Custom URLs

[Mahesh Pydisett]

Hello Everyone,

I have a question on Custom URLs i.e.,

What is the exact use of Custom URLs in ServiceNow and if we set it as Instance URL will it affect any integrations(Inbound and Outbound)?

Thanks.

[vaishali231]

Hey @Mahesh Pydisett 

Custom URLs in ServiceNow are mainly used to provide a company branded URL instead of the default ServiceNow instance URL.

For example:

Default instance URL:

https://instance.service-now.com

Custom URL:

https://support.company.com

A Custom URL can be useful for Employee Center, Service Portal, CSM portals, branding, and providing users with a more meaningful URL.

What does "Is Instance URL" mean?

When a Custom URL is configured as the Instance URL, ServiceNow uses that URL as the preferred base URL when generating outbound URLs from the instance.

For example, instead of generating:

https://instance.service-now.com/incident.do?sys_id=...

ServiceNow may generate:

https://support.company.com/incident.do?sys_id=...

This is particularly relevant for links generated in notifications and other ServiceNow-generated outbound URLs.

Will it affect inbound integrations?

Setting a Custom URL as the Instance URL does not inherently disable or change ServiceNow REST/SOAP APIs.

For example, an existing integration using:

https://instance.service-now.com/api/now/table/incident

will not automatically stop working simply because a Custom URL is configured.

However, you should review integrations where the ServiceNow hostname is explicitly configured or validated, such as:

1. OAuth redirect/callback URLs
2. SSO/SAML configuration
3. Webhooks
4. Firewall or IP/URL allowlists
5. Hard-coded ServiceNow URLs
6. External systems that validate the ServiceNow hostname

What about outbound integrations?

If ServiceNow is calling an external system such as Jira, the Custom URL normally does not affect the destination endpoint.

For example:

ServiceNow → REST Message → Jira

If the REST Message endpoint is:

https://jira.company.com/api/...

changing the ServiceNow Custom URL does not change the Jira endpoint.

The important scenario is when ServiceNow generates or sends its own instance URL to another system. In that case, marking the Custom URL as the Instance URL can cause the generated URL to use the Custom URL instead of the original service-now.com hostname.

Best Practice

Before enabling a Custom URL as the Instance URL in Production, I would recommend:

1. Identify integrations containing hard-coded ServiceNow URLs.
2. Review OAuth and SSO redirect/callback URLs.
3. Check webhook configurations and external callbacks.
4. Validate any firewall, proxy, or allowlist rules.
5. Test inbound REST/SOAP integrations.
6. Test outbound integrations and notifications containing ServiceNow links.
7. Verify portal and CSM URLs.
8. Perform end-to-end testing before making it the production Instance URL.

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If this response helps, please mark it as Accept as Solution and Helpful.

Doing so helps others in the community and encourages me to keep contributing.

Regards

Vaishali Singh

Servicenow Developer
Linkedin - https://www.linkedin.com/in/vaishali-singh-2273361bb

[yashkamde]

Hello @Mahesh Pydisett ,

Setting a Custom URL by itself is low risk since it's additive (CNAME) and the native domain still works.

The risk shows up specifically when you update the Instance URL system property to the custom domain that changes what URL gets embedded in generated links, and anything with a hardcoded dependency on the old URL (SSO metadata, OAuth redirect URIs, third party webhook registrations) needs to be reviewed and updated in parallel.

It's not really an integration will break situation across the board, it's a audit anything with a hardcoded URL reference situation.

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