--- sourceDocument: Australia Service Exchange sourceDocumentLink: https://www.servicenow.com/docs/r/australia/service-exchange Release : - australia ft:locale : - en-US ft:publication_title : - Australia Service Exchange ft:clusterId : - sebrdg bundleId : - sebrdg workflow : - Customer and Industry --- # Journal field frameworks # Journal field frameworks {#ariaid-title1} Release version: Australia Updated May 13, 2026 ![](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/portal-asset/ico-clock) 2 minutes to read Summarize ![AI sparkle icon](https://servicenow.com/docs/portal-asset/ai-sparkle-icon) Summarized using AI This content was generated using new OpenAI-powered functionality. Results are provided on an as is basis and are not guaranteed to be accurate or complete. ## Summary of Journal field frameworks The Journal Field Framework (JFF) in ServiceNow Australia release enables real-time synchronization of journal-type fields (such as comments and work notes) between provider and consumer instances. This capability enhances operational transparency, maintains historical context, and ensures that journal entries are attributed to actual users for better traceability. Show full answer Show less Synchronization is facilitated through a Remote Task Definition (RTD) configured with compatibility version 2.2.x or later. ## Key Features * **Journal Field Mapping:** JFF allows you to map and synchronize any journal-type fields between provider and consumer instances. For example, you can map comments to work notes or work notes to comments. These mappings are configured in the inbound and outbound field settings of the RTD. By default, comment-to-comment mappings are created when an RTD is set up using Service Exchange version 2.2.x or later. * **Rules of Mapping:** Supported mappings include journal field to journal field and journal field to non-journal field. However, mapping from a non-journal field to a journal field is not supported. Additionally, you cannot use the same journal source field twice for different mappings within the same RTD. * **Write Journal Entries as Actual Users:** Journal entries are written using user identities rather than generic company names, ensuring clear attribution of comments and work notes to specific users. * **Synchronize Historical Journal Entries:** When configured with the "Sync pre-existing entries" option during RTD setup and activation, all previous journal entries are synchronized between instances, maintaining full historical context for remote tasks. ## Considerations * Journal synchronization will not work if a remote task is deleted and a new one is created later for the same parent task and RTD. * Synchronization of historical journal entries stops if a remote task is disconnected and then reconnected; it does not resume even if the "Sync pre-existing entries" option is enabled. ## Practical Application for ServiceNow Customers By leveraging the Journal Field Framework, ServiceNow customers can ensure seamless and transparent communication between provider and consumer instances through synchronized journal fields. This improves collaboration, preserves audit trails, and provides accurate user attribution for journal entries. When configuring RTDs, customers should carefully plan journal field mappings according to supported rules and enable historical synchronization as needed, while being mindful of the noted limitations to avoid synchronization gaps. The Journal Field Framework (JFF) enables real-time synchronization of journal type fields, such as comments and work notes, between provider and consumer. JFF also enhances operational transparency, preserves historical context, and verifies that updates are attributed to actual users for greater transparency. The synchronization of journal type fields between consumer and provider instances is enabled through a Remote Task Definition (RTD) configured with compatibility version 2.2.x or later. With JFF, you can do the following: Journal field mapping : Map and synchronize any journal type fields between provider and consumer instances based on the Inbound and Outbound field configurations in a remote task definition. For example, while creating an RTD, you can create mappings such as: * Comments to work notes * Work notes to comments {#service-bridge-v2-expolre-journal-field-framework__ul_uhd_b2j_wfc}When a remote task is created based on the RTD, these mapped journal fields are automatically synchronized between the provider and consumer instances. As a result, when comments or work notes are posted in one instance, they appear in the connected instance as well. A comment-to-comment mapping is created by default in both the Inbound and the Outbound field configurations while creating a remote task definition from Service Exchange version 2.2.x. For more information, see [Create a remote task definition in Service Exchange for Providers](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/Vj9nFKgIkITZh~ngpuelpQ "As a provider, create remote task definitions (RTD) that trigger the assignment of a remote task."). : Rules of journal field mapping : Journal field framework supports the following format (source to target). * journal field (source) to journal field (target) * journal field (source) to non-journal field (target) {#service-bridge-v2-expolre-journal-field-framework__ul_wd3_1y2_zgc} Journal field framework doesn't supports non-journal field (source) to journal field (target) mapping. Note: In a Remote Task Definition (RTD), you cannot use the same journal source field twice for different mappings. For example, work notes to work notes and work notes to comments in the same RTD are not allowed. Write journal entries as an actual user : Write journal entries using user identities rather than a generic company name. For example, all comments for user David would appear as David (xyz company). Synchronize historical journal entries : Synchronize all historical journal entries between consumer and provider instances for a remote task.If the Sync pre-existing entries option is configured during Remote Task Definition (RTD) setup and RTD activation, journal comments made in a task are synchronized between the consumer and provider instances. ## Considerations {#service-bridge-v2-expolre-journal-field-framework__section_xsc_zb1_1gc} Journal synchronization or synchronize of historical journals might not work for the following scenarios: * Synchronization of Journal fields won't work if a remote task is deleted and a new remote task is later created for the same parent task and RTD. * Synchronization of historical journal entries stops and doesn't resume if a remote task is disconnected and later reconnected, even if the Sync pre-existing entries option is enabled in the connected RTD. {#service-bridge-v2-expolre-journal-field-framework__ul_pjn_kc1_1gc} **Related tasks** * [Create a remote task definition in Service Exchange for Providers](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/Vj9nFKgIkITZh~ngpuelpQ "As a provider, create remote task definitions (RTD) that trigger the assignment of a remote task.") * [Activate a remote task definition record in Service Exchange](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/suq6Q7MuSpnS4Z4rrfcmWA "As a consumer, activate the remote task definitions in your instance so that you can create remote tasks.")