Scripting: Checking for first and subsequent configurations

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  • Updated March 12, 2026
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    Summary of Scripting: Checking for first and subsequent configurations

    This guidance explains how to differentiate between the first-time initialization and subsequent reconfigurations of a configurable product in ServiceNow CPQ. Distinguishing these states allows you to control script execution precisely, such as setting default field values only during the initial configuration and preserving user edits during later changes.

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    Key Methods to Detect Configuration State

    • Using userEdited Property: Each field has a userEdited Boolean indicating if the user has modified the field. This can be checked in the On Configure/Reconfigure enrichment script to run code only when a field has not been edited by the user, typically during initialization.
    • Using lineId Partner Field: When integrated with Salesforce, the lineId partner field contains the Salesforce quote line ID only during reconfiguration. It is null during the initial configuration because the quote line record does not yet exist. Scripts can check if lineId is null to execute initialization logic or non-null to execute reconfiguration logic.
    • Creating an isInitial Text Field: You can create a custom text variable named isInitial associated with the blueprint to track configuration state independent of Salesforce integration. In the enrichment script, set isInitial to "Yes" at first initialization, then "No" on reconfiguration and thereafter. This field can also be referenced in rules to trigger behaviors conditionally based on initialization or reconfiguration.

    Practical Applications and Recommendations

    These techniques enable flexible and unique scripting behaviors tailored to your configurable products’ lifecycle. For example, you can:

    • Set default field values only when a configuration is first created.
    • Preserve user changes during subsequent reconfigurations.
    • Trigger specific rules or behaviors conditionally depending on whether the configuration is new or being edited.

    While these methods provide powerful control, it’s recommended to avoid excessive behavioral differences between initialization and reconfiguration to maintain a consistent user experience.

    You can test whether a configuration is being initialized or being reconfigured, and set code to execute based on the result.

    Sometimes it is necessary to execute code only when the configuration is being initialized, or only when it is being reconfigured. For example, you might want to set a field to its default values at the beginning of a configuration, but keep the userʼs selection during any future edit.

    The methods below can be combined without interfering with one another and can lead to flexible and unique code behaviors for your configurable products.

    userEdited: running only when a field was not edited

    Two field properties can be accessed in the On Configure/Reconfigure enrichment: value and userEdited. While the value property holds the data contained in the field and is usually what will be accessed when scripting, userEdited contains a Boolean value that stores whether the field has been changed by the end user.

    This can be used in if statements to write a default value only when the field has not been changed by the user. For example:

    if (cfgRequest.[fieldVariableName].userEdited == false) {
      //code to run
}

    All fields will have the userEdited property set to false when the configuration is initialized, but when reconfiguring, some will be set to true based on the changes made by the user. If youʼd like a behavior to occur only when a field has or hasnʼt been edited, write the code to execute after one of these checks.

    The lineId partner field

    Alternatively, if youʼd like to make only one check in the On Configure/Reconfigure enrichment script, and have Salesforce integration, the lineId partner field will only be populated with the Salesforce ID of the parent configurable productʼs quote line when reconfiguring. It will not be populated when a configuration is initialized.

    This is because when a ServiceNow CPQ configuration is initialized, this ID does not yet exist, because the configuration has yet to be saved. Only after a ServiceNow CPQ configuration has been created and the quote line editor saved are any quote lines created in Salesforce. So, when we see that the lineId partner field is present, we can be sure that the current session is due to a reconfiguration, not a new configuration.

    Script writers can take advantage of this distinction by putting any code that must be run only on initialization or reconfiguration under a check for this value.

    Here is how the field can be referenced in the On Configure/Reconfigure enrichment:

    cfgRequest.partner.quote.lineId.value;

    If the behavior should only happen when the configuration is initialized, you could add the following check:

    if (cfgRequest.partner.quote.lineId.value == null) {
      //code to run
      return cfgRequest;
}

    Adding the return cfgRequest; line in the check guarantees that any code after the check for the line ID will not be executed.

    Similarly, if the behavior should happen only when the configuration is reconfigured, add the inverse check:

    if (cfgRequest.partner.quote.lineId.value != null) {      
      //code to run
      return cfgRequest;
}

    For more information on partner fields, see ServiceNow CPQ fields, system fields, and partner fields.

    isInitial: creating a text field

    Another way to guarantee that a distinction is present (regardless of whether Salesforce is used as an entry point into the configurator) is to create a field that checks whether the current configuration is due to an initialization or a reconfiguration.

    Create a text field with the variable name isInitial. Associate the field with your blueprint. Then, in the On Configure/Reconfigure enrichment, add the following lines:

    if (cfgRequest.isInitial.value === "Yes" || cfgRequest.isInitial.value === "No") {
      cfgRequest.isInitial.set("value","No");
}
else
{
c fgRequest.isInitial.set("value","Yes");
}

    On initialization, the isInitial field will be blank. Therefore, the script will set the value of isInitial to Yes in the else clause.

    On the first reconfiguration, isInitial will be Yes. Therefore, the script will set the value of isInitial to No in the if clause.

    On every subsequent reconfiguration, isInitial will be No, and will remain No.

    This method has the added benefit of not having to save the entire QLE in SFDC in order to make the distinction between an initialization or reconfiguration. The method immediately detects when the user enters the configurator a second time.

    This method also includes the ability to reference the new field as a condition in rules, such as making a rule fire specifically on initialization or reconfiguration. It does not require the behavior to exist only in the On Configure/Reconfigure script. However, to keep the configuring experience similar from the end user's perspective, you should be wary of making too many behavioral differences between initialization and reconfiguration.