As more customers move to Configurable Workspaces, I keep hearing the same question:
“Can we test it with ATF?”
Short answer? Not really.
Longer answer? Kind of... if you know a few tricks.
ServiceNow isn’t exactly moving fast in this area. As of Yokohama, a lot of things still aren’t testable with out-of-the-box (OOTB) steps. But don’t give up just yet—there are ways to get at least partial coverage. Here’s how I tested one of my custom workspace flows using ATF.
What Are We Testing?
In this example, I want to:
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Open an existing record
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Change its state using two different buttons (one classic UI Action, one Declarative Action)
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Add a new related record via the related list
Simple, right? Let’s see how far we get.
⚠️ Quick note: I’m skipping the basics—creating test user, impersonating this user, inserting a record. You should absolutely do those steps in a real test.
Step 1: Open the Record
This part is easy. Use the OOTB Open an Existing Record step. Just pick your table, workspace, and target record. Done.
Step 2: Change the Record State
Let’s say the record starts in the “Planned” state. I want to:
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Click a UI Action to move it to “In Progress”
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Then click a Declarative Action to set it to “On Hold”
Click the UI Action
Use the Click a UI Action step. It’s exactly what it sounds like—select the action name, workspace, and table.
Click the Declarative Action
Same idea—just swap to the Click a Declarative Action step.
Step 3: Add a Related Record (The Tricky Part)
Now I want to add a new related record from the related list. Sounds easy enough—until it isn’t.
Turns out, Related List steps don’t work in Configurable Workspaces.
But don’t panic—we can use a Custom UI step as a workaround.
To make it work, we’ll need to:
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Navigate to the correct tab that contains the related list.
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Click the “New” button to open the form for the related record.
First, Navigate to the Related Tab
We’ll need to click the tab that holds the related list. For that, use the Click Component step.
When you add a Custom UI step, ATF will offer to retrieve page components. Let it do its thing—it’ll run all previous steps, pause at your current point, and record the components that are on screen.
Once it finishes loading, the Next button becomes active. Click it, and you’ll be taken to the Click Component configuration form. Here, you’ll see a list of all the components detected on the screen. This is where you choose the one you want to interact with—in this case, the tab that contains your related list.
👉 Tip: You only need to retrieve components once per screen, even if you’re adding multiple steps.
Not Sure What Component to Click on?
Use the Page Inspector. It’s your best friend here—open the workspace, find the component you want, and see exactly how it’s labeled.
Now that I’ve confirmed the right component, I can configure the Click Component step properly.
Click the “New” Button
Same process—use another Click Component step to hit the “New” button in the related list.
Step 4: Fill and Submit the Form
If I run the test up to this point, I’ll see that clicking the New button in the related list successfully opens a new related record form in a separate tab. Now all that’s left is to fill out the form and submit it.
Set Field Values
Use the “Set Field Values” step to fill out your form.
Submit the Form
And finally, use the “Submit a Form” step to wrap it all up.
Wrap-Up
And there you go! One complete flow, covered by ATF—even in Configurable Workspaces.
Is it perfect? Nope.
Is it testable with a bit of creativity? Absolutely.
There’s still a long way to go before ATF fully supports Workspace—but for now, this is a solid starting point. More flows to cover, more tricks to share. Stay tuned.
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