How do I prevent technical/JSON variables from appearing in OOB catalog item email notifications?

[HimeshS]

I work in ServiceNow and I’ve created a catalog item that includes a variable named validation_json(multi line text) and validation_ok(checkbox).
This variable is used internally as a flag for validation logic for submitting the calalog  and is not meant to be customer‑visible as I have created a UI policy for hiding them.

The problem:
When an RITM is submitted or closed, the default OOB notifications automatically include all catalog variables, so validation_json (which contains JSON) and validation_ok appears in the email. This is confusing for users.

Constraints:

The OOB notification is currently used as-is.
I prefer not to modify platform-wide functionality unless there is a recommended pattern.
I only want to hide certain variables from emails.

What’s the recommended way to exclude specific variables from OOB catalog email notifications?

Any guidance would be appreciated!

[Ankur Bawiskar · Accepted solution]

@HimeshS 

Things you can do

-> update the OOTB notification and don't make it trigger for your catalog item. Use Condition or Advanced condition script field. Note: Since you are updating OOTB component this will be skipped in upgrade

-> create new notification for your catalog item and exclude that variable using your custom logic

OR
Create before insert BR on sys_email table and search for that variable in email body and then replace/remove that

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