How do I trigger an email once a task completes when I submit a catalog item request via flow design

Mike LHCG1 · ‎12-11-2025

Let me provide more detail.

I need to schedule a task to run weekly at a certain time on a certain day that go's to an\ assignee to complete some work. Once that work is complete and the task is closed, I need to send an email to a manager to let them know it's been completed.

I created a catalog item that includes a task for the work. Then in Flow Designer, I scheduled that catalog item to run every Tuesday at 1:30pom (see attached). So far so good, it works great. Now, however, when the person that gets the task for that catalog item completes the work and closes the task, I need to send the email. This is where I need some assistance. I'm not sure what I can use to trigger that email to send. My "Action" in Flow Designer was related to the catalog item. Without doing scripting, is there some way to query the task for that catalog item to see if it's been closed so I can use that as a trigger for the email...or is there a better way to implement this? Thanks!

Shaah · ‎12-20-2025

I’ll first explain why your current approach hits a limitation, then give you two correct implementation options, with Option A (recommended) being fully Flow Designer–driven and no scripting required.

Problem Restated (in platform terms)

A catalog item is scheduled weekly (Tuesday 1:30 PM).
The catalog item generates a task (sc_task) assigned to a user.
The user completes the work and closes the task.
At that moment, an email must be sent to a manager.
You want a clean trigger for the email without scripting.

Your challenge is that the scheduled trigger is tied to the catalog item, but the completion event happens on the task, which is a different record lifecycle.

This is a very common and very solvable design pattern in ServiceNow.

Why your current flow can’t “see” the task closure

Flow Designer scheduled flows are one-time triggers.
Once the catalog item is requested, that flow is done.

Key limitation:

A scheduled flow cannot wait or listen for downstream task state changes.

So instead of “polling” or querying the task (which is inefficient and brittle), you need to flip the design and let the task itself trigger the email.

✅ Best-Practice Solution (Recommended)

Option A — Record-Based Flow on Catalog Task (No Scripting)

This is the cleanest, most scalable, and upgrade-safe approach.

Architecture Overview

You will have two flows:

Flow 1 (already done)
- Scheduled flow creates the catalog request weekly
Flow 2 (new)
- Record-based flow listens for task completion
- Sends email to manager

Each flow has a single responsibility, which is exactly how ServiceNow expects you to design automation.

Step-by-Step Implementation

🔹 Step 1: Identify the correct table

Catalog tasks live in:

sc_task

That is the table you want to monitor.

🔹 Step 2: Create a Record-Triggered Flow

Go to Flow Designer
Create New Flow
Select Trigger → Record
Configure as follows:

Trigger configuration

Table: Catalog Task (sc_task)
When: Updated
Condition:
- State changes to Closed Complete
- (Optional but recommended)
  - Request Item.Catalog Item = your specific catalog item

This ensures the flow only runs for this scheduled task.

🔹 Step 3: Get the Manager (No Script)

You have multiple no-code options:

Option 1: Manager of the Assignee (Most common)

Use Data Pill:
```
Assigned to → Manager → Email
```

Option 2: Manager stored on the Request

If your catalog item captures a manager:

Request Item → Requested For → Manager → Email

Option 3: Static manager or group email

Use a fixed email or distribution list

🔹 Step 4: Send the Email

Add an Action → Send Email

To: manager email (from step above)
Subject:
Weekly Task Completed – ${Catalog Task Number}

Body (example):

Hello,

The weekly scheduled task ${number} has been completed.

Completed by: ${assigned_to}
Completed on: ${closed_at}

Regards,
ServiceNow

Use data pills only — no scripting required.

🔹 Step 5: Activate & Test

Wait for the next scheduled run or manually create a test catalog task
Close the task
Confirm email fires immediately

Why This Is the Correct Design

✔ Event-driven (no polling, no querying)
✔ Zero scripting
✔ Scales to hundreds of tasks
✔ Easy to maintain
✔ Clear audit trail
✔ Aligns with ServiceNow architecture

This pattern is far superior to trying to extend the scheduled flow.

⚠️ What NOT to Do (Anti-Patterns)

❌ Querying tasks in a scheduled loop
❌ Using “Wait” actions for long durations
❌ Business Rules for simple notifications
❌ Scripted email triggers for standard lifecycle events

Those approaches work initially but break at scale.

Alternative (Only if you need advanced logic)

Option B — Flow on sc_req_item (Less precise)

You can trigger on:

Request Item → State changes to Closed Complete

But:

RITM may close before the task
Not reliable if multiple tasks exist

Use this only if task-level precision is not required.

Final Recommendation (TL;DR)

Do not try to extend your scheduled catalog flow.
Create a second, record-triggered flow on sc_task that fires when the task closes and sends the email.

This is exactly how ServiceNow architects design recurring operational work.

Please Mark Helpful if you find this useful and Accept it as a Solution if find it correct.
SHAAH ABIIR AL KHALID
LinkedIn : https://www.linkedin.com/in/shaah/

View solution in original post

Ankur Bawiskar · ‎12-18-2025

@Mike LHCG1

the link I shared has approach in it

did you check and explore that?

where are you stuck?

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

Regards,
Ankur
✨ Certified Technical Architect || ✨ 9x ServiceNow MVP || ✨ ServiceNow Community Leader

Akshay37 · ‎12-12-2025

@Mike LHCG1 ,

You can do it in multiple ways,

1) you can directly create a notification on catalog task table where you can specify trigger as inseted/updated and click on updated checbox and also in condition specify the condition as state changes to close complete.
2) You can use action send email/notification after waiting in a flow till task gets close complete

3) You can trigger the event after task gets completed.

If this response helps you mark it as helpful so that it will help others
Thanks,

Akshay

nayanmule · ‎12-14-2025

The task are you talking about is it a Catalog task created as part of that RITM ? or Are you considering a RITM as a (work) task ?

If you have already a separate flow for your Catalog Item that you are submitting (Building B Level..) then in that flow itself you can add a wait condition to check if your catalog task or RITM is closed complete or not. Once, it's Closed , you can use Send Email action and design your email in the Flow designer itself.

If you don't want to edit the flow , you can still create a standalone notification to send it to the Requestor's manager once the RITM is Closed.

If my response helped you, kindly mark it as helpful and accept the solution.

Regards,

Nayan

Mike LHCG1 · ‎12-18-2025

Hi Nayanmule,

Thanks for your response.

Just to review, there is a catalog item in our service catalog and the only thing it does is create a task that is assigned to a specific person to complete some work...there are no variables, etc. That catalog item is triggered once a week by the flow in flow designer and that flow does nothing else. The person assigned the task may not complete it right away...it could take a few days, so I may be wrong, but i don't believe a wait condition is viable, and I don't know how to query if the task from the submitted catalog item is complete. How would I do that in the flow? I'm confused as to how the flow would know a task closed 3 days later is related to it. Thank you.

nayanmule · ‎12-18-2025

@Mike LHCG1 , you are just adding a wait for condition for catalog task is not enough. The better way to handle this to do outside the flow designer.

You can create a standalone notification on the 'sc_task' table.

you can give the conditions like Requested Item -> Item -> Building Level1 B(name of you catalog item) and State is -> Closed Complete.

If my response has helped you, kindly mark it as helpful and accept as solution to help the future readers.

Regards,

Nayan