Visualize and manage your ServiceNow incidents

This guide demonstrates how to bring your ServiceNow incident management experience into Port. You will learn how to:

Ingest ServiceNow incident data into Port's software catalog using Port's ServiceNow integration.
Set up self-service actions to manage incidents (create, resolve, and delete).
Build dashboards in Port to monitor and act on incidents.

Common use cases

Monitor the status and health of all ServiceNow incidents from a centralized dashboard.
Empower platform teams to automate day-2 operations via Webhooks.

Prerequisites

This guide assumes the following:

You have a Port account and have completed the onboarding process.
Port's ServiceNow integration is installed in your account.

Set up self-service actions

We will create self-service actions in Port to directly interact with the ServiceNow Table API. These actions let users:

Create a new incident.
Resolve an existing incident.
Delete an incident.

Each action will be configured via JSON and triggered using synced webhooks secured with secrets. To implement these use-cases, follow the steps below:

Add Port secrets

To add a secret to your portal:

Click on the ... button in the top right corner of your Port application.
Click on Credentials.
Click on the Secrets tab.
Click on + Secret and add the following secret:
- SERVICENOW_API_TOKEN: A base64 encoded string of your ServiceNow credentials generated as:
  echo -n "your-instance-username:your-instance-password" | base64

Create a new incident

Go to the Self-service page of your portal.
Click on the + New Action button.
Click on the {...} Edit JSON button.

Copy and paste the following JSON configuration into the editor.

Create incident action (Click to expand)

Replace placeholder

Remember to replace the <SERVICENOW_INSTANCE_URL> placeholder with you actual ServiceNow instance such as https://example-id.service-now.com

{
  "identifier": "create_snow_incident",
  "title": "Create Incident",
  "icon": "Servicenow",
  "description": "Create an incident in ServiceNow using webhook",
  "trigger": {
    "type": "self-service",
    "operation": "CREATE",
    "userInputs": {
      "properties": {
        "short_description": {
          "icon": "DefaultProperty",
          "title": "Short Description",
          "description": "Description of the incident",
          "type": "string"
        },
        "assigned_to": {
          "icon": "DefaultProperty",
          "title": "Assigned To",
          "description": "User this incident is assigned to",
          "type": "string"
        },
        "urgency": {
          "title": "Urgency",
          "icon": "DefaultProperty",
          "type": "string",
          "default": "2",
          "enum": [
            "1",
            "2",
            "3"
          ],
          "enumColors": {
            "1": "red",
            "2": "yellow",
            "3": "green"
          }
        },
        "sysparm_display_value": {
          "title": "Sysparm Display Value",
          "description": "Determines the type of data returned",
          "icon": "DefaultProperty",
          "type": "string",
          "default": "all",
          "enum": [
            "true",
            "false",
            "all"
          ]
        },
        "sysparm_input_display_value": {
          "title": "Sysparm Input Display Value",
          "description": "Flag that indicates whether to set field values using the display value or the actual value",
          "type": "boolean",
          "default": false
        }
      },
      "required": [
        "short_description",
        "assigned_to"
      ],
      "order": [
        "short_description",
        "assigned_to",
        "urgency",
        "sysparm_display_value",
        "sysparm_input_display_value"
      ]
    },
    "blueprintIdentifier": "servicenowIncident"
  },
  "invocationMethod": {
    "type": "WEBHOOK",
    "url": "<SERVICENOW_INSTANCE_URL>/api/now/table/incident",
    "agent": false,
    "synchronized": true,
    "method": "POST",
    "headers": {
      "Content-Type": "application/json",
      "Accept": "application/json",
      "Authorization": "Basic {{.secrets.SERVICENOW_API_TOKEN}}"
    },
    "body": {
      "short_description": "{{.inputs.short_description}}",
      "assigned_to": "{{.inputs.assigned_to}}",
      "urgency": "{{.inputs.urgency}}",
      "sysparm_display_value": "{{.inputs.sysparm_display_value}}",
      "sysparm_input_display_value": "{{.inputs.sysparm_input_display_value}}"
    }
  },
  "requiredApproval": false
}

Click Save.

Now you should see the Create Incident action in the self-service page. 🎉

Resolve an incident

Go to the Self-service page of your portal.
Click on the + New Action button.
Click on the {...} Edit JSON button.

Copy and paste the following JSON configuration into the editor.

Resolve incident action (Click to expand)

Replace placeholder

Remember to replace the <SERVICENOW_INSTANCE_URL> placeholder with you actual ServiceNow instance such as https://example-id.service-now.com

{
  "identifier": "resolve_snow_incident",
  "title": "Resolve Incident",
  "icon": "Servicenow",
  "description": "Resolve an incident in the ServiceNow catalog",
  "trigger": {
    "type": "self-service",
    "operation": "DAY-2",
    "userInputs": {
      "properties": {
        "resolution_code": {
          "type": "string",
          "title": "Resolution Code",
          "default": "Solution provided",
          "enum": [
            "Duplicate",
            "Known error",
            "No resolution provided",
            "Resolved by caller",
            "Resolved by change",
            "Resolved by problem",
            "Resolved by request",
            "Solution provided",
            "Workaround provided",
            "User error"
          ],
          "enumColors": {
            "Duplicate": "lightGray",
            "Known error": "lightGray",
            "No resolution provided": "lightGray",
            "Resolved by caller": "lightGray",
            "Resolved by change": "lightGray",
            "Resolved by problem": "lightGray",
            "Resolved by request": "lightGray",
            "Solution provided": "lightGray",
            "Workaround provided": "lightGray",
            "User error": "lightGray"
          }
        },
        "resolution_note": {
          "type": "string",
          "title": "Resolution Note"
        }
      },
      "required": [
        "resolution_code",
        "resolution_note"
      ],
      "order": [
        "resolution_code",
        "resolution_note"
      ]
    },
    "blueprintIdentifier": "servicenowIncident"
  },
  "invocationMethod": {
    "type": "WEBHOOK",
    "url": "<SERVICENOW_INSTANCE_URL>/api/now/table/incident/{{.entity.identifier}}",
    "agent": false,
    "synchronized": true,
    "method": "PATCH",
    "headers": {
      "RUN_ID": "{{ .run.id }}",
      "Content-Type": "application/json",
      "Accept": "application/json",
      "Authorization": "Basic {{.secrets.SERVICENOW_API_TOKEN}}"
    },
    "body": {
      "state": "6",
      "close_code": "{{ .inputs.resolution_code }}",
      "close_notes": "{{ .inputs.resolution_note }}"
    }
  },
  "requiredApproval": false
}

Click Save.

Now you should see the Resolve Incident action in the self-service page. 🎉

Delete an incident

Go to the Self-service page of your portal.
Click on the + New Action button.
Click on the {...} Edit JSON button.

Copy and paste the following JSON configuration into the editor.

Delete incident action (Click to expand)

Replace placeholder

Remember to replace the <SERVICENOW_INSTANCE_URL> placeholder with you actual ServiceNow instance such as https://example-id.service-now.com

{
  "identifier": "delete_snow_incident",
  "title": "Delete Incident",
  "icon": "Servicenow",
  "description": "Deletes an incident from the ServiceNow incident catalog",
  "trigger": {
    "type": "self-service",
    "operation": "DELETE",
    "userInputs": {
      "properties": {},
      "required": [],
      "order": []
    },
    "blueprintIdentifier": "servicenowIncident"
  },
  "invocationMethod": {
    "type": "WEBHOOK",
    "url": "<SERVICENOW_INSTANCE_URL>/api/now/table/incident/{{.entity.identifier}}",
    "agent": false,
    "synchronized": true,
    "method": "DELETE",
    "headers": {
      "RUN_ID": "{{ .run.id }}",
      "Content-Type": "application/json",
      "Accept": "application/json",
      "Authorization": "Basic {{.secrets.SERVICENOW_API_TOKEN}}"
    },
    "body": {}
  },
  "requiredApproval": false
}

Click Save.

Now you should see the Delete Incident action in the self-service page. 🎉

Visualize metrics

With incidents ingested and actions configured, the next step is building a dashboard to monitor ServiceNow data directly in Port. We can visualize all incidents by state, priority, or severity using customizable widgets. In addition, we can trigger remediation workflows right from your dashboard.

Create a dashboard

Navigate to the Catalog page of your portal.
Click on the + New button in the left sidebar.
Select New dashboard.
Name the dashboard ServiceNow Incident Management.
Input Create, view and manage your incidents under Description.
Select the Servicenow icon.
Click Create.

We now have a blank dashboard where we can start adding widgets to visualize insights from our ServiceNow incidents.

Add widgets

In the new dashboard, create the following widgets:

Total incidents created in the last 3 months (click to expand)

Click + Widget and select Number Chart.
Title: Total incidents (add the Servicenow icon).
Select Count entities Chart type and choose ServiceNow Incident as the Blueprint.
Select count for the Function.

Add this JSON to the Additional filters editor to filter incidents created in the last 3 months:

[
    {
        "combinator":"and",
        "rules":[
            {
                "property":"createdOn",
                "operator":"between",
                "value":{
                "preset":"last3Months"
                }
            }
        ]
    }
]

Select custom as the Unit and input incidents as the Custom unit
Click Save.

Incident by state (click to expand)

Click + Widget and select Pie chart.
Title: Incident by state (add the Servicenow icon).
Choose the ServiceNow Incident blueprint.
Under Breakdown by property, select the State property
Click Save.

Incident by severity (click to expand)

Click + Widget and select Pie chart.
Title: Incident by severity (add the Servicenow icon).
Choose the ServiceNow Incident blueprint.
Under Breakdown by property, select the Severity property
Click Save.

Create incident action (click to expand)

Click + Widget and select Action card.
Choose the Create Incident action we created in this guide
Click Save.

All Servicenow incidents view (click to expand)

Click + Widget and select Table.
Title the widget All Incidents.
Choose the ServiceNow Incident blueprint
Click Save to add the widget to the dashboard.
Click on the ... button in the top right corner of the table and select Customize table.
In the top right corner of the table, click on Manage Properties and add the following properties:
- State: The current state of the incident.
- Assigned To: The assignee of the incident.
- Priority: The incident priority.
- Entity Creation Date: The date the incident was created in Port.
Click on the save icon in the top right corner of the widget to save the customized table.

Common use cases​

Prerequisites​

Set up self-service actions​

Add Port secrets

Create a new incident​

Resolve an incident​

Delete an incident​

Visualize metrics​

Create a dashboard​

Add widgets​

Common use cases

Prerequisites

Set up self-service actions

Create a new incident

Resolve an incident

Delete an incident

Visualize metrics

Create a dashboard

Add widgets