Embedded assessments

  • Release version: Australia
  • Updated May 26, 2026
  • 6 minutes to read
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    Summary of Embedded assessments

    Embedded assessments allow upstream applications to integrate the Smart Assessment Engine (SAE) responder experience directly within their own workspace. This integration lets responders complete assessments without leaving the parent record or playbook flow, fostering a seamless workflow. The embedding application controls the visibility of interface components such as headers, action buttons, navigation panes, and reference info panes, which influences the availability of certain features.

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    Use Cases

    • Embedding assessments inside a record page representing the assessed entity (e.g., control attestations within Control records, vendor security assessments within Vendor records).
    • Embedding assessments as inline steps in playbooks, maintaining the guided process flow without opening separate tabs.
    • Displaying assessments on workspace landing pages or related-list views with contextual information like incidents or audit history.

    Configuration and Visibility Controls

    • Header Modes:
      • Standard mode: Full header with assessment name, scope, and actions; suitable when the embedded assessment occupies the entire page.
      • Compact mode: Reduced header without scope item, ideal when the parent context already displays assessment context.
      • Combined mode: Fixed layout without individual header control customization.
    • Action Visibility: The embedding application can selectively hide all or specific actions such as Submit, Reassign, and Cancel. When hidden, equivalent controls must be provided elsewhere in the host UI to maintain workflow completeness.
    • Reference Info Pane: Can be shown or hidden; hiding removes access to reference information, comments, attachments, and collaboration features.
    • Navigation Pane: Can be shown, hidden, or collapsed. The “Pin navigation by default” property controls its initial pinned state, with responders able to toggle it during sessions. The navigation pane displays section names and required question indicators.
    • Visibility properties apply only in single mode; combined mode uses a fixed layout without these controls.

    Access and Security

    By default, embedded assessments follow standard Smart Assessment role-based access control. Optionally, applications can enable parent record-based access inheritance to restrict visibility further by requiring users to have read access to the parent record alongside the required SAE role.

    Configuration Scope

    Visibility settings are configured on the Smart Assessment component within UI Builder. All assessments on the same UI Builder page share the same visibility configuration, but different pages can embed the same assessment with varying settings to suit different contexts.

    APIs for Embedded Scenarios

    • Assessment State Actions: The "Change Assessment State" Flow Designer action allows embedding applications to programmatically transition assessments to Submitted or Cancelled states, enforcing necessary validations.
    • Contributor Management: Public API methods enable adding or removing assessment-level and section-level contributors programmatically, especially useful when the reference info pane is hidden.

    Practical Benefits for ServiceNow Customers

    Embedded assessments provide a flexible way to integrate assessment workflows directly into existing records and playbooks, improving user experience by avoiding context switching. The configurable UI components enable tailored embedding that fits various workspace layouts and business processes. Access controls and APIs ensure secure and complete workflow management even when standard UI elements are hidden. This empowers customers to streamline assessment completion and maintain governance within their ServiceNow environment.

    Upstream applications can embed the Smart Assessment Engine responder experience directly within their workspace and control which interface components are visible.

    Embedded assessments enable upstream applications to integrate the Smart Assessment Engine responder experience within their own workspace. The embedding application controls which interface components are displayed, which affects the availability of certain features.
    Note:
    Depending on the embedded configuration, some assessment capabilities — such as collaboration features that depend on the reference info pane — may behave differently or be unavailable in the embedded view.

    Use cases for embedded assessments

    Upstream applications typically embed an assessment in one of the following scenarios:
    • A record page that already represents the entity being assessed. For example, embedding a control attestation inside the Control record, or embedding a vendor security assessment inside the vendor record. Responders complete the assessment without leaving the parent record.
    • A playbook step that includes an assessment as part of a guided process. Embedding the assessment inline keeps the responder in the playbook flow and avoids opening a separate browser tab for the assessment.
    • A workspace landing page or related-list view that surfaces the assessment with context, such as related incidents or audit history.

    In each scenario, the upstream application configures the Smart Assessment component in UI Builder to fit the available space and remove duplicate UI elements, such as a second header or a second reference pane. For the configuration on the SAE side that supports embedding, see Embed an assessment in a record page.

    Header visibility and mode

    The embedding application can set the header mode to one of the following:
    Standard mode
    The full assessment header is shown, including the assessment name, scope item, and the standard assessment actions. Use this mode when the embedded assessment occupies the entire page or when the parent context is not visible elsewhere.
    Compact mode
    A reduced header is shown without the scope item. This mode is intended for cases where the embedded assessment sits inside a parent record page or playbook step that already shows the assessment context, so repeating the scope item would be redundant. The compact header still indicates auto-save status and exposes the assessment-level actions, but uses less vertical space.
    Note:
    Header mode and header visibility properties apply in single mode only. In combined mode these property settings have no effect. Combined mode uses a fixed layout that does not expose individual header controls.

    Action visibility

    Independently of the header mode, the embedding application can hide assessment-level actions individually or as a group:
    Hide all actions
    A single property that hides every action on the assessment, including Submit, Reassign, and Cancel. Use this property when the embedding application provides its own action surface on the parent record and handles assessment lifecycle through its own controls.
    Hide Submit
    Hides only the Submit action. The responder can't finalize the assessment from the embedded view; submission must be driven from the embedding application.
    Hide Reassign
    Hides only the Reassign action. Reassignment must be performed from the standard assessment view or through a different control on the embedding application.
    Hide Cancel
    Hides only the Cancel action. Cancellation must be performed by an administrator from the standard assessment view.

    When any action is hidden, the embedding application is responsible for exposing an equivalent control elsewhere in the host UI so that responders and administrators can still complete the workflow.

    The question filter dropdown is not part of the action set and remains visible in the header even when Hide all actions is selected. Responders can continue to filter the question list regardless of which actions are hidden.

    Note:
    Action visibility properties apply in single mode only. In combined mode these property settings have no effect. Combined mode uses a fixed layout that does not expose individual header controls.

    Reference info pane visibility

    The embedding application can show or hide the right reference info pane. Hiding this pane removes access to the following features:

    • Reference information
    • Comments
    • Attachments
    • Collaboration
    Note:
    The reference info pane visibility property applies in single mode only. In combined mode this property setting has no effect. Combined mode uses a fixed layout that does not expose individual header controls.

    Navigation pane visibility and modes

    The embedding application can show, hide, or collapse the left navigation pane. Use the Pin navigation by default property to control the initial state when the assessment loads. This property is selected by default and can be overridden by the responder at any time.

    The navigation pane displays section names and required question indicators. Progress indicators for the assessment remain available regardless of the navigation pane state.

    A single component property, Pin navigation by default, controls how the navigation pane is presented when the assessment loads. The property is selected by default; the responder can pin or unpin the pane at any time during their session:
    Pinned (default)
    The navigation pane is expanded and fixed beside the question area. Section names are visible at all times.
    Not pinned
    The pinned pane is hidden and a trigger button in the question area opens the navigation in a dialog. The responder can pin the pane from the dialog at any time. This option is intended for embedded contexts where horizontal space is limited.

    In combined mode, the navigation pane remains pinned regardless of the Pin navigation by default property setting.

    Inheriting read access from a parent record

    By default, access to an embedded assessment follows standard Smart Assessment role-based access rules. Any user with the required Smart Assessment role and access to parent record can view it. If you want to restrict visibility based on the parent record's audience, you can optionally enable parent record-based access inheritance on the template category. To configure this behavior, see Create an assessment template category.

    Configuring parent record-based access inheritance is optional. Without it, the embedded assessment functions normally with role-based access alone. Enabling it adds an additional access check — users must also have read access to the parent record.

    When parent record-based access inheritance is enabled on the template category, a user must satisfy both of the following conditions at runtime to access an embedded assessment from this category:
    1. The user must have the Smart Assessment role required for the assessment.
    2. The user must have read access to the parent record for that template category.

    Configuration scope

    Visibility properties — header mode, action visibility, reference pane visibility, navigation pane visibility, and pin-by-default — are set on the Smart Assessment component as it is added to a UI Builder page.

    As a result:
    • Every assessment surfaced through the same UI Builder page uses the same visibility configuration.
    • Different UI Builder pages can embed the same assessment with different visibility settings. For example, one page can show the standard header while another page on a different record embeds the same assessment with a compact header and hidden actions.
    • To change visibility for a particular assessment in a particular host context, change the configuration of the Smart Assessment component on the UI Builder page that hosts it.

    For the configuration steps on the SAE side, see Embed an assessment in a record page.

    APIs for embedded scenarios

    When the standard responder UI elements are hidden or constrained in an embedded view, the embedding application can drive the same operations through public APIs. These APIs are available regardless of how the Smart Assessment component is configured:
    Assessment state actions
    The Change Assessment State Flow Designer action lets the embedding application transition an assessment to the Submitted or Cancelled state from its own UI when the corresponding header actions are hidden. The action performs the minimum required validations — state eligibility and required questions answered — before transitioning the state.
    Contributor management
    A public API method on the Smart Assessment responder interface allows the embedding application to add or remove assessment-level contributors and section-level contributors programmatically. This is the recommended way to manage contributors when the reference info pane (which hosts the standard contributor UI) is hidden.