---
sourceDocument: Brazil IT Operations Management
sourceDocumentLink: https://www.servicenow.com/docs/r/it-operations-management

 Release :

    - brazil

ft:locale :

    - en-US

ft:publication_title :

    - Brazil IT Operations Management

ft:clusterId :

    - itom

bundleId :

    - itom

workflow :

    - Technology


---

# Tag-based discovery

# Tag-based discovery in Service Mapping {#ariaid-title1}

Release version: Brazil  
Updated September 10, 2026  
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## Summary of Tag-based discovery in Service Mapping

Tag-based discovery in Service Mapping enables organizations that use tags---key-value pairs assigned to assets---to map application services effectively.
This approach leverages tags discovered by Discovery and Cloud Provisioning and Governance from major cloud providers and container ecosystems.
It is especially useful in virtualized, hyper-converged, and multi-cloud environments, allowing efficient service mapping without requiring credential configuration or elevated user rights.
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## Key Features

* **Use of Tags for Service Mapping:** Tags categorize assets and enhance querying and reporting capabilities, allowing Service Mapping to create application services based on tag data.
* **Supported Environments:** Works with cloud platforms (AWS, Azure, GCP, IBM Cloud), hyper-converged infrastructure (Nutanix), container platforms (Kubernetes, OpenShift, AWS ECS), and virtualization environments (VMware vCenter).
* **Tag Discovery and Management:** Tags discovered populate the Key Value \[cmdbkeyvalue\] table. Administrators create tag categories and define tag keys to organize tags by similar use cases, such as different environments (production, staging).
* **Service Family Configuration:** Administrators create tag-based service families, select tag categories, and optionally specify tag values to narrow mapping criteria. Only Configuration Items (CIs) matching these tags are included in application services.
* **Domain Separation:** In domain-separated environments, the relevant leaf domain must be selected to ensure services include only CIs from that domain.
* **Service Mapping Process:** Service Mapping queries the Configuration Management Database (CMDB) for tagged CIs, creates service candidates, and, upon administrator selection, maps these to application services stored in the Tag-Based Application Service \[cmdbciservicebytags\] table.
* **CI Relationship Traversal:** Connections between tagged CIs are created based on CI relationships defined in the Traversal Rules for Application Services \[svctraversalrules\] table. Related CIs without tags but part of these relationships are included in the services.

## Important Considerations

* Service instances based on tags might omit relevant CIs if those CIs lack the appropriate tags.
* CIs with multiple tags can belong to multiple services, supporting flexible service assignment.

## Practical Application

ServiceNow customers can use tag-based discovery to streamline mapping of application services in complex or multi-cloud infrastructures without the overhead of credential management. The approach integrates with the Common Service Data Model (CSDM) for creating single tag-based services and supports classic Service Mapping methods for multiple services.

## Next Steps

* Administrators should define and manage tag categories and keys aligned with organizational tagging strategies.
* Configure tag-based service families tailored to desired tag categories and values.
* Leverage existing tag data from Discovery and Cloud Provisioning and Governance to populate the CMDB and enable accurate service mapping.  
If your organization uses tags, or establishes them in a local ServiceNow instance, you can use these tags to map application services.

A tag is a label that consists of a key-value pair. Your organization might use tags to categorize its assets and to enhance query and reporting capabilities. Discovery and Cloud Provisioning and Governance can discover tags used by all major cloud providers and container ecosystems. Once the tags are discovered, Service Mapping can create application services based on these tags. Typically organizations use tagging in virtualized, hyper-converged, or multi-cloud infrastructures.
{#tag-based-mapping__table_lk1_bc4_xfc__entry__3}

| Segment | Technology providers | What is tagged |
|-|-|-|
| Cloud | Amazon Web Services (AWS), Azure, Google Cloud Platform (GCP), IBM Cloud Platform | IaaS, PaaS, FaaS, CaaS resources |
| Hyper-converged | Nutanix | Virtual machines |
| Containers | Kubernetes, OpenShift Container Platform, AWS ECS | Containers |
| Virtualization | VMware vCenter | Virtual machines |
[Table 1. Example of using tagging in organization infrastructure]

{#tag-based-mapping__table_lk1_bc4_xfc}

Unlike other mapping methods, tag-based mapping does not require configuring credentials or providing users with elevated rights. You can effectively use tags to map multiple service instances. {#tag-based-mapping__tag-based-advant-en-masse}

## Tag-based discovery stages {#tag-based-mapping__section_ys1_x35_zfc}

The tag-based discovery and mapping process consists of the following stages:

1. Discovery and Cloud Provisioning and Governance discover tags for cloud and resource configuration items (CIs) and then populate data for discovered tags into the Key Value \[cmdb_key_value\] table.
2. The administrator creates CI tag categories and defines tag keys that the categories contain. Tag categories contain tags with similar use. For example, if your organization has production and staging environments, you could create "production" and "staging" tag values.
3. The administrator creates a tag-based service family and selects tag categories to use for its mapping. CIs that have more than one tags assigned to them, can be part of multiple services.
   * Only CIs with discovered tag keys for the selected tag categories become part of application services.
   * The administrator can narrow the criteria by defining specific tag values in addition to tag categories.
   * Service Mapping uses only CIs that have the matching values to create application services.
   * CIs that have more than one tag assigned to them can be a part of multiple services.

   {#tag-based-mapping__ul_rdn_dcd_bgc}  
   Note:  
   When creating a service family for mapping services based on tags in domain-separated environment, you must pick the relevant leaf domain.
4. Service Mapping queries the CMDB for CIs with tag values that match the tag definitions for this tag-based service family.
5. Service Mapping creates service candidates based on the defined tags.

   Service Mapping populates tag-based services based on this service family only with CIs belonging to the leaf domain to which the service family belongs.
6. The administrator selects the service candidates to map and starts the mapping process.
7. Service Mapping adds new application services to the Tag-Based Application Service \[cmdb_ci_service_by_tags\] table.  
   Important:  
   Service instances mapped using tags might not include relevant CIs if those CIs do not have the correct tags.
8. Service Mapping maps application services by creating connections between tagged CIs based on CI relationships. The Traversal Rules for Application Services \[svc_traversal_rules\] table contains information used
   for creating tag-based application services.

   Note:  
   Service Mapping includes CIs that are part of these relationships even if these CIs do not have tags assigned to them.
{#tag-based-mapping__ol_yqz_qdj_1jb}

## Creating tag-based services {#tag-based-mapping__section_fcf_cj5_zfc}

You can create single tag-based application services using the Common Service Data Model (CSDM) flow as described in [populate application services using tags](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/access?context=populate-app-service-tags&version=brazil&pubname=brazil-servicenow-platform&ft:locale=en-US).

For information about how to create multiple tag-based services, see [Map application services using tags with classic Service Mapping](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/UM6teArLEb2Bbgvj5o6ErQ "Use tags that help categorize and organize configuration items (CIs) in your organization to map application services. Tag-based mapping doesn't require configuring credentials or providing users with elevated rights.").
**Related concepts**   

* [Tag-based discovery configuration](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/eIOd7ZdFc8jWAKQKu1dUoQ "You can refine the default configuration to control which CIs Service Mapping includes in application services during the tag-based discovery process.")  
**Related reference**   

* [Tag Governance](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/bVS7yQDtGbn22nv2sKDt_A "Effective tag management improves reporting and overall operations management efficiency. Use the ServiceNow Tag Governance app to identify and remediate on-premises or cloud resources that are inconsistent and don't comply with the tag policies of your organization.")