Connect to ServiceNow

TL;DR

• Connect your ServiceNow instance to receive and manage incidents automatically
• Choose between Basic Authentication (username/password) or OAuth 2.0 Client Credentials (token-based, recommended for production)
• Once connected, your agent acknowledges, investigates, and updates ServiceNow incidents

Time: 15 minutes

Prerequisites

Before you begin, make sure you have:

• An Azure SRE Agent created and running
• A ServiceNow instance with admin access
• For OAuth 2.0 Client Credentials: An OAuth application registered in ServiceNow with a client ID and client secret
• For Basic Authentication: A ServiceNow user with incident management permissions
• Contributor on the SRE Agent resource to save connector settings
• For portal-managed OAuth API Connections: Owner or User Access Administrator at the resource group or subscription scope, in addition to Contributor, so the portal can grant the agent's runtime managed identity Logic App Contributor on the connection

Choose your authentication method

Method	Security	Best for	Setup time
OAuth 2.0 Client Credentials	Token-based, automatic refresh, no stored passwords	Production environments, security-conscious teams	~10 min
Basic Authentication	Username and password stored	Quick setup, dev/test environments	~5 min

Recommendation

OAuth 2.0 Client Credentials is recommended for production use. Tokens refresh automatically, and no user password is stored in your agent configuration.

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Option A: Connect with OAuth 2.0 Client Credentials

Prepare ServiceNow for Client Credentials

Before connecting from the portal, register an OAuth application in your ServiceNow instance that supports the Client Credentials grant:

1. In your ServiceNow instance, navigate to System OAuth → Application Registry
2. Create an OAuth application for external clients with the Client Credentials grant
3. Fill in:
   • Name: A descriptive name (e.g., Azure SRE Agent)
   • Active: Checked
4. Click Submit and note:
   • Client ID — displayed on the application page
   • Client Secret — click the lock icon to reveal; copy it immediately

warning

The Client Secret is shown only once in some ServiceNow versions. Copy it before navigating away.

Configure in the portal

1. Navigate to your agent in the Azure SRE Agent portal
2. In the left navigation, select Incidents → Connect an incident platform
3. In the wizard, select ServiceNow

Switching platforms

If another platform is already connected, a confirmation dialog appears. Confirm to disconnect the current platform before proceeding. Only one incident platform can be active at a time.

4. Set Authentication Type to OAuth 2.0 Client Credentials (Service Account)
5. Enter your ServiceNow details:
   • ServiceNow endpoint: Your instance URL (e.g., https://your-instance.service-now.com)
   • OAuth Client ID: From your ServiceNow OAuth application
   • OAuth Client Secret: From your ServiceNow OAuth application

6. Click Next, complete the optional Generate insights step, then click Save.

Verify your connection

After saving, the Incidents page shows a green "ServiceNow is connected." status indicator. Your agent can now receive and manage incidents from ServiceNow.

Checkpoint: Open the platform connection menu on the Incidents page to see Edit and Disconnect, confirming the connection is active.

What you unlocked

Your agent can now automatically receive, investigate, and update ServiceNow incidents. Set up response plans to control which incidents your agent handles.

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Option B: Connect with Basic Authentication

Create a ServiceNow integration user

Create a dedicated user in ServiceNow for the agent:

1. In ServiceNow, go to User Administration → Users
2. Create a new user with:
   • A recognizable username (e.g., sre-agent-integration)
   • A strong password
   • Roles: itil and incident management permissions (or equivalent)

Configure in the portal

1. Navigate to your agent in the Azure SRE Agent portal
2. In the left navigation, select Incidents → Connect an incident platform
3. In the wizard, select ServiceNow
4. Leave Authentication Type as Basic Authentication (default)
5. Enter your ServiceNow details:
   • ServiceNow endpoint: Your instance URL (e.g., https://your-instance.service-now.com)
   • Username: The integration user's username
   • Password: The integration user's password
6. Click Next, complete the optional Generate insights step, then click Save.

Verify your connection

The portal validates connectivity automatically. You should see a green "ServiceNow is connected." status indicator on the Incidents page.

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Set up response plans

Once ServiceNow is connected, create response plans to define how your agent handles incidents.

You can optionally enable Quickstart response plan during setup, which creates a default response plan for high-priority incidents automatically.

When you enable Quickstart response plan, your agent creates a default plan based on the platform:

Platform	Default plan handles	Autonomy level
ServiceNow	Critical (Priority 1) incidents	Autonomous
Azure Monitor	Sev3 alerts	Autonomous
PagerDuty	P1 incidents	Autonomous

ServiceNow priority values:

Priority	ServiceNow value	Label
Critical	1	Critical
High	2	High
Moderate	3	Moderate
Low	4	Low
Planning	5	Planning

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What your agent can do with ServiceNow

Once connected, your agent interacts with ServiceNow incidents throughout their lifecycle:

Capability	Description
Read incidents	Fetch incident details, related records, and discussion history
Post discussion entries	Add investigation findings and updates to incident work notes
Acknowledge incidents	Mark incidents as acknowledged when investigation begins
Change priority	Adjust incident priority based on investigation findings
Resolve incidents	Close incidents with resolution notes after successful mitigation

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Change credentials

To update your ServiceNow connection:

1. Go to Incidents and open the platform connection menu
2. Select Edit
3. Update your endpoint, authentication type, or credentials
4. Click Next, complete the optional Generate insights step, then click Save

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Disconnect ServiceNow

To disconnect your ServiceNow integration:

1. Go to Incidents and open the platform connection menu
2. Click Disconnect
3. Confirm the disconnection

warning

Disconnecting permanently removes the connection. Your agent stops receiving and managing ServiceNow incidents.

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Troubleshooting

OAuth Client Credentials fails

• Confirm your OAuth application supports the Client Credentials grant and is Active in ServiceNow
• Double-check your Client ID and Client Secret
• Ensure your ServiceNow instance allows external OAuth connections

Connection shows "Not Connected" after setup

• OAuth Client Credentials: Verify the OAuth application supports the Client Credentials grant, then edit the connection from the platform connection menu
• Basic auth: Verify the endpoint URL, username, and password are correct
• Confirm the ServiceNow endpoint is reachable from Azure (no firewall blocking)

"Unable to connect to ServiceNow endpoint"

• Verify the endpoint URL format: https://your-instance.service-now.com (no trailing slash)
• Confirm your ServiceNow instance is accessible from the public internet
• Check that the integration user has sufficient permissions

"Invalid OAuth credentials"

• Regenerate the Client Secret in ServiceNow and try again
• Verify the Client ID matches the one in your ServiceNow OAuth application
• Confirm the OAuth application is active and not expired

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Related

• Incident platforms — How incident platforms work with your agent
• Automate Incident Response — Configure response plans and automation

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What you learned

In this tutorial, you:

• Connected your ServiceNow instance to Azure SRE Agent using OAuth 2.0 or Basic Authentication
• Verified the connection is active and healthy
• Learned how to set up response plans for ServiceNow incidents
• Understood what your agent can do with ServiceNow (read, post, acknowledge, resolve incidents)