Major Incident Workbench - How does Compose populate recipients?

[Sirri]

Hi Team,

I am trying to understand the OOB functionality of Major Incident Management.

Scenario

1. Incident is promoted using "Promote to Major Incident" UI Action.
2. After promotion, we click "View Workbench".
3. Workbench opens using:
   
   $major_incident_workbench.do?sysparm_sys_id=<Major Incident Sys ID>

   1. Under the Communicate tab, we see communication tasks such as:

      • Initial Communication
      • Ongoing Communication
      • Resolved Communication

   2. When clicking Compose on the Ongoing Communication task:

      • A communication popup opens.
      • CC recipients are automatically populated.
      • Subject is automatically generated.
      • Email body/template is automatically populated.

   3. When clicking Send, an email is generated and a sys_email record is created.

   What I am trying to understand

   1. Which OOB component handles the Compose action?

      • UI Page
      • UI Macro
      • UX Component
      • Script Include
      • Communication Task configuration

   2. How are the CC recipients determined and populated automatically?

   3. Where is the logic for generating the Subject?

   4. Where is the HTML Email Body Template stored?

   5. Are these values coming from:

      • Communication Plan
      • Communication Task
      • Notification
      • Email Template
      • Stakeholder configuration
      • Distribution List

   6. What is the best way to trace this functionality end-to-end?

   Findings so far

   • Workbench is opened from the View Workbench UI Action.
   • Email generated from Compose creates a sys_email record.
   • In the generated email record, CC recipients, subject, and body are already populated before sending.

   Could anyone point me to the tables, records, or OOB components responsible for this functionality?
   Please find the attached Document for reference.

   Thanks in advance.
   
   

[Kieran Anson]

• Which OOB component handles the Compose action?

  • UI Page
  • UI Macro
  • UX Component
  • Script Include
  • Communication Task configuration

The legacy workbench accessed outside of Service operations workspace is handled by AngularJS pages. In general, UI pages prefixed with a dollar '$' symbol are protected and not accessible for modification, however some of the sub-components that may be called as part of the page may be accessible. The Compose button opens a "task_communication" modal that isn't accessible however some of the content within the modal is an iframe and may be modifiable depending on what you wish to do

• How are the CC recipients determined and populated automatically?

The users contacted as part of a communication are managed as part of a the communication definition

• Where is the logic for generating the Subject?

Again, this is managed as part of a definition. If no definition is used, then the composed emails are controlled by the user as is effectively freeform

• Where is the HTML Email Body Template stored?

Again, the communication definition. Reader • Docs | ServiceNow

• Are these values coming from:

  • Communication Plan
  • Communication Task
  • Notification
  • Email Template
  • Stakeholder configuration
  • Distribution List

• What is the best way to trace this functionality end-to-end?

Follow the docs on how to create the necessary communication plan definition, tasks, recipient lists, etc.

[sachinvic]

Hi @Sirri 

To trace how the Compose action fetches recipients and email content, you need to look at the Communication Plan and the underlying Communication Task configuration rather than the Workbench UI itself.

You can trace the data flow using this structural path:

Major Incident >> Communication Plan >> Communication Task >> Recipients/Recipient List >> Email Client Template >> Email

Areas to check:

• To/CC recipients: Open the Communication Plan/Communication Task and check Manage Recipients and the associated contact/recipient configuration. If a Recipient List is used, its users are calculated when the email is processed. ServiceNow also supports adding users, groups, and email addresses directly to the communication task.

• Subject and body: Check the Email Client Template associated with the email communication channel. Major Incident communication tasks use Email Client Templates rather than standard Email Notifications.

• Recipient population in the Compose window: If the recipients are being populated from the incident's communication contacts, check the MIMWorkbenchUtil Script Include and specifically the getEmailAddresses() method. This is a useful place to trace how the contact information is being returned to the email client.

For troubleshooting, compare the Communication Task that works with the one that does not and trace the recipient configuration and Email Client Template first. This should help identify whether the To/CC values are coming from the communication task recipients, a dynamic Recipient List, or the incident communication contacts.

This should help you pinpoint exactly where your recipient data is originating!