Servicenow Encyclopedia

[SSJ]

I wanted to know if there is a single place where all the possible backend names, along with labels for tables, modules, fields, ACLs, etc., that come by default on the now platform. If anyone has any information about this, please share. I have made one for a rough idea, attached below. By this, I don't mean master tables, but a cumulative collection of all those master tables and other corresponding ones.

[rahulswami]

Hi ,

Short answer: no, there isn't a single official ServiceNow document that lists every backend table/field/module/ACL name with its label — and there can't really be one, since the count changes by release and by which plugins/apps are activated (a Vancouver+ instance easily has 7,000+ tables once you include every product app). What you've built is a genuinely useful approach, but the framing in your own README is the right one: treat it as a curated reference, not a definitive inventory.

That said, here's where the real backend-name-to-label mappings live, depending on what you're after:

For YOUR instance specifically (most authoritative):

• sys_db_object — every table, with label + backend name
• sys_dictionary — every field, per table, with type and attributes
• sys_documentation — field labels/hints, including per-language overrides
• sys_choice — choice list backend values vs. display labels
• sys_scope / sys_app_module — installed apps and their navigation modules

Exporting these four/five gives you a 100% accurate snapshot of what's actually on your instance — which is the only thing that's ever truly "complete," since OOB tables that aren't touched by an active plugin won't even be visible until that plugin activates.

For browsing OOB tables without building your own export:

• REST API Explorer (System Web Services > REST > REST API Explorer) is underrated for this — search any table name and it shows you the backend name, label, and every field with its type, live against your instance.
• System Definition > Tables, then the "Show Schema Map" related link on any table, gives you the inheritance chain and field list visually.
• developer.servicenow.com has a Table API/Glide reference that documents core platform tables (task, sys_user, cmdb_ci, etc.) with descriptions, though it's not exhaustive for every product app.
• For CMDB specifically, the official CSDM whitepaper/CI Class Model is the closest thing to an "encyclopedia" ServiceNow publishes, and it's actually kept current.

On ACLs specifically — there's no labeled catalog of these anywhere; they're table/field/role combinations (sys_security_acl) rather than named entities the way tables and fields are, so the closest you'll get is filtering that table by object type.

[Tanushree Maiti]

Hi @SSJ 

It seems you’re looking for documentation on the ServiceNow backend data model and OOB (Out-of-the-Box) configuration details.

The short answer is no—ServiceNow generally does not expose its complete underlying data model or internal implementation details.

However, as a learner, you can build a good understanding of the platform through the following resources:

• Start with ServiceNow Learning courses to understand modules, concepts, and commonly used table names.

• For each module, refer to the corresponding ServiceNow Product Documentation for configuration and functional details.

• Use the ServiceNow University Learning Lab instances and a Personal Developer Instance (PDI) to explore the platform hands-on.

• In your PDI, explore configurations such as ACLs, business rules, client scripts, UI policies, data relationships, and other platform configurations to understand how the different components work together.

This hands-on approach will give you a much better understanding of the ServiceNow data model and OOB behavior than relying solely on documentation.