Push notification system

  • Release version: Zurich
  • Updated July 31, 2025
  • 2 minutes to read
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    Summary of Push Notification System

    The push notification system in ServiceNow manages the delivery and response handling of push messages to mobile devices. It involves key components such as your ServiceNow instance, push proxy, push providers, and push applications on mobile devices.

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    Key Components

    • Customer Instance: Your ServiceNow instance that triggers and processes notifications.
    • Push Proxy: An intermediary instance that forwards notifications from the ServiceNow instance to Apple Push Notification service (APNs) or Firebase Cloud Messaging (FCM) for the ServiceNow Classic mobile app. Custom push applications do not use the push proxy.
    • Push Provider: The external service delivering notifications—APNs for iOS devices or FCM for Android devices.
    • Push Application on Mobile Device: The ServiceNow Classic mobile app or custom-built push applications that receive and display notifications.

    Push Notification Process

    • Activities in your instance trigger push notifications.
    • The instance identifies recipients and checks their notification preferences and device settings.
    • Notifications are sent to the push provider (APNs or FCM). For the Classic app, this goes through the push proxy first.
    • The push provider delivers the notification to the user's mobile push application.
    • Each notification includes message content and instance identification to route responses correctly.
    • If the notification supports user replies (e.g., approval actions), responses are sent back to the instance via REST messages.
    • The instance executes a predefined script associated with the response to perform actions such as updating records.
    • If the script fails or the response contains invalid data, an error is returned to the device.

    Push Notification Responses with Custom Apps

    Custom push applications enable users to take actions directly from notifications on instance records. These actions are defined in scripts linked to the notification message. The response URL format ensures the instance correctly identifies the application and action using the Push Application and Push Notifications Actions tables for processing.

    Practical Benefits for ServiceNow Customers

    • Enables real-time mobile notifications to users for important activities and approvals.
    • Supports interactive responses that can update instance records immediately.
    • Allows customization through custom push applications and scripts to tailor notification behavior.
    • Ensures reliable delivery and response handling via integration with APNs and FCM services.

    The push notification system involves several key elements that manage the delivery of push messages and push notification responses.

    Customer instance
    Your ServiceNow instance.
    Push proxy
    An instance that collects all push notifications that go to the ServiceNow Classic mobile application and forwards them to the ServiceNow applications for Apple iOS or Android. If you create a custom push application, you do not use the push proxy.
    Push provider
    The provider of push messages, which is the Apple Push Notification service (APNs) or Firebase Cloud Messaging (FCM) service, for the ServiceNow Classic mobile app or custom mobile apps.
    Push application on a mobile device
    The application, such as the ServiceNow Classic mobile application. You can also build and customize your own push application.

    Push notification process

    The push notification process is as follows:
    1. Activity on the instance triggers a push notification.
    2. The instance looks for who to send the notification to and checks the user notification preferences to find their push device settings.
    3. The instance sends the push notification to the push notification service, either the Apple Push Notification service (APNs) or Firebase Cloud Messaging (FCM) service. If you are using the ServiceNow Classic mobile app, the instance sends the notification through a push proxy instance, which then forwards the notification to the APNs or FCM service.
    4. The push notification service sends the notification to the user's push application. When the instance sends the notification to the push notification service, it includes message content along with the instance name and ID. This information ensures that a response to the notification is sent back to the correct instance. If the user can reply to the notification, such as sending an approval to a change request, the response is sent via REST message back to the instance.
    5. The instance identifies a script to run to handle the response.
    6. The script performs an action on the instance, such as marking a change request approved. If there is invalid JSON or if the script fails, an error response is sent back to the device.
    Figure 1. Push notification system with the ServiceNow Classic mobile app

    Push notification responses

    With custom push applications, you can have your users act on records in the instance by responding to a push notification.

    The actions that they can take are defined in a script that you associate with the notification message. The response is sent to the instance in this format:

    https://{instance_name}/api/now/v1/push/{application Name}/action/{action}
    The application name is the push application the user is using. The application name must match the application name in the Push Application [sys_push_application] table. The action is the Sys ID of the action in the Push Notifications Actions [sys_push_notif_act_script] table.