---
sourceDocument: Australia ServiceNow AI Platform user interface
sourceDocumentLink: https://www.servicenow.com/docs/r/australia/platform-user-interface

 Release :

    - australia

ft:locale :

    - en-US

ft:publication_title :

    - Australia ServiceNow AI Platform user interface

ft:clusterId :

    - platux

bundleId :

    - platux

workflow :

    - Platform


---

# Widget troubleshooting guide

# Widget troubleshooting guide {#ariaid-title1}

Release version: Australia  
Updated March 12, 2026  
![](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/portal-asset/ico-clock) 4 minutes to read
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## Summary of Widget troubleshooting guide

This guide provides ServiceNow customers with practical tools and techniques to investigate and resolve unexpected behavior and performance issues in custom Service Portal widgets.
It emphasizes isolating widget problems, leveraging browser developer tools, and using specific methods to debug both client and server-side scripts.
Show full answer Show less  

## Key Features

* **Reducing Complexity:** Deactivate unrelated widgets by setting their active field to false to isolate the problematic widget and prevent unrelated scripts from running.
* **Browser Developer Console:** Use built-in developer tools to view JavaScript errors, console messages, and identify slow-loading widgets or excessive HTTP requests that impact performance.
* **Performance Issue Diagnosis:** Determine if problems are portal-specific or platform-wide, check if slowness affects all pages or specific ones, and review the Log \[syslog\] table for warnings related to large JSON objects indicating data-heavy widgets.
* **Widget Context Menu:** Access widget configuration and output scope data to the console by CTRL+right-clicking the widget.
* **Scripted Debugging Methods:** Multiple methods are available to log messages or display info/errors on the client and server side, including `console.log()`, `$sp.log()`, `gs.log()`, and `spUtil` message functions, plus setting breakpoints with `debugger`.
* **Security and Access Checks:** Verify user criteria and access rules to ensure widgets are not restricted unintentionally, using the ACL debugger and checking Service Catalog item visibility.
* **Angular Providers Verification:** Confirm that essential Angular Providers remain associated with widgets to avoid unexpected behavior, especially for base system widgets.
* **Widget Scope Reference in Console:** Instructions to create a reference to a widget's AngularJS scope via browser dev tools, enabling customers to manipulate widget data, invoke client controller functions, and manually trigger server script refreshes.

## Key Outcomes

By applying these troubleshooting strategies, ServiceNow customers can effectively isolate widget issues, identify and resolve performance bottlenecks, debug scripts with precision, and verify correct access and configuration. This leads to improved widget stability, faster load times, and a more reliable user experience in Service Portals.  
Use the following tools to investigate and resolve unexpected behavior in your custom
Service Portal widgets.
<br />

Reduce complexity
:   Deactivate widgets unrelated to the widget you are troubleshooting to isolate parts
    of the page that may be causing errors or unexpected behavior. Set the active field to
    false on a widget record to hide the widget on the page, and prevent associated
    scripts from executing.

Use the browser developer console

:   All supported desktop browsers have built in developer tools. Access your browsers
    developer tools to view console messages and errors thrown by client-side
    JavaScript. Many of the logging tools detailed below output information to this
    console.

    If you experience performance issues, check the JavaScript console to see if there
    are errors, a large number of HTTP requests, or HTTP requests that take a long time
    to resolve. You can use the console to identify any widgets that load slowly. For
    more information, see the [How to identify a slow widget on a page
    \[KB0744521\]](https://support.servicenow.com/kb?id=kb_article_view&sysparm_article=KB0744521) article in the Now Support Knowledge Base.

Determine the cause of performance issues

:   The following tips can help determine the cause of performance issues in
    portals:

    * Determine if the issue is related to the portal or platform-wide by comparing the functionality in both interfaces. For more information about platform performance issues, see [Platform performance](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/access?context=platform-performance-landing&version=australia&pubname=australia-platform-administration&ft:locale=en-US).
    * Determine if the issue affects the entire portal or specific pages. If all pages in the portal are slow, check if scripted menu items in the header menu or themes with large font or image files could be the cause. If a specific page is slow, use the browser developer console to determine which widget could be the cause.
    * Check the Log \[syslog\] table for warnings related to large JSON objects causing slowness. If these warnings are appear with the action that causes slowness, this indicates that a widget is using too much data.

    {#widget-troubleshooting-guide__ul_yd2_yk5_c5b}

    For more information, see the [Six common performance pitfalls in Service Portal
    and how to avoid them \[KB0634588\]](https://support.servicenow.com/kb?id=kb_article_view&sysparm_article=KB0634588) article in the Now Support Knowledge
    Base.

Use the widget context menu to access information and options
:   CTRL+right-click a widget to access configuration options for
    the widget. There are also options to output the scope and scope data object to the browser console. For more detail on this menu, see [Using portal widgets](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/ZTiLLLpxS30LzmnC96BA5w "Widgets are what define the content of your portal pages. You can use the base system widgets provided with Service Portal, clone and modify widgets, or develop custom widgets to fit your own needs.").

Use script methods to capture debugging output

:   Several methods are available to output debugging information within your server
    and client-side code.

    {#widget-troubleshooting-guide__table_dfp_xc3_ldb__entry__3}

    | Method | Availability | Description |
    |-|-|-|
    | console.log() | Server and client | Logs output to the browser developer console. |
    | $sp.log() | Server | Logs output to the Service Portal Log Entries \[sp_log\] table, when the logged in user has the `sp_admin` or `admin` role. |
    | [gs.log()](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/access?context=c_GlideSystemAPI&version=australia&pubname=australia-api-reference&ft:locale=en-US) | Server | Logs output to the Log \[syslog\] table. Note: gs.log creates records on the syslog table. Excessive use can adversely affect performance. |
    | [gs.warn()](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/access?context=c_GlideSystemScopedAPI&version=australia&pubname=australia-api-reference&ft:locale=en-US) | Server | Produces warning level output in the Log \[syslog\] table. |
    | [gs.error()](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/access?context=c_GlideSystemScopedAPI&version=australia&pubname=australia-api-reference&ft:locale=en-US) | Server | Produces error level output in the Log \[syslog\] table. |
    | [gs.addInfoMessage()](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/access?context=c_GlideSystemScopedAPI&version=australia&pubname=australia-api-reference&ft:locale=en-US) | Server | Displays a green information message at the top of the browser window. |
    | [gs.addErrorMessage()](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/access?context=c_GlideSystemScopedAPI&version=australia&pubname=australia-api-reference&ft:locale=en-US) | Server | Displays a red error message at the top of the browser window. |
    | [spUtil.addErrorMessage()](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/access?context=spUtilAPI&version=australia&pubname=australia-api-reference&ft:locale=en-US) | Client | Displays an error message within the browser window. |
    | [spUtil.addInfoMessage()](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/access?context=spUtilAPI&version=australia&pubname=australia-api-reference&ft:locale=en-US) | Client | Displays an Info message within the browser window. |
    | [spUtil.addTrivialMessage()](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/access?context=spUtilAPI&version=australia&pubname=australia-api-reference&ft:locale=en-US) | Client | Displays a message which automatically disappears after a short time. |
    | [debugger](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/access?context=script-debugger&version=australia&pubname=australia-api-reference&ft:locale=en-US) | Client | Sets a break point in Chrome and Firefox browsers, allowing you to step through a script line by line in the browsers developer console. |
    | {{data\|json}} | HTML | This code can be added to the HTML code of a page to output the data object to the portal page in JSON format. |
    [Table 1. Scripted debugging methods]

    {#widget-troubleshooting-guide__table_dfp_xc3_ldb}

Check for security restrictions

:   Often, widget display issues are caused by access rules or user criteria rather
    than the widget script. Check the user criteria for records and verify that any
    records that are not accessible within a widget are accessible using the platform
    UI. Use the ACL debugger to ensure that your users have the expected access to
    records used by your widgets. For more detail on the debugger, see [ACL debugging
    tools](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/access?context=c_AccessControlRulesDebug&version=australia&pubname=australia-platform-security&ft:locale=en-US).

    Service Catalog items can also be restricted to not appear in Service Portal. If you get a You are either not authorized or record is not valid error message for a Service Catalog widget, check that the item is not hidden from Service Portal.

Check the associated Angular Providers
:   Verify that the necessary Angular Providers are associated with widgets. Removing
    the default Angular Providers associated with a base system widget can cause
    unexpected behavior. For example, removing the scToggleData or scBindHtmlCompile
    Angular Providers from the SC Catalog Item widget.

Create a reference to the widgets scope in the console
:   Use reference to a widget to manipulate scope data or manually run the widgets client and server scripts. Use the following steps to create the reference.

    * 1. Right-click the widget and choose Inspect.
    * 2. In dev tools Elements tab, click to highlight the element with attribute widget=`widget`. You can find it a few elements above the currently inspected element. This element points the $0 scripting tool at the widget.
    * In the Javascript console, run the following code:

          var scopeRef = angular.element($0).scope();

    {#widget-troubleshooting-guide__ul_wdn_3zj_mdb}Use the reference to your widget to change data within the console. See the following example. Remember to run `AngularJS $apply()` on the scope to apply changes to the page.

        scopeRef.data.prop1 = "Pear";
        scopeRef.$apply();


    Run any function defined in the widgets client controller from your reference using the syntax below.

        scopeRef.exampleFunction();


    Use the refresh command to manually execute the widgets server script.

        scopeRef.server.refresh();