I built a Chrome extension to create ServiceNow tables from Excel templates

[anning]

Hi everyone,

I built a Chrome extension called Excel to ServiceNow for ServiceNow admins and developers who manage table definitions in Excel.

The idea is simple: if your team prepares table and column definitions in an Excel design document first, this extension helps reduce the manual copy-paste work when creating or updating tables in ServiceNow.

Chrome Web Store:
Search for "Excel to ServiceNow" or open:
https://chromewebstore.google.com/search/Excel%20to%20ServiceNow

Demo video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pAPkLN6dUDw

What it can do:

- Create a new ServiceNow table from an Excel template
- Add or update columns on an existing table
- Validate required sheets and headers before upload
- Configure mapping for Excel sheet names and header names
- Support both English and Japanese templates
- Handle choice-list definitions from Excel

Recommended usage:

Please try it first on a PDI or non-production instance. Since this is a Chrome extension that interacts with a ServiceNow instance, I know security and trust are important, so I would appreciate any feedback on the workflow, permissions, and documentation.

I would love to hear from other ServiceNow developers/admins:

- Does this match how your team manages table definition documents?
- What field types or table settings would you expect it to support next?
- Is there anything unclear or concerning before testing it?

Thanks in advance for any feedback!

[GlideFather]

wow @anning,

it looks amazing! I have no idea how did you do it 😄 great job!

A few questions:

• is there any permission validation?
• who can use this extension - must it be a user with admin?
• any measure to avoid creating tables directly in PROD while not existing in DEV or TEST?
• any licensing considerations? 

[anning]

@GlideFather 

Thank you! Really appreciate the kind words and the thoughtful questions.

Here are the current answers:

1. Is there any permission validation?

Currently, the extension does not perform a separate pre-check for ServiceNow roles before running.

It uses the ServiceNow credentials entered by the user and calls ServiceNow APIs such as sys_db_object, sys_dictionary, sys_choice, and sys_documentation. So the actual permission validation is done by ServiceNow ACLs and API permissions.

If the user does not have enough permission, the API call should fail and the extension shows the error.

2. Who can use this extension? Must it be an admin user?

In practice, the user needs enough ServiceNow permissions to create tables and update dictionary/choice/documentation records.

For many instances, that usually means an admin user, or a delegated developer/user with the right permissions in the target application scope.

So I would not describe it as an end-user tool. It is intended for ServiceNow admins/developers.

3. Any measure to avoid creating tables directly in PROD while not existing in DEV or TEST?

At the moment, the extension validates that the configured instance URL matches the currently opened ServiceNow tab, and it asks for confirmation before creating or updating a table.

However, it does not currently enforce an environment policy such as “only allow DEV/TEST” or “block PROD”.

My recommendation is to use it first on a PDI, DEV, or TEST instance, and follow the normal promotion/release process before applying anything to PROD.

This is a good point, though. I am considering adding stronger safety options, for example:
- configurable allowed instance list
- warning when the URL looks like PROD
- optional PROD lock
- environment label/check before upload

4. Any licensing considerations?

For the extension itself, there is a free usage limit and a Premium option for unlimited usage.

Separately, from the ServiceNow side, creating custom tables may have licensing or entitlement implications depending on your ServiceNow contract and product setup. Users should check with their ServiceNow admin/account team before creating production custom tables.

So in short: the extension can help automate the table creation workflow, but it does not replace ServiceNow governance, release management, or licensing review.

Thanks again for asking these questions. They are exactly the areas I want to make clearer in the documentation.

[GlideFather]

wow again @anning!

Thank you for your reply and if you ever wanted to share how did you do that, it would be very interesting to see in some webinar or demo video :))

I wish you every success and best of luck with your extension!