JSON Builder step
Summarize
Summary of JSON Builder Step
The JSON Builder step allows you to create a JSON payload for use in subsequent steps within ServiceNow workflows. You can either manually enter values or utilize data pills for dynamic payload generation. This step supports various data types, including nested structures with objects and arrays.
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Key Features
- Integration Hub Requirement: Requires an Integration Hub subscription and is available as a Workflow Studio action step for users with the actiondesigner role.
- Inputs: Customize your action by providing values for required inputs like Name and Value, either statically or dynamically using data pills. Options for handling empty values include keeping them, omitting them, setting them as null, or throwing an error.
- Optional Parameters: Include Outer Structure to wrap your payload in curly braces and Omit Empty Structure to exclude empty payloads.
- Outputs: The step produces JSON payloads and runtime details, allowing you to utilize these outputs in other parts of your action.
- JSON Payload Generation: Use the Add JSON for Payload button to automatically generate a JSON payload while noting specific limitations on payload structure and size.
Key Outcomes
By utilizing the JSON Builder step, ServiceNow customers can efficiently generate and manage JSON payloads, streamline data integration processes, and ensure that workflows can dynamically adapt to the data provided. This enhances the flexibility and functionality of workflows within the ServiceNow platform.
Create a JSON payload to use in another step. Enter values or use data pills to produce a dynamic payload. This step supports several data types, including objects and arrays for nested structures.
Roles and availability
This step requires an Integration Hub subscription. For more information, see Legal schedules - Integration Hub overview. After the required plugin is activated, the step is visible under Integrations.
Available as an Workflow Studio action step. Users with the action_designer role can create a custom action with one or more action steps.
Inputs
Provide a value for each input that your action needs. To add dynamic values, you can also drag and drop pills from the Data panel or select them from the pill picker.
- Name
- Data type: String
Name part of a name-value pair. Enter a value or use a data pill to produce a dynamic payload.
- Value
- Data type: String
Value part of a name-value pair. Enter a value or use a data pill to produce a dynamic payload. You can use a complex object pill to populate a row with an object data type, but doing so deletes any children the complex object pill already has.
- Type
- Data type: ChoiceData type for the name-value pair. If you're using a data pill for the name or value, make sure the data type for the pill matches the data type selected here. The options are:
- String
- Object
- Number
- Boolean
- Array
For arrays and objects, use the plus icon (
) to add name-value pairs to the array or object.
- In case of empty value
- Data type: ChoiceOption to specify what to do if a name-value pair has an empty or null value.
- Leave as is: Keeps the empty or null value as an empty string.
- Omit property: Excludes a name-value pair if the value is empty or null.
- Set as null: Returns an empty or null value as a null data type.
- Throw error: Returns an error if a name-value pair has an empty or null value.
- Include Outer Structure
- Data type: True/False
Option to include the curly braces for a top-level JSON container.
- Omit Empty Structure
- Data type: True/False
Option to omit an empty payload. Empty payloads can occur when you select Omit property for the In case of empty value input for every name-value pair and all name-value pairs in the payload produce empty values.
- Structure
- Data type: Structure
Read-only payload the step produces.
- If this step fails
- Data type: Choice
Option to continue running the next step or go to error evaluation. To use the step status code or message for a custom action error condition, see Action error evaluation.
Outputs
These outputs appear in the Data panel. You can use them as inputs elsewhere in your action.
- Output
- Data type: String
JSON payload as a string. If you want to use the payload as an object, you can use the JSON parser step to parse the string.
- Step Status
- Data type: Object
Object data pill containing runtime details about the step. Each step in an action returns a Step Status.
- Step Status > Code
- Data type: Integer
Integer data pill indicating whether the step produced an error. By default, a value of 1 indicates that the step produced an error. A value of 0 indicates that the step ran successfully. You can't customize these codes.
- Step Status > Message
- Data type: String
String data pill containing the error message produced by the step or system operation. You can't customize this message.
Generate a JSON Payload
Automatically generate a JSON payload with the Add JSON for Payload button. This button opens the Add Payload script editor where you can enter a JSON payload to be automatically de-serialized into structured input.
- If the JSON has empty keys, the payload is still generated.
- If there are duplicate keys in the script editor, the last key entry in the object overrides the value of any previous keys with the same name.
- If the root object is an array, the root array is wrapped into a root object.
- If an array contains multiple objects, all the keys in the objects are coalesced into one parent object.
- empty payloads
- non-complex object types
- invalid JSON
- empty root objects, such as an empty array
- payloads larger than 65,000 bytes