How to change the default scope name of a *new* custom application

[Diogo Ramos]

The problem 

In older versions of the ServiceNow platform, we could define the scope name for new applications when creating them using Studio. Currently, when using App Engine Studio, the application is auto-generated, and you cannot specify a custom scope name. This results in default naming formats like:

x_282154_test_ar_0

When you use App Engine Studio, the application is fully generated for you and you cannot define which scope name you want:

The same issue occurs in ServiceNow Studio, the experience is the same as in App Engine Studio, with no option to modify the auto-generated name.
 

Workarounds
 

We do have a couple of options to manually set the scope name:

1) Creator Studio (Paid APP)

When creating an app in Creator Studio, clicking Advanced Settings shows a field where you can directly edit the Application ID, which determines the resulting scope name.

You can then switch to ServiceNow Studio to continue development. The downside is that Creator Studio generates a template based app, requiring you to manually delete all the generated artifacts.

 

2. Build Agent (Also requires a license)
 

With Build Agent, you specify the Application ID, and it creates the app accordingly. Unlike Creator Studio, this method generates a completely empty app, eliminating the need for cleanup.

3. ServiceNow IDE (Free)
 

An alternative is using ServiceNow IDE to create the app boilerplate:

Create a workspace (e.g., "Playground").

1 - Click Create App and follow the prompts.

2 - When asked for the scope name, modify it as needed (keeping the instance prefix and ≤18 characters).

3 - Define a package name
4 - Select the now-sdk-boilerplate template to only create an empty app.
 

The app also gets created without any artifacts and you can continue your work as normal.
 

Note: I haven’t found a way to fully remove Fluent metadata, removing the app from the workspace was enough for me for now. I’ll test if a clone clears it later.

Other Approaches

Additional methods (e.g., XML import, API, CI/CD spokes) may exist, but I currently use the IDE approach.

Let me know if you have other suggestions, comments are welcome!

[Kona LeDude]

It's not ideal, but the Name is editable after App generation. 

When generating the application within studio, be mindful of the character limit of the Scope (sys_scope.scope) field and populate the App Name such that it doesn't go past the limit, 18 in my case. Example:

Bad:

• Company scope prefix: x_myorg
• Name: My Scoped App
• Resulting scope name: x_myorg_my_scoped0

Better:

• Company scope prefix: x_myorg
• Name: scopedapp
• Resulting scope name: x_myorg_scopedapp

After submission, you can navigate to the sys_app record and update the Name field to "My Scoped App" with no issues.