eBonding inbound updates reset Assignment group – snapshot and restore fix

[Community Alums]

Problem
We eBond incidents with a partner ServiceNow instance. When our agent assigns the incident to the partner group, the partner's reply resets our Assignment group and Assigned to. The ticket bounces back and forth.

Root cause
The inbound update carries assignment values from the remote side and overwrites ours. We could not block these fields fully, because other fields must still sync.

Fix: snapshot and restore
1. Add two fields on incident: u_presync_assignment_group (reference to group) and u_presync_assigned_to (reference to user).
2. Create a before update Business Rule with a high order (2000), so it runs after other rules.
3. Save branch: when a real user moves the incident to the integration group, store the previous group and assignee in the snapshot fields.
4. Restore branch: when the integration user sends an update, copy the snapshot values back.
5. Find the integration user by user_name, not by a hard-coded sys_id.

Script outline
- If the current user is not the integration user and the group changed to the integration group: save the previous group and assignee.
- If the current user is the integration user and the snapshot fields are filled: restore the group and assignee.

Tips
- Sys_ids differ between DEV and PROD. A hard-coded sys_id works in DEV but fails silently in PROD.
- With a low order, another rule overrode our restore.
- Give the integration user API roles only. A group with itil adds many roles and uses a fulfiller licence.
- Test both ways: our agent to partner, and partner reply back.

Hope this helps. Happy to share more details if needed.