Change Request Process Flow – Show Cross for Skipped States

sumeetchava · 3 weeks ago

In the Change Request process flow, I have a scenario where I skip a state in between the process.

For example, if the process flow is:

Access → Authorize → Scheduled → Implement → Review--> Closed/Cancelled

and the Change moves from Access directly to Cancelled; I want the Process Flow to show:

Access ✓ → Authorize ✓ → Scheduled ✗ → Implement ✗ → Review ✗--> Cancelled ✓

Instead, currently, the Process Flow shows the subsequent states as checked (✓) even though those states were never actually completed.

Is there a way to configure or customize the Change Request Process Flow so that states that are skipped are displayed with a cross (✗) rather than a check mark?

If this is possible, could someone please point me to the relevant Process Flow configuration or script that controls this behaviour?

Thanks

sumeetchava · 2 weeks ago

Hello, Below is the ServiceNow HI Support case response,

ISSUE SUMMARY:
Change Request Process Flow displays skipped states as completed
SOLUTION PROPOSED:

1) This is expected OOTB behaviour of the Change Request Process Flow formatter.We checked with internal team and the confirmed .

Reason for the behaviour:

The Process Flow formatter is primarily driven by the stage model, not by whether the record physically visited every state. When a Change Request reaches a terminal state such as Cancelled, the formatter considers the lifecycle complete and marks the preceding stages as completed in the visual flow.

Therefore, when a Change moves directly from New/Assess to Cancelled, the formatter can display:

Assess ✓ → Authorize ✓ → Scheduled ✓ → Implement ✓ → Review ✓ → Cancelled ✓

Even though the record never actually entered Authorize, Scheduled, Implement, or Review.This does not indicate that those states were traversed. It only indicates that the process has reached a final outcome and the process flow has been completed.

2) Why are the intermediate stages shown as ✓?
The Process Flow formatter does not interpret those stages as "visited states". Instead, it interprets them as lifecycle milestones that are considered complete once the record reaches the terminal stage (Cancelled).

So the formatter is showing:
Completed lifecycle path ✓
Not actual state history ✓

The actual state transitions should be verified from:
State field audit history
sys_history_line records
Activity Stream
Audit history

These will correctly show that the Change was cancelled without moving through the intermediate states.

Can the stages be shown as ✗ instead?
Not through OOTB configuration.

View solution in original post

Dr Atul G- LNG · 3 weeks ago

Hi @sumeetchava

Yes mate, 100%. ServiceNow has a feature called Change Model, where you can build the model and state transitions based on your requirements. These models can also be different for different types of changes.

https://youtu.be/RhnzMDS6yeA

****************************************************************************************
Regards
Dr Atul G. - Learn N Grow Together ServiceNow Techno - Functional Trainer
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dratulgrover
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@LearnNGrowTogetherwithAtulG
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sumeetchava · 3 weeks ago

Hi @Dr Atul G- LNG ,

Thanks for sharing the video. I went through it, but I couldn't find anything related to the Process Flow or how to display a skipped state with a cross (✗) instead of a check mark (✓).

My question is specifically about the Process Flow behaviour when a state is skipped. For example, if the Change moves directly from Access → Cancelled, I want the intermediate states that were never visited to show as skipped/crossed, rather than being marked as completed.

Is this behaviour controlled by the Process Flow configuration/, or is there any OOB field/logic that tracks the states actually visited? If customization is required, could you please point me to the relevant script, if any

Thanks.

Dr Atul G- LNG · 3 weeks ago

No mate, that’s not a possible. I tested it myself, and if we skip the state, it shows a tick rather than a cross, so this is how it works OOTB. If required, we can log a Now Support case and see if the team can help.

****************************************************************************************
Regards
Dr Atul G. - Learn N Grow Together ServiceNow Techno - Functional Trainer
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dratulgrover
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@LearnNGrowTogetherwithAtulG
******************************************************************************************

sumeetchava · 3 weeks ago

Just to confirm, is this the OOTB behaviour in ServiceNow — that when a state is skipped, the Process Flow will still show it as a tick (✓) rather than a cross (✗)?