CI relationship editor

  • Release version: Australia
  • Updated March 12, 2026
  • 2 minutes to read
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    Summary of CI relationship editor

    The CI relationship editor in ServiceNow allows you to view, create, modify, or delete Configuration Item (CI) relationships directly from the CI Relations formatter. It designates the CI from which it is launched as the base CI and enables selecting one or more additional CIs to establish relationships. For the latest functionality, the Unified Map in CMDB Workspace or Service Graph Workspace is recommended as an alternative for editing CI relationships.

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    Key Features

    • Relationship Types: Depending on the relationship type chosen, the base CI can act as either the parent or child in the relationship.
    • Suggested Relationships: When the "Use suggested relationship" checkbox is selected, the editor shows all available relationship types for the base CI, highlighting suggested ones in blue with a "[Suggested]" prefix. Selecting a suggested type automatically assigns the base CI as parent or child accordingly.
    • Manual Relationship Definition: Without using suggested relationships, you first select the second CI and then specify the parent or child relationship type manually.
    • Relationship Views: The editor provides separate lists for downstream relationships (where the base CI is the parent) and upstream relationships (where the base CI is the child).
    • Exclusions: Certain relationship types, such as those used exclusively for Service Mapping endpoints (e.g., Implement End Point To/From), are not available for general CI relationships.
    • Legacy CI Relationship Builder: A more advanced manual tool available via the CI relationship builder icon, offering detailed relationship definition capabilities beyond the standard editor.

    Key Actions

    • Create or Edit Relationships: Use the editor to establish new relationships or modify existing ones between CIs to accurately reflect dependencies and associations.
    • Delete Relationships: Remove outdated or irrelevant CI relationships to maintain CMDB data integrity.

    Practical Benefits for ServiceNow Customers

    Utilizing the CI relationship editor helps ensure your CMDB accurately represents the dependencies and structure of your configuration items. This supports better impact analysis, change management, and service mapping. The option to use suggested relationships simplifies relationship creation by guiding you with relevant relationship types. Additionally, the legacy builder offers advanced capabilities for manual relationship management when needed.

    Use the relationship editor to view, create, modify, or delete CI relationships. Open the relationship editor from the CI Relations formatter.

    As an alternative to the CI relationship editor, Unified Map in the CMDB Workspace store app or in Service Graph Workspace provides the latest functionality for editing CI relationships. For more information, see Edit relationships in Unified Map.

    When you use the relationship editor, the CI from which the editor was launched is designated as the base CI. You can then select one or more CIs as a second CI for the relationship. Depending on the selected relationship type, the base CI can become the parent CI or the child CI in the new relationship.

    The relationship editor operates differently, depending on whether you select the Use suggested relationship check box.
    • With suggested relationships, the relationship editor lists all available relationship types for the base CI. To define a new relationship, select a relationship type, and then select a second CI for the relationship.

      Suggested relationships are highlighted for you. These relationships are displayed in blue with a prefix of [Suggested].

    • Without suggested relationships, you define a new relationship by first selecting a second CI for the relationship and then selecting a parent or a child relationship type.
    Note:
    The following relationship types are used only for Service Mapping endpoints, and you cannot use them as a relationship type between two CIs:
    • Implement End Point To:Implement End Point From
    • Use End Point To: Use End Point From
    • Applicative Flow To:Applicative Flow From

    Suggested relationships

    If you select the Use suggested relationship check box in the editor, the Suggested relationship list appears. It displays all available CI, user and group relationship types for the base CI. Relationship types have a suffix of (Parent) or (Child) to note the relationship descriptor, and suggested relationship types are displayed in blue and have a "*" prefix.

    When you select a relationship, you are also designating the base CI as being the parent or the child CI in the new relationship. For example, if you select the 'Feeds' relationship type, the base CI becomes the designated parent CI, and the second CI that you select becomes the child CI in this relationship.

    Downstream relationships

    If you do not select the Use suggested relationship check box in the editor, the Downstream relationships list appears. It displays all relationships in which the base CI is the parent CI. The child CI of the relationship is displayed in the Child column.

    Upstream relationships

    If you do not select the Use suggested relationship check box in the editor, the Upstream relationships list appears. It displays all relationships in which the base CI is the child CI. The parent CI in each relationship is displayed in the Parent column.