also provide responses from your Workday Help articles.
The Self-Service Agent can now access your ServiceNow document folders and use them to answer questions. Self-Service Agent enforces the ServiceNow file security when providing answers.
Test the Self-Service Agent to verify the accuracy of its responses related to the information in your ServiceNow policy documents. Example: Ask about a few documents from each document folder, including a restricted document. Ask once as a worker who can read the document in ServiceNow and once as a worker who can’t.