Service Mapping MCP tools reference

  • Release version: Australia
  • Updated May 20, 2026
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    Summary of Service Mapping MCP tools reference

    This reference details five read-only Service Mapping MCP tools provided by the Now Assist CMDB MCP Server for retrieving application service data from a ServiceNow instance. These tools enable AI clients compatible with MCP to query service-related information such as service names, service topologies, server impacts, and unmapped configuration items (CIs). They do not modify CMDB data but provide essential insights to support service mapping and impact analysis.

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    Key Features

    • getallapplicationservicenames: Lists all application service names, optionally filtered by mapping type (pattern-based, tag-based, or calculated). Returns paginated entries including service name, system ID, and type.
    • getallapplicationservicesforaserver: Retrieves all application services containing a specified server CI, providing service name, system ID, type, and mapping status. Returns an empty list if no services include the server.
    • getapplicationservicetopology: Provides the full topology of a specified application service, detailing member CIs, their classes, relationships, and directionality (upstream/downstream). Useful for understanding service structure and dependencies. Large topologies (>50 members) should be queried with summaries to avoid data overload.
    • getserverimpactgraph: Returns all CIs related to a given server CI via CMDB relationships and observed TCP traffic connections. Differentiates between relationship types to assist in impact analysis and mapping decisions.
    • getunmappedtopology: Identifies CIs that have CMDB relationships or TCP traffic connections but are not currently mapped to any application service. Supports optional filtering by CI class to highlight potential mapping gaps.

    Practical Use and Benefits

    ServiceNow customers can leverage these tools to efficiently query and analyze application service data without impacting the CMDB. The tools facilitate:

    • Comprehensive discovery of application services and their members.
    • Detailed visualization and understanding of service topologies and dependencies.
    • Impact analysis for servers by identifying related CIs through relationships and network traffic.
    • Identification of unmapped configuration items to prioritize service mapping efforts and improve CMDB completeness.

    Example natural-language queries illustrate how to invoke these tools through AI clients like Claude, enabling intuitive access to complex service mapping data.

    Reference information for the five Service Mapping MCP tools provided by the Now Assist CMDB MCP Server, including their inputs, outputs, and example natural-language queries for use with Claude.

    The Now Assist CMDB MCP Server exposes five tools that an MCP-compatible AI client can invoke to retrieve application service data from a ServiceNow instance. All tools are read-only and do not create, update, or delete records.

    get_all_application_service_names

    Returns a list of all application service names in the instance.

    Input
    An optional filter parameter to limit results by mapping type: pattern-based, tag-based, or calculated. If no filter is provided, all service types are returned.
    Output
    A paginated list of entries. Each entry includes:
    • Service name
    • System ID
    • Service type
    The response is paginated or bounded to prevent oversized payloads.
    Example queries
    • "Use the ServiceNow Service Mapping tool, get_all_application_service_names, to list all application services."
    • "List all tag-based application services in ServiceNow."

    get_all_application_services_for_a_server

    Returns all application services that include a specified server as a member CI.

    Input
    Server CI name or System ID.
    Output
    A list of application services. Each entry includes:
    • Service name
    • System ID
    • Service type
    • Mapping status
    If no services are found for the specified server, an empty list is returned. This is not treated as an error.
    Example queries
    • "Use the ServiceNow Service Mapping tool, get_all_application_services_for_a_server, to find which services contain server emse-10152008.servicenow.com"
    • "Which application services include server haproxy-s?"

    get_application_service_topology

    Returns the full topology of a specified application service, including all member CIs and the CMDB relationships (edges) connecting them.

    Input
    Application service name or System ID.
    Output
    The complete topology of the service. Each CI entry includes:
    • CI name
    • CI class
    • Relationship type
    • Direction: upstream or downstream
    The topology reflects the current state of the service map, not a cached version.
    Example queries
    • "Use the ServiceNow Service Mapping tool, get_application_service_topology, to get the topology for the Inclusion service. Just show me the member count and edge count, don't visualize."
    • "Show me the topology of the Payroll service."
    Usage note
    Application services with a large number of member CIs and edges (more than 50 members) return a significant volume of data. When querying topology for large services, ask Claude for a summary or specific counts rather than a full visualization to avoid reaching message-length limits on the Claude free tier.

    get_server_impact_graph

    Given a server CI, returns all CIs related to it via CMDB relationships and all CIs with observed TCP traffic connections to or from that server.

    Input
    Server CI name or System ID.
    Output
    A set of related CIs. The response distinguishes between:
    • CIs related via CMDB relationships. Uses [cmdb_rel_ci] or equivalent.
    • CIs with observed TCP traffic connections to or from the specified server
    This distinction enables AI-assisted identification of candidates for service map inclusion.
    Example queries
    • "Use the ServiceNow Service Mapping tool, get_server_impact_graph, to get impact analysis for server haproxy-s."
    • "What CIs are related to server db-cluster-02 via CMDB or traffic?"

    get_unmapped_topology

    Returns CIs that have CMDB relationships, TCP traffic signals or both, but are not currently members of any application service. Use this tool to identify mapping gaps and prioritize further Service Mapping work.

    Input
    An optional CI class filter, for example to return only Linux servers or only application servers.
    Output
    A list of unmapped CIs. Each entry includes:
    • CI name
    • CI class
    • Number of CMDB relationship edges
    • Number of TCP traffic connections
    Example queries
    • "Use the ServiceNow Service Mapping tool, get_unmapped_topology, to show me which CIs have relationships or traffic signals but are not in any application service."
    • "Use the ServiceNow Service Mapping tool, get_unmapped_topology, to show me unmapped Linux servers in ServiceNow."