Pattern diagnostic agentic workflow

  • Release version: Australia
  • Updated June 9, 2026
  • 2 minutes to read
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    Summary of Pattern diagnostic agentic workflow

    The Pattern diagnostic agentic workflow is designed to assist Discovery administrators in quickly investigating missing Configuration Item (CI) attributes discovered via pattern-based Discovery in ServiceNow. It automates the complex process of identifying attribute gaps by parsing discovery logs, determining root causes, and suggesting remediation actions—all accessible directly from the Now Assist panel without manual log navigation.

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    Key Features

    • Automated Investigation: Initiated through natural-language queries in the Now Assist panel, the workflow identifies affected CIs with missing attributes and analyzes discovery logs to pinpoint root causes.
    • Dual-Agent Architecture: Utilizes the Pattern diagnostic agent to process the investigation and the EF Remediation Agent to propose corrective measures.
    • Pattern-Based Discovery Focus: Specifically supports CIs discovered through pattern-based methods, leveraging metadata from the sndiscoaipatternmetadata table.
    • Sample Limit and Analysis Scope: Analyzes up to five sample CIs, focusing on default pattern metadata without considering custom pattern modifications.

    Practical Use and Scenarios

    Administrators can select specific missing attributes to investigate, with the workflow providing detailed reports including sample CIs examined, direct links to those CIs, root cause analysis, and recommended remediation steps. The workflow effectively handles various CI types through intelligent resolution of identifiers and relationships:

    • Infrastructure CIs (e.g., Linux Servers): Queries discovery logs using resolved IP addresses.
    • Applicative CIs (e.g., MySQL databases): Navigates relationships to host servers to access relevant logs.
    • Cloud CIs (e.g., AWS Auto Scaling Groups): Uses identifiers like SA-LDC and process IDs to analyze logs.

    Requirements and Roles

    • Now Assist for IT Operations Management (ITOM) plugin must be installed on the instance.
    • Users must have the discoveryadmin role to trigger and use the workflow.

    Benefits for ServiceNow Customers

    By automating the investigation of missing CI attributes discovered through pattern-based Discovery, this workflow significantly reduces manual troubleshooting effort, increases accuracy in root cause identification, and accelerates remediation. It enhances Discovery administration efficiency and helps maintain a more accurate and complete CMDB.

    The Pattern diagnostic agentic workflow helps Discovery administrators investigate missing CI attributes. It identifies the gap, parses discovery logs, identifies the root cause, and suggests remediation — without manually navigating log files.

    When Discovery runs, it populates CI attributes in the CMDB using both probe-based and pattern-based discovery. The Pattern diagnostic agentic workflow supports investigation into CIs discovered through pattern-based discovery. When an attribute is missing, identifying the cause requires navigating multiple tables and interpreting nested JSON in discovery logs. The Pattern diagnostic agentic workflow automates this investigation and suggests a remediation action, all from the Now Assist panel.

    Requirements

    Now Assist for IT Operations Management (ITOM) must be installed on your instance. For more information, see Install the Now Assist for IT Operations Management (ITOM) plugin.

    Role required: discovery_admin.

    Pattern diagnostic agentic workflow overview

    A Discovery administrator triggers the workflow by asking a natural-language question in the Now Assist panel. The workflow resolves the CI class and surfaces the attributes that Discovery is responsible for populating. The administrator selects the attribute to investigate. The workflow then identifies affected CI records with the selected attribute missing, parses the relevant discovery logs to identify the root cause, and suggests a remediation.

    The workflow uses two agents:

    • Pattern diagnostic agent: Receives the administrator's query and runs script tools autonomously to investigate the missing attribute.
    • EF Remediation Agent: Receives the identified root cause and suggests a remediation.

    Scope

    The workflow covers attribute coverage gaps for CI classes discovered through pattern-based Discovery. The following conditions apply:

    • Only CIs discovered through patterns are supported for analysis.
    • Analysis is based on the pattern metadata table (sn_disco_ai_pattern_metadata). This table contains metadata about the patterns populating a CI and its attributes. Only default pattern information is included; customizations made to patterns aren't considered.
    • Log analysis focuses on the first CI in the sample. If issues are found, the workflow reports them and stops. If no issues are found, it checks the next CI in the list, up to the sample limit of five.

    Examples

    The following scenarios illustrate how the workflow handles different CI and pattern types.

    Scenario 1: Direct infrastructure (Linux Server)

    The workflow investigates a missing cpu_manufacturer attribute on Linux Server CIs. The workflow resolves the CIs IP address and queries the discovery logs directly. It returns a full report with sample CIs investigated, link to CIs, root cause and remediation guidance.

    Scenario 2: Applicative pattern (MySQL database)

    The workflow investigates a missing attribute on a MySQL database CI. MySQL CIs are discovered through their host servers. The workflow navigates the Runs on relationship to resolve the host server's IP address and queries the discovery logs on the host, not the MySQL instance. It returns a full report with sample CIs investigated, link to CIs, root cause and remediation guidance.

    Scenario 3: Cloud pattern (AWS Auto Scaling Group)

    The workflow investigates a missing cluster_connection attribute on an AWS Auto Scaling Group CI. Cloud CIs use an SA-LDC identifier instead of a traditional IP address. The workflow navigates the Hosted on relationship to resolve the SA-LDC identifier and searches logs using the identifier and process ID. It returns a full report with sample CIs investigated, link to CIs, root cause and remediation guidance.