Bidirectional System Tag Sync Between Incident and Custom Table - Sync Failing After Multiple Update

harshalpatil — Thu, 22 Oct 2026 11:30:19 GMT

Hi expert, need your help.

I'm implementing a bidirectional sync for a "System Tag" field between the Incident table and a custom Basket table. The sync works initially but fails when the same incident is updated multiple times. I need help identifying why the synchronisation stops working after the first update.

Business Requirement

System Tag field exists on both Incident and Basket tables (same field type, same choice values)
Serial Number field on Incident is a reference field pointing to the Basket table
Bidirectional sync needed:
- When an agent updates System Tag on an Incident → sync to the linked Basket record
- When System Tag is updated on a Basket record → sync to all linked active Incidents
Sync should work continuously until the Incident is closed/cancelled

refer this script

Business Rule 1: Incident → Basket Sync
- Table: Incident
- When: After Insert, After Update
- Filter Conditions: Serial Number changes OR System Tag changes
- Script:(current, previous) { var LOG_SOURCE = 'System Tag Sync (Inc -> Contract)'; try { // Exit if incident is inactive or closed/cancelled if (!current.active || current.state == 7 || current.state == 8) { return; } var systemTag = current.getValue('u_system_tag'); // Exit if no system tag or no serial number reference if (!systemTag || current.u_serial_number.nil()) { return; } // Get referenced contract item var contractItem = current.u_serial_number.getRefRecord(); if (!contractItem || !contractItem.isValidRecord()) { gs.info('System Tag Sync: Contract Item not found for Incident ' + current.getValue('number'), LOG_SOURCE); return; } gs.info('System Tag Sync: Incident = ' + current.getValue('number') + ', Contract Item Sys ID = ' + contractItem.getUniqueValue() + ', System Tag = ' + systemTag, LOG_SOURCE); contractItem.setValue('u_systemtag', systemTag); contractItem.setWorkflow(false); contractItem.update(); gs.info('System Tag Sync: Successfully updated Contract Item ' + contractItem.getUniqueValue() + ' with System Tag ' + systemTag, LOG_SOURCE); } catch (e) { gs.info('System Tag Sync ERROR for Incident ' + current.getValue('number') + ': ' + e.message, LOG_SOURCE); } })(current, previous);
```
 
```
Business Rule 2: Basket → Incident Sync
- Table: Basket (custom table)
- When: After Update
- Filter Conditions: System Tag changes
- Script:
```
(function executeRule(current, previous) {
    var contractSysid = current.getUniqueValue();
    var systemTag = current.getValue('u_systemtag');
    gs.log("Running BR - Sync System tag Contract to Incident: " + contractSysid, "SMOD");

    try {
        // Exit if no system tag
        if (!systemTag) {
            return;
        }

        // Find open incidents linked to this contract item
        var inc = new GlideRecord('incident');
        inc.addQuery('u_serial_number', contractSysid);
        inc.addActiveQuery();
        inc.addQuery('u_system_tag', '!=', systemTag);
        inc.query();

        var count = 0;
        while (inc.next()) {
            inc.setValue('u_system_tag', systemTag);
            inc.u_system_tag_sync_source = "System Tag is updated from Contract item";
            inc.setWorkflow(false);
            inc.update();
            count++;
        }

        gs.info('System Tag Sync: Contract Item ' + contractSysid + 
                ' -> updated ' + count + ' incident(s) with System Tag ' + systemTag, "SMOD");

    } catch (e) {
        gs.info('System Tag Sync ERROR for Contract Item ' + contractSysid + 
                ': ' + e.message, "SMOD");
    }
})(current, previous)
```
Scenario:
1. Incident 1 is created and System Tag is set to "Chiku" → Basket record updates to "Chiku" ✅
2. Incident 2 is created (linked to same Basket record) and System Tag is set to "Mango" → Basket record updates to "Mango" ✅
3. Incident 1 System Tag is changed again (e.g., to "Banana") → Basket record updates ✅
4. Incident 1 System Tag is changed again (e.g., to "Apple") → Basket record does NOT update ❌
Observed Behaviour:
- The sync works for the first update on each incident
- Subsequent updates on the same incident fail to sync to the Basket table
- The Business Rule appears to execute (based on logs), but the Basket record value doesn't change
- Only one incident seems to "own" the sync after a certain point
  
  #ServiceNow #Business Rule

Re: Bidirectional System Tag Sync Between Incident and Custom Table - Sync Failing After Multiple Up

yashkamde — Thu, 22 Oct 2026 12:01:11 GMT

Hello @harshalpatil ,

Might be BR 1 updates the Basket with setWorkflow(false), which stops BR 2 from firing. So the other linked incidents are never synced, and the Basket and incidents drift apart.

Remove setWorkflow(false) in BR 1, and add a check so each rule only updates when the value actually differs (and a flag so BR 1 ignores updates made by BR 2). That prevents the loop and keeps all three records in sync.

If my response helped mark as helpful and accept the solution.

Re: Bidirectional System Tag Sync Between Incident and Custom Table - Sync Failing After Multiple Up

harshalpatil — Fri, 23 Oct 2026 11:03:54 GMT

@yashkamde Could you please share where do i need to change exact.

question Bidirectional System Tag Sync Between Incident and Custom Table - Sync Failing After Multiple Update in Community Central forum

Bidirectional System Tag Sync Between Incident and Custom Table - Sync Failing After Multiple Update

Business Requirement

Business Rule 1: Incident → Basket Sync

Business Rule 2: Basket → Incident Sync

Scenario:

Observed Behaviour:

Re: Bidirectional System Tag Sync Between Incident and Custom Table - Sync Failing After Multiple Up

Re: Bidirectional System Tag Sync Between Incident and Custom Table - Sync Failing After Multiple Up