After Insert business rule causing unknown activities on Catalog Task.

[The Matrix]

Hi Team, 

There is an After Insert business rule written on Catalog Task (sc_task) for some reason it cannot be avoided and must be used with current.update(). This Business rule is causing unknown activitiy on Catalog Task as Active fasle.  What could be the reason for this?

[yashkamde]

Hello @The Matrix ,

The reason may be this that current.update() inside an after-insert rule causes a second update transaction, which re-triggers update rules and system logic one of those is setting active = false. The fix is either to restructure the rule to avoid current.update() at that timing, or to guard against recursion with flags/conditions.

If my response helped mark as helpful and accept the solution.

[Ankur Bawiskar]

@The Matrix 

why not make it Before Insert to set the State and Assigned to?

Then no current.update() required

💡 If my response helped, please mark it as correct ✅ and close the thread 🔒— this helps future readers find the solution faster! 🙏

[The Matrix]

Hi @Ankur Bawiskar you are right for before insert no current.update() required but in that scenario that Reponse SLA is not getting attached? So, I need use After Inser BR.

[Ankur Bawiskar]

@The Matrix 

why SLA won't get attached?

if SLA has proper start, stop, pause condition it will get attached

💡 If my response helped, please mark it as correct ✅ and close the thread 🔒— this helps future readers find the solution faster! 🙏

[Tanushree Maiti]

In servicenow  instance there is no OOB BR on sc_task which is having current.update().

Impact of current.update() in Business Rules

• Recursive Loops: The most common impact, where a Business Rule triggers itself repeatedly, causing system instability or timeouts.
• Performance Degradation: Repeated updates on the same record increase transaction times, impacting the user experience.
• Duplicate Data and Notifications: Data may be modified or audited multiple times, causing confusing logs, duplicate work notes, and multiple notifications for a single user action.
• Health Scan Warnings: ServiceNow monitoring tools (Health Scan) will highlight this practice as a potential risk to platform stability.

Recommended Alternatives & Best Practices

• Before BRs: Do not use current.update(). Instead, simply set the values (current.field = 'value'), as the system will automatically save them.
• Alternative Methods: For updating related records, use GlideRecord instead of current.update().
• After BRs: If an update is necessary, consider using a before BR instead, or use current.setWorkflow(false) to prevent triggering other business rules (use with caution).