New ATF Support for Configurable Workspaces in the ServiceNow Zurich Release

[Earl Duque]

New ATF Support for Configurable Workspaces: Your Test Coverage Just Got a Lot Better

As developers on the ServiceNow platform, we know that building amazing user experiences often means leveraging the power of Configurable Workspaces. But for too long, testing those workspaces with the Automated Test Framework (ATF) felt like running into a wall. Good news: that wall is coming down with the Zurich release!

This latest update brings a huge leap forward for ATF, offering native support for testing Configurable Workspaces and finally giving you the tools you need to ensure stability for your custom applications.

Expanding the ATF Horizon

The core goal of this update is simple: to expand the number of components you can actually test within the ServiceNow interface. While previous releases laid some groundwork, Zurich introduces a dedicated authoring experience specifically for these modern workspaces.

This isn't just about clicking buttons; it's about validating basic end-to-end flows. Here’s a quick look at what's now supported:

• Basic Navigation: Landing page access, tab switching, and overall homepage navigation.

• Standard UI Actions: Testing button clicks like "Accept," "Close," or "Create Case."

• Activity Stream: Posting comments or work notes, and stream validation.

• List Operations: Filtering a list, selecting a record, and refining searches.

• Other Notables: Reference fields, modal dialogues, and alert messages.

The New, Nifty Authoring Experience

The most exciting part is how you build these tests. The new authoring experience is a major upgrade in intuitiveness.

During the demo, our product managers showed off the ATF page inspector. This tool lets you interact directly with the workspace interface, highlighting and listing all the testable components on the right-hand side.

Instead of guessing component names or writing complex scripts, you can simply:

1. Drag a crosshair onto the component you want to test (e.g., a header, a button, or a field).

2. Select the action you want to perform (e.g., "Get Text" or "Click").

3. The test step is registered instantly!

This streamlined process drastically cuts down on the time and effort needed to create robust tests. For example, the demo showed how easily a complex workflow—navigating to an Operations tab, switching to the Transfer Orders page, and clicking New—can be recorded in just a few steps.

A Developer-Friendly Perk: Instance Independence

One key feature that will save every developer headaches is how ATF handles workspace URLs. When you input the full workspace URL, the system automatically strips away the instance name. Why is this a win? Because your test won't break just because you moved it from your development environment to a test environment with a different instance URL! It ensures your tests are portable and reliable across the software development lifecycle.

What's Next? (Current Limitations)

The team is hard at work expanding support, but you should be aware of a few current limitations:

• Contextual sidebars are not yet supported.

• Dashboard and Analytics components (the visual data elements) are not supported.

• Advanced UI elements and nested components are also still on the roadmap.

Regardless of these current limitations, the new Configurable Workspace support in ATF is a great for platform developers. It’s a completely new paradigm that unlocks testing for a massive area of the platform that was previously difficult to cover.

Go check out the full video above with product managers Oluyinka Oginni (Outbound PM) and Ravi Mantrala (Inbound PM) for a complete walkthrough and start planning how you'll finally get to 100% test coverage on your custom workspaces!