Configuring mandatory skills

Release version: Australia

Updated March 12, 2026

3 minutes to read

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Summary of Configuring Mandatory Skills

The mandatory skills feature can be configured for Customer Service Management (CSM) and Field Service Management (FSM) applications in ServiceNow. This feature helps ensure that the right skills are available for task completion, enhancing service quality and operational efficiency.

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Key Features

Customer Service Management Configuration:
- Modify the Case form layout to utilize the Task Skills table.
- Set the Mandatory field in the Task Skills table to True for required skills.
- Optionally migrate existing skills from the Skills field to the Task Skills table using the Migrate Skills to Task Skill M2M script.
- Adjust matching criteria in the assignment workbench to support mandatory skills.
Field Service Management Configuration:
- Enable the work.management.use.mandatory.skills system property.
- Set up the Work Order and Work Order Task forms to use the Task Skills table.
- Optionally run the migration script for existing work orders and tasks.
- Update dynamic scheduling configurations to accommodate mandatory skills.
Optional Skills Configuration:
- Set agent auto-selection requirements for tasks based on optional skills.

Key Outcomes

By configuring mandatory skills, customers can ensure that only qualified agents are assigned to tasks, leading to improved task management and service delivery. The migration scripts facilitate a smooth transition of existing skills to the new structure, thereby reducing manual data entry and improving operational efficiency.

Configure the mandatory skills feature for use with the Customer Service Management and Field Service Management applications.

Mandatory skills is an optional feature included with the Customer Service Management and Field Service Management plugins. Use the steps below to configure this feature with the desired application.

Customer Service Management configuration

To configure the mandatory skills feature for use with Customer Service Management:

In the Case form:
- Configure the form layout to use the Task Skills [task_m2m_skill] table.
- In the Task Skills table, set the Mandatory field to True to identify skills that are mandatory to complete a task.
  Note:
  The Case form should use either the Skills field or the Task Skills table, but not both.
[Optional] For existing cases that have data populated in the Skills field on the Case form, run the Migrate Skills to Task Skill M2M script to move this data to the Task Skills table. By default, this fix script migrates the skills from existing entries in the Case, Work Order, and Work Order Task tables to the Task Skills table. For more information, see Migrate skills to the Task Skill table.
If you are using the assignment workbench, replace the Matching Skills matching criteria with the Matching Skills - Mandatory Skills Support matching criteria. For more information, see Matching rules for case assignment.

Field Service Management configuration

To configure the mandatory skills feature for use with Field Service Management:

Enable the work.management.use.mandatory.skills system property.
Configure the Work Order form and the Work Order Task form to use the Task Skills [task_m2m_skill] table.
[Optional] For existing work orders and tasks that have data populated in the Skills field on the Work Order and Work Order Task forms, run the Migrate Skills to Task Skill M2M script to move this data to the Task Skills table. By default, this fix script migrates the skills from existing entries in the Case, Work Order, and Work Order Task tables to the Task Skills table and configures them as optional skills. For more information, see Migrate skills to the Task Skill table.
If you are using dynamic scheduling, update the task filter for the dynamic scheduling configuration and replace the Matching Skills for Dynamic Scheduling matching criteria with the Matching Mandatory Skills for Dynamic Scheduling matching criteria. For more information, see Create a task filter.

For configuring optional skills, navigate to Field Service > Administration > Configuration, click the Assignment tab and set Auto-selection of agents for tasks requires them to have skills to one of the following:

All - indicates that the agent must have all optional skills listed in the task for task assignment.
Some - indicates that the agent must have at least one optional skill listed in the task for task assignment.
None - indicates that the agent is not required to have any optional skill.

Mandatory Skills system properties

The Migrate Skills to Task Skill M2M script migrates skills from existing tasks to the Task Skills [task_m2m_skill] table. Configure the task tables included in the migration using the skills_management.migration system property.

The mandatory skills feature adds the following system properties.

Note:

To open the System Property [sys_properties] table, enter sys_properties.list in the navigation filter.

Table 1. Properties installed with Mandatory skills feature
Property name	Description
work.management.use.mandatory.skills	Enables the mandatory skills feature and indicates that the Task Skills [task_m2m_skill] table is being used for work orders and work order tasks. Type: true/false Default value: false
skills_management.migration	Lists the task tables to migrate to the Task Skills [task_m2m_skill] table when an admin runs the Migrate Skills to Task Skill M2M script. Type: choice list Default value: wm_task,customerservice_case,wm_order
com.snc.skills_management.task_skill_migrated_tables	Contains a list of tables for which the Skills field has already been migrated to the Task Skills [task_m2m_skill] table. If the table name is listed in this property, the data has been migrated and will not be migrated again. Type: choice list Default value: none