Need help with an email inbound action script

[BrianProvencher]

I am trying to create an inbound action. It should take the username from the subject line and submit a Catalog Item in the name of that user. It should check the u_employee_type field of the user record. If the value is Employee, it should generate Catalog item b150ee90879bb410a2efbaa6cebb3573. if not, generate catalog item 0d4d616f1b1bf0502cc987b3604bcbef. This is the script I have so far. I've run it through chatgpt and NowAssist several times, but I can't get it to work. I would appreciate any help.

(function runEmailAction(email, email_action, event) {

    // Extract username from subject line

    var subject = email.subject;

    var usernameMatch = subject.match(/Pending Termination:\s*(\w+)/);

    if (!usernameMatch || usernameMatch.length < 2) {

        gs.log("Inbound Email Action: Username not found in subject line.");

        return;

    }

    var username = usernameMatch[1];

    gs.log("Inbound Email Action: Found username - " + username);

    // Look up user record

    var userGR = new GlideRecord('sys_user');

    userGR.addQuery('user_name', username);

    userGR.query();

    if (!userGR.next()) {

        gs.log("Inbound Email Action: User not found - " + username);

        return;

    }

    // Determine catalog item based on employee type

    var catalogItemId;

    if (userGR.u_employee_type == 'Employee') {

        catalogItemId = 'b150ee90879bb410a2efbaa6cebb3573';

    } else {

        catalogItemId = '0d4d616f1b1bf0502cc987b3604bcbef';

    }

    // Create a new catalog request

    var cart = new Cart();

    cart.setUser(userGR.sys_id);

    cart.addItem(catalogItemId);

    cart.placeOrder();

    gs.log("Inbound Email Action: Catalog item " + catalogItemId + " requested for user " + username);

})(email, email_action, event);

[Ankur Bawiskar]

@BrianProvencher 

did the inbound action got processed?

If my response helped please mark it correct and close the thread so that it benefits future readers.

[BrianProvencher]

@Ankur Bawiskar It did. What should the target table be for the action?

[Ankur Bawiskar]

@BrianProvencher 

you can use inbound action of type New on Request table

check this link

Submitting a catalog item from an Inbound Action 

If my response helped please mark it correct and close the thread so that it benefits future readers.

[nityabans27]

Hi @BrianProvencher 
🔎 Issues in your script

1. Regex for username extraction

   • Your regex (\w+) only captures alphanumeric and underscore. If usernames contain dots (nitya.bansal), hyphens, etc., it won’t match.

2. GlideRecord query

   • You’re querying user_name, which is correct — but confirm your subject actually contains the login name and not display name/email.

3. Cart API usage

   • The ServiceNow Cart API isn’t always fully available in inbound email actions.

   • cart.setUser(userGR.sys_id) isn’t valid — setUser() expects a user object or GlideUser, not just sys_id.

   • cart.addItem(catalogItemId) usually requires at least one variable map, even if empty.

---

✅ Corrected Script

(function runEmailAction(email, email_action, event) {
    try {
        // Extract username from subject line
        var subject = email.subject || '';
        var usernameMatch = subject.match(/Pending Termination:\s*([\w\.\-]+)/); // allow dot & dash
        if (!usernameMatch || usernameMatch.length < 2) {
            gs.log("Inbound Email Action: Username not found in subject line. Subject = " + subject);
            return;
        }

        var username = usernameMatch[1];
        gs.log("Inbound Email Action: Found username - " + username);

        // Look up user record
        var userGR = new GlideRecord('sys_user');
        userGR.addQuery('user_name', username);
        userGR.query();

        if (!userGR.next()) {
            gs.log("Inbound Email Action: User not found - " + username);
            return;
        }

        // Determine catalog item
        var catalogItemId = (userGR.u_employee_type == 'Employee')
            ? 'b150ee90879bb410a2efbaa6cebb3573'
            : '0d4d616f1b1bf0502cc987b3604bcbef';

        // Create a cart order
        var cart = new Cart();
        cart.setCartUser(userGR.sys_id); // correct method for setting user
        var item = cart.addItem(catalogItemId, {}); // add empty variables
        var rc = cart.placeOrder();

        gs.log("Inbound Email Action: Catalog item " + catalogItemId + " requested for user " + username + ". Request: " + rc.sys_id);
    } catch (e) {
        gs.error("Inbound Email Action: Error - " + e);
    }
})(email, email_action, event);

---

🔧 Key Fixes

• Regex → Now allows dots and hyphens in usernames.

• Cart API → Use setCartUser(userGR.sys_id) (not setUser).

• addItem → Pass an empty object {} for variables, otherwise some instances reject the call.

• Logging → Added more detail to troubleshoot subject parsing & request creation.

[Ravi Gaurav]

Hi @BrianProvencher 

(function runEmailAction(email, email_action, event) {

// Extract username from subject line
var subject = email.subject;
var usernameMatch = subject.match(/Pending Termination:\s*([\w\.\-]+)/); // allow dot & hyphen

if (!usernameMatch || usernameMatch.length < 2) {
gs.info("Inbound Email Action: Username not found in subject line. Subject: " + subject);
return;
}

var username = usernameMatch[1];
gs.info("Inbound Email Action: Found username - " + username);

// Look up user record
var userGR = new GlideRecord('sys_user');
userGR.addQuery('user_name', username);
userGR.query();

if (!userGR.next()) {
gs.info("Inbound Email Action: User not found - " + username);
return;
}

// Determine catalog item based on employee type
var catalogItemId;
if (userGR.u_employee_type + '' == 'Employee') { // string comparison
catalogItemId = 'b150ee90879bb410a2efbaa6cebb3573';
} else {
catalogItemId = '0d4d616f1b1bf0502cc987b3604bcbef';
}

// Create a new catalog request
var cart = new Cart();
cart.setCartUser(userGR.sys_id.toString()); // correct method
cart.addItem(catalogItemId);
var rc = cart.placeOrder();

gs.info("Inbound Email Action: Catalog item " + catalogItemId +
" requested for user " + username + " | Request " + rc);

})(email, email_action, event);