---
sourceDocument: Australia IT Service Management
sourceDocumentLink: https://www.servicenow.com/docs/r/australia/it-service-management
Release :
- australia
ft:locale :
- en-US
ft:publication_title :
- Australia IT Service Management
ft:clusterId :
- itsm
bundleId :
- itsm
workflow :
- Technology
---
# MCP Server tools
# ITSM MCP Server tools reference {#ariaid-title1}
Release version: Australia
Updated September 10, 2026
 5 minutes to read
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## Summary of ITSM MCP Server tools reference
The ITSM MCP Server tools provide a comprehensive set of APIs organized by functional areas: incident management, change management, employee experience, on-call management, and common utilities.
These tools enable ServiceNow customers to efficiently query, update, and manage ITSM data while respecting role-based access controls.
Access requires thesnmcpserver.viewerrole as a base.
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It is important to note that only the tools listed in the official reference are available; any additional tools seen in definitions require review and resolution of skipped records.
## Incident Management Tools
* **Incident retrieval and modification:** Retrieve detailed incident info with role-based data visibility, update incidents including comments and work notes with permissions enforced.
* **Similarity and lookup:** Search for similar incidents and relevant Knowledge Base (KB) articles to aid in resolution, plus link KB articles to incidents.
* **User and assignment group lookup:** Find users and assignment groups to support incident routing and ownership.
## Change Management Tools
* **Lifecycle management:** Create, update, and manage change requests including risk calculation, task management, and planned outages.
* **Analysis and recommendations:** Suggest assignment groups, configuration items, and change models/templates based on historical data and keyword searches.
* **Query and reporting:** Retrieve changes by number or filters, find similar past changes with linked incidents/outages, check schedules and conflicts, and assess data quality.
* **Relations and dependencies:** List related tasks, approvals, affected CIs, incidents, problems, outages, and applied change policies.
Role-based access controls govern tool usage, with the **itil** and **snchangeread** roles commonly required.
## Employee Experience Tools
* **Self-service Incident creation:** Guided multi-step workflow that includes knowledge base deflection, catalog item redirection, and duplicate detection to streamline ticket creation.
* **Status checks:** Retrieve status and key details of incidents and requested items owned by the authenticated user using natural language or ticket numbers.
* **Request commenting:** Add customer-visible comments to open requested items (RITMs) owned by the user; incident comments require separate incident tools.
## On-Call Management Tools
* **On-call coverage lookup:** Identify current on-call engineers by group or shift, and retrieve the user's upcoming shifts and responder details.
* **Time-off requests:** Submit and manage on-call time-off requests with coverage analysis and user confirmation to ensure proper coverage and adherence to policies.
## Common Tools
* **ITSM Knowledge Graph:** Query ITSM data using structured natural language for incident, change, and request item details in active or non-closed states.
* **Session timezone retrieval:** Obtain the user's session timezone and current date/time to accurately interpret time-related data inputs.
* **Approval decision:** Approve or reject the oldest pending approval for the caller related to change requests or requested items.
## Practical Implications for ServiceNow Customers
These tools empower customers to programmatically interact with ITSM processes, enabling automation, improved self-service, and enhanced operational insights. Role-aware permissions ensure secure and appropriate data access. Using these APIs, customers can build integrations, automate workflows, improve incident and change management efficiency, and enhance the employee experience with guided, self-service capabilities.
Reference for all tools available in the ITSM MCP Server, organized by functional area: incident management, change management, and employee experience.
Warning:
* Only the tools listed here are available. If any other tools display in the Tools definition, you must review and resolve the skipped records for those tools. For information on reviewing and resolving skipped records, see [Review skipped records using related lists](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/access?context=uc-access-rl&version=australia&pubname=australia-platform-administration&ft:locale=en-US).
* You need the sn_mcp_server.viewer role as the base role to access ITSM MCP server tools. For more information, see [Configure an MCP client to connect to an MCP server](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/access?context=configure-client-connect-server&version=australia&pubname=australia-intelligent-experiences&ft:locale=en-US).
{#itsm-mcp-server-tools-reference__ul_cpq_34s_qkc}
## Incident management tools {#itsm-mcp-server-tools-reference__itsm-mcp-server-tools-reference-incident-tools}
The following tools are available for incident management in the ITSM MCP Server.{#itsm-mcp-server-tools-reference__itsm-mcp-server-tools-reference-incident-tools-p1}
{#itsm-mcp-server-tools-reference__table-incident-management-tools__entry__2}
| Tool name | Description |
|-|-|
| sn_itsm_mcp_server.incident.get_details | Returns incident fields for a given incident number. The response is role-aware: fulfillers (itil or sn_incident_read) receive the full record, including assignment, CI, and work notes. Requesters receive a reduced, customer-safe field set and comments-only activity for incidents they own, and a 404 response for incidents they don't own. |
| sn_itsm_mcp_server.incident.modify | Updates fields on an incident, including work notes, comments, assignee, and assignment group. Updates run through platform-native APIs with full business rule execution. The tool is role-aware. Fulfillers (itil or sn_incident_write) can set any modifiable field with no ownership restriction. Requesters can perform only the following actions, and only on an incident they own: add a customer-visible comment, escalate the incident using the escalate and escalation_reason inputs (submitted as a standalone operation), or mark an active incident Resolved. A requester attempting any other field update receives a 403; a non-owned incident returns 404. |
| sn_itsm_mcp_server.incident.search_similar | Searches for incidents similar to a given incident or natural language description using semantic search and returns ranked results. |
| sn_itsm_mcp_server.lookup_assignment_groups | Looks up available assignment groups and individual assignees. |
| sn_itsm_mcp_server.lookup_users | Looks up users in the system by name, role, or group membership. |
| sn_itsm_mcp_server .incident.search_similar_kb | Searches similar Knowledge Base (KB) articles based on the input query or details, to find existing content that has already documented the issue or its resolution. |
| sn_itsm_mcp_server .incident.get_kb_details | Retrieves details for a single published KB article using number or sys_id, that includes title, knowledge base, state, publish date, and full body text. |
| sn_itsm_mcp_server.incident.attach_kb | Links a knowledge base article to an incident as a related reference. |
[Table 1. Incident management tools]
{#itsm-mcp-server-tools-reference__table-incident-management-tools}
## Change management tools {#itsm-mcp-server-tools-reference__itsm-mcp-server-tools-reference-change-tools}
The following tools are available to query, analyze, and update change requests in the ITSM MCP Server. Each tool supports multiple operations specified by a required `operation` parameter.{#itsm-mcp-server-tools-reference__itsm-mcp-server-tools-reference-change-tools-p1}
You can access these tools based on your assigned role. As a system administrator, you can update the role access as needed.
{#itsm-mcp-server-tools-reference__table-change-management-tools-overview__entry__3}
| Tool name | Operations | Role |
|-|-|-|
| sn_itsm_mcp_server.change.lifecycle | * create---Creates a change request from a model, template, or type * update---Updates fields, transitions state, or adds journal entries * calculate_risk---Runs the risk calculator and handles the assessment questionnaire flow * upsert_task---Creates or updates a change task * planned_outage---Creates a planned outage record for the change {#itsm-mcp-server-tools-reference__ul_vdj_lb5_hkc} | itil |
| sn_itsm_mcp_server.change.analyze | * suggest_assignment_groups---Recommends assignment groups based on similar changes, team history, or keyword search * get_risk_and_impact_data---Retrieves the risk score and blast radius for a change * suggest_cis---Recommends configuration items to attach to the change, ranked by confidence score * suggest_models_and_templates---Retrieves available change models, standard templates, and custom templates {#itsm-mcp-server-tools-reference__ul_ytl_dvp_rkc} | itil |
| sn_itsm_mcp_server.change.query | * read---Retrieves one or more change requests by number, including summaries * search---Retrieves paginated results using field-based queries, filters, or text search * similar_change_and_issues---Returns similar past changes with linked incidents and outages; requires incident-read access * aggregate_by---Returns grouped counts and statistics as cross-tab or independent breakdowns * get_state_info---Returns the current state, valid next transitions, and mandatory fields * check_schedules_and_conflicts---Checks for schedule and CI conflicts, with a freshness indicator * data_quality---Scores a change's data quality and provides improvement guidance {#itsm-mcp-server-tools-reference__ul_ztl_dvp_rkc} | sn_change_read |
| sn_itsm_mcp_server.change.relation | * list_tasks---Lists change tasks associated with a change * list_affected_cis---Lists affected configuration items and impacted services * list_approvals---Returns pending approvals for the caller or all approvers on a change * list_incidents---Lists incidents fixed by or caused by the change, including incidents on affected configuration items * list_problems---Lists problems that the change resolves * list_outages---Lists outages linked to the change or to affected configuration items * list_change_policies---Lists change policies applied to the change, grouped by policy with first and last applied dates {#itsm-mcp-server-tools-reference__ul_a5l_dvp_rkc} | sn_change_read |
[Table 2. Change management tools overview]
{#itsm-mcp-server-tools-reference__table-change-management-tools-overview}
## Employee experience tools {#itsm-mcp-server-tools-reference__itsm-mcp-server-tools-reference-employee-experience-tools}
The following tools are available for employees and requesters to manage their own tickets in the ITSM MCP Server. These tools apply only to tickets where the authenticated user is the caller or requester.
{#itsm-mcp-server-tools-reference__table_b3f_3gc_sjc__entry__2}
| Tool name | Description |
|-|-|
| sn_itsm_mcp_server.requester.create_incident | Guides a requester through a multi-step workflow to create a new incident or request a catalog item. The workflow includes knowledge base deflection (searches for self-service articles), catalog item redirection (searches for matching service catalog items), duplicate detection (identifies similar open incidents by the requester), and incident creation with field review. Returns an incident number with portal link or a request item number depending on the path taken. Note: This tool uses the [Create incident AI agent](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/access?context=itsm-create-incident-ai-agent&version=australia&pubname=australia-intelligent-experiences&ft:locale=en-US) as an MCP tool. To configure, see [Configure an AI agent as an MCP tool](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/MCNdR_YmNHKrME9UTz9Few "Enable an AI agent to be discoverable and accessible as an MCP tool by configuring authentication, communication mode, and third-party access settings."). |
| sn_itsm_mcp_server.requester.check_status | Returns the status and details of an incident or requested item (RITM) owned by the authenticated user. Accepts a ticket number or a natural language reference such as my VPN ticket or my latest request. For incidents, returns ticket number, short description, description, priority, urgency, impact, state, created by, and created on. For RITMs, returns the ticket number, approval status, state of the requested item, stage, estimated delivery, and whether the authenticated user is the requested-for user. |
| sn_itsm_mcp_server.request.modify | Adds a customer-visible comment to a requested item (RITM) owned by the authenticated user. The comment is attributed to the authenticated requester. Incident numbers are rejected; use sn_itsm_mcp_server.incident.modify to comment on an incident. Closed or canceled requested items cannot be commented on. |
[Table 3. Employee experience tools]
{#itsm-mcp-server-tools-reference__table_b3f_3gc_sjc}
## On-call management tools {#itsm-mcp-server-tools-reference__itsm-mcp-server-tools-reference-oncall-tools}
The following tools are available to look up on-call coverage and manage your own on-call schedule in the ITSM MCP Server.{#itsm-mcp-server-tools-reference__itsm-mcp-server-tools-reference-oncall-tools-p1}
{#itsm-mcp-server-tools-reference__table-oncall-management-tools__entry__2}
| Tool name | Description |
|-|-|
| sn_itsm_mcp_server.oncall.on_call_lookup | Looks up on-call coverage. * who_is_on_call --- Identifies the current on-call engineers by assignment group or shift name, returning on-call member name and contact details. * my_next_shift --- Returns the authenticated user's next or active on-call shift, including assignment group, shift name, shift times and responder level. {#itsm-mcp-server-tools-reference__ul_iz1_3p4_bkc} |
| sn_itsm_mcp_server.oncall.timeoff_request | Requests time off from an on-call shift and arranges coverage. Runs in two phases: * analyze --- Performs a read-only check that identifies affected on-call groups, per-group PTO policy, coverage requirements, eligible cover personnel, and conflicting time-off requests for a proposed time window. * create --- Submits the time-off request based on a user-confirmed coverage plan. {#itsm-mcp-server-tools-reference__ul_xhz_w44_bkc} Important: The request is submitted only after explicit user confirmation. |
[Table 4. On-call management tools]
{#itsm-mcp-server-tools-reference__table-oncall-management-tools}
## Common tools {#itsm-mcp-server-tools-reference__section_jh5_x2d_xjc}
Common tools for the ITSM MCP Server.
{#itsm-mcp-server-tools-reference__table_kh5_x2d_xjc__entry__2}
| Tool name | Description |
|-|-|
| sn_itsm_mcp_server.itsm_knowledge_graph | Answers structured natural language questions about ITSM data. Using this tool: * Get details on incidents or change requests that aren't in the Closed Complete state. * Get information on available request items and catalog items that are in Active state. {#itsm-mcp-server-tools-reference__ul_tqv_mrw_3kc} |
| sn_itsm_mcp_server.get_session_timezone | Returns the authenticated user's current session time zone and the current date and time in that time zone. Call this tool before interpreting any date and time values or relative date references in user input. No input parameters are required. |
| sn_itsm_mcp_server.task_approval_decision | Approves or rejects the caller's oldest pending approval for a change request or request item. |
[ ]
{#itsm-mcp-server-tools-reference__table_kh5_x2d_xjc}