Thanks for your reply.

We've been using ServiceNow for several years. Then it seems that the product documentation doesn't describe this case accurately or completely. An article in "Pending Deactivation" whose retiring hasn't been approved should still be viewable and searchable. According to https://www.servicenow.com/docs/de-DE/bundle/xanadu-servicenow-platform/page/product/knowledge-manag..., it also states: "Retired knowledge articles cannot be searched by external users or customers."

Until recently, I was able to understand this; only once the retiring was approved was the article no longer accessible or searchable. However, it should be noted that retiring occurred relatively rarely.

As part of a patch, we performed a business-critical technical test on our applications in ServiceNow, and I also examined Knowledge Management more intensively. I've now noticed that articles are no longer searchable or viewable without approved deactivation (except in the backend with the appropriate permissions).

I don't find this critical, but it is a bit surprising. Perhaps it was a minor bug that was fixed in an older patch version.

Best wishes to you and the community