What is the OOTB solution for controlling Incident state transitions?

[SaitejaN]

Hi everyone,

I'm working on customizing the Incident form and want to understand what out-of-the-box (OOTB) features ServiceNow provides for managing state transitions.

Specifically, I’m looking for a way to control which state options appear based on the current state — for example:

• From New, allow only In Progress and Canceled

• From In Progress, allow On Hold and Resolved

• From Resolved, allow Closed, and optionally show a message like “This process has been closed”

I’ve seen some client scripts that manually add/remove options, but I’d prefer a configuration-based approach if available. Is there an OOTB feature or plugin that handles this without scripting?

Thanks in advance!

[Rafael Batistot · Accepted solution]

Hi @SaitejaN 

You need create a state model for incident table 

see how to 

https://youtu.be/NRoMGusIHYA?si=_1MCfhudXLEFZ296

Documentation 

https://www.servicenow.com/docs/bundle/washingtondc-platform-administration/page/administer/state-mo...

[Bhuvan · Accepted solution]

@SaitejaN 

You can use state model to achieve this. Refer below thread for steps to follow,

https://www.servicenow.com/community/service-management-forum/incident-state-management-or-state-tra...

More details on this,

https://www.servicenow.com/docs/bundle/zurich-platform-administration/page/administer/state-model/co...

If this helped to answer your query, please mark it helpful & accept the solution. 

Thanks,

Bhuvan

[Ankur Bawiskar · Accepted solution]

@SaitejaN 

to show particular State options based on current state, you will require client script to remove those options.

I don't think any configuration can help here.

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

[Shashank_Jain · Accepted solution]

@SaitejaN ,

Requirement                                                          OOTB Option Available?                           Notes

Show limited state options based on current state	Partially	Use workflow/business rules to enforce allowed transitions
Dynamically filter drop-down choices	No	Requires client script
Show a message when a state is not allowed	Yes (workflow/BR validation message)	Can prevent saving invalid transitions without scripting
Configuration-only approach	Yes, with limitations	Choice dependencies + UI policies + workflow validations

[Shashank_Jain · Accepted solution]

@SaitejaN ,

Requirement                                                          OOTB Option Available?                           Notes

Show limited state options based on current state	Partially	Use workflow/business rules to enforce allowed transitions
Dynamically filter drop-down choices	No	Requires client script
Show a message when a state is not allowed	Yes (workflow/BR validation message)	Can prevent saving invalid transitions without scripting
Configuration-only approach	Yes, with limitations	Choice dependencies + UI policies + workflow validations