How to auto-change Incident state from On Hold to In Progress on reassignment and make Work Notes ma

[nameisnani]

Hi Team,

I need guidance on implementing the following requirement in ServiceNow Incident Management:

Requirement:

When an Incident is currently in "On Hold" state and the ticket is reassigned (Assignment Group or Assigned To changes), the system should automatically update the State to "In Progress".

Additionally, during this transition, "Work Notes" should be made mandatory to ensure proper documentation of the reassignment activity.

Details: -

Current State: On Hold - Action: Reassignment (Assignment Group or Assigned To changes)

- Expected Behavior:

1. Incident State should automatically change to "In Progress"

2. Work Notes field must be mandatory during this update

If anyone has implemented a similar requirement, please share your approach.

please provide me the configuration steps to achieve thsi requirment 

Thanks in advance for your help!

[vaishali231]

Hey @nameisnani 

Use:

• Data Policy → Make Work Notes mandatory
• Before Business Rule → Change State to In Progress

This is more reliable than a UI Policy because Data Policies and Business Rules are enforced across all channels, including Service Operations Workspace.

Step 1: Create a Data Policy

Navigate to:

System Policy → Data Policies

Click New

Configuration

Field	Value
Name	Work Notes Mandatory on Reassignment
Table	Incident
Active	True
Inherit	False

Conditions

State = On Hold

Create a Data Policy Action:

Field Name	Mandatory
Work Notes	True

Note: If the requirement is only during reassignment, the Business Rule below will enforce the final validation server-side.

Step 2: Create a Before Update Business Rule

Navigate to:

System Definition → Business Rules

Click New

Configuration

Field	Value
Name	Move On Hold Incident To In Progress On Reassignment
Table	Incident
When	Before
Insert	False
Update	True
Advanced	True
Order	100

Leave Condition blank.

Business Rule Script

(function executeRule(current, previous) {
    var reassigned =
        current.assignment_group.changes() ||
        current.assigned_to.changes();

    if (previous.state == 3 &&
        current.state == 3 &&
        reassigned) {
        // Validate Work Notes
        if (gs.nil(current.work_notes.toString())) {
           gs.addErrorMessage(
                'Work Notes are mandatory when reassigning an On Hold Incident.'
            );
            current.setAbortAction(true);
            return;
        }
        // Move State to In Progress
        current.state = 2;

    }

})(current, previous);

***********************************************************************************************************************************

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 @nameisnani ,

For this you can implement an Business Rule:

> Create a Business Rule on the Incident table.

> Trigger: Before Update

> Condition:

• current.state == 'On Hold'

• (current.assignment_group.changes() || current.assigned_to.changes())

> Action:

• Set current.state = 'In Progress'

> also in BR add a check :

if (!current.work_notes.changes()) {
    gs.addErrorMessage('Work Notes are mandatory when reassigning an On Hold incident.');
    current.setAbortAction(true);
}

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

[nameisnani]

@yashkamde  

could u please provide - screenshots please 

after form saves - in activites log state transistions are not capturing

[Tanushree Maiti]

Hi @nameisnani 

You can use a combination of a Before-Update Business Rule and a UI Policy for your requirement.

1: Create the Business Rule (Auto-Update State)

• Navigate to: System Definition > Business Rules and click New.
• Name: Auto-update to In Progress on Reassignment
• Table: Incident
• When: Before
• Update: Checked
• Condition Tab: State is On Hold AND [Assignment group changes OR Assigned to changes]

(function executeRule(current, previous /*null when async*/) {

        current.state = 2; // Set State to In Progress

})(current, previous);

 2: Create a UI Policy (To Make Work Notes Mandatory)

• Navigate to: System UI > UI Policies and click New.
• Table: Incident
• Short Description: Make Work Notes mandatory on reassignment
• Condition: Assignment group changes OR Assigned to changes
• Script Tab: Check Run scripts
• Execute if true script:

function onCondition() {

g_form.setMandatory('work_notes', true);

}

• Execute if false script:

javascript

function onCondition() {

g_form.setMandatory('work_notes', false);

}

• UI Policy Action Tab: Set Work notes to Mandatory.