Application Menu API - ServiceNow Fluent

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

    • The Application Menu API defines menus in the application navigator [sys_app_application].

    Note:
    For the latest ServiceNow Fluent API documentation and examples, see the ServiceNow Fluent API reference and ServiceNow SDK examples repository on GitHub.

    For general information about application menus, see Create an application menu.

    ApplicationMenu object

    Create a menu for an application [sys_app_application].

    Table 1. Properties
    Name Type Description
    $id String or Number Required. A unique ID for the metadata object. When you build the application, this ID is hashed into a unique sys_id. For more information, see ServiceNow Fluent language constructs.

    Format: Now.ID['String' or Number]
    title String Required. The label for the menu in the application navigator.
    active Boolean Flag that indicates whether the menu appears in the application navigator.
    Valid values:
    • true: The menu appears.
    • false: The menu is hidden.

    Default: true
    roles Array A list of variable identifiers of Role objects or names of roles that can access the menu. For more information, see Role API - ServiceNow Fluent.
    category Reference The variable identifier of a menu category [sys_app_category] that defines the navigation menu style. To define a menu category, use the Record API - ServiceNow Fluent.

    For general information about menu categories, see Customize menu categories.
    hint String A short description of the menu that displays as tooltip when hovering over it.
    description String Additional information about what the application does.
    name String An internal name to differentiate between applications with the same title.
    order Number The relative position of the application menu in the application navigator.

    Default: 100
    $meta Object Metadata for the application metadata.
    With the installMethod property, you can map the application metadata to an output directory that loads only in specific circumstances.
    $meta: {
      installMethod: 'String'
}
    Valid values for installMethod:
    • demo: Outputs the application metadata to the metadata/unload.demo directory to be installed with the application when the Load demo data option is selected.
    • first install: Outputs the application metadata to the metadata/unload directory to be installed only the first time an application is installed on an instance.
    		 
    import { ApplicationMenu } from "@servicenow/sdk/core";

ApplicationMenu({
   $id: Now.ID['my_app_menu'],
   title: 'My App Menu',
   hint: 'This is a hint',
   description: 'This is a description',
   category: appCategory,
   roles: ['admin'],
   active: true,
})
    The category referenced is defined using the Record object:
    import { Record } from "@servicenow/sdk/core";

export const appCategory = Record({
   table: 'sys_app_category',
   $id: Now.ID[9],
   data: {
      name: 'example',
      style: 'border-color: #a7cded; background-color: #e3f3ff;',
   },
})