Build and install an application in the ServiceNow IDE

  • Release version: Australia
  • Updated March 12, 2026
  • 2 minutes to read

    • Build an application to compile its source code and install application changes across an instance from the ServiceNow IDE.

    Before you begin

    Create, convert, or clone an application and add it to your workspace. For more information, see Adding applications in ServiceNow IDE.

    Role required: admin

    About this task

    When you build an application, ServiceNow Fluent code is compiled into application metadata, and modules in the application are added to the EcmaScript Module [sys_module] table on the instance.

    Procedure

    1. Navigate to All > App Development > ServiceNow IDE.
    2. Open a workspace with an application.
    3. Synchronize changes made to the application metadata from across the instance.
      Syncing an application confirms you have the latest changes before making additional changes. Only the changes made since the last time the application was synced are downloaded and transformed. For more information, see Synchronizing applications in the ServiceNow IDE.
      1. From the Activity Bar, select the Now SDK view (Now SDK).
      2. Select Sync Changes.
        The active file that's open in the editor determines which application to synchronize. If no files are open, select the application to synchronize when prompted.

        The Sync command in the Now SDK view.

    4. From the Activity Bar, select the File Explorer view (File Explorer).
    5. Modify your application in one of the following ways and save your changes:
    6. From the Status Bar, select Build and Install.

      Build and deploy

      The active file that's open in the editor determines which application to build. If no files are open, select the application to build when prompted.
      In the status bar, you can see a message that confirms whether the build was successful or failed. If the build fails, review the output logs and any problems in your code from the panel.
    7. Optional: Review your changes as application metadata.
      1. From the Activity Bar, select the File Categories view or Apps view.
      2. Open the metadata files that you changed and review your changes from the embedded ServiceNow AI Platform user interfaces.
        Tip:
        To see your changes in source code and metadata side by side, select the Split Editor icon (Split Editor) or right-click a tab and select one of the Split options.

    Result

    The application is updated across the instance to reflect your changes. Other users can modify the application metadata simultaneous with modifications to the source code. Also, other developers can reuse module code in other modules or scripts within an application.

    If you need to ensure that the metadata on the instance matches the metadata in the installation package, you can uninstall and reinstall the application on the instance using the Fluent: Reinstall Fluent App command from the command palette. For more information, see ServiceNow IDE commands.

    Warning:
    Changes to metadata on the instance that haven’t been synced into your application in the ServiceNow IDE are removed.

    What to do next

    Use source control to stage, commit, and push your changes to a remote Git repository. For more information, see Using source control in the ServiceNow IDE.