Collaborate with other developers

In App Engine Studio (AES), you can add or remove users and groups to be collaborators on an application.

Users have varying levels of permissions for actions on the Collaboration feature. At a high level:

Users with these permissions	Can perform these actions
Manage Collaborators delegated development permission to the application	Can: See a list of collaborators and their descriptors Search for users or groups Select or change the collaboration descriptor for a user or group (but users can't change customized users or groups) Add collaborators by sending invitations Remove users or groups (but users can't remove customized users or groups) Can't: Customize permissions for a user or group Deploy via update sets
Invite Collaborators delegated development permission to the application	Can: See a list of collaborators and their descriptors Search for users or groups Add collaborators by sending invitations Can't: Select or change the collaboration descriptor for a user or group Remove users or groups Customize permissions for a user or group
No Collaborator-related roles to the application	Can see a read-only list of collaborators and their descriptors. Can't: Search for users or groups Select or change the collaboration descriptor for a user or group Add collaborators by sending invitations Remove users or groups Customize permissions for a user or group
Administrators	Admins must elevate to a security_admin role to work with collaboration features. For more information, see Elevated privilege roles. Administrators can: See a list of collaborators and their descriptors Show/hide members of a group Search for users or groups Select or change the collaboration descriptor for a user or group (includes changing customized users or groups and changing the owner) Add collaborators by sending invitations Remove users or groups (includes removing customized users and groups and removing the owner even if there is only one owner) Customize permissions for a user or group

Note:

You should create collaboration descriptors in addition to Owner and Editor in the global scope. If you want collaboration descriptors to appear and be used in AES, you should also set them to standard = TRUE. AES doesn't support collaboration descriptors that are created in custom scopes, and non-standard collaboration descriptors don't render in AES.

When you add a user or group, a collaboration task is generated and an approval flow kicks off. To find all collaboration tasks, navigate to All > App Engine > Collaboration > Collaboration Tasks. The collaboration task provides information on which application a developer is being added to, and what permissions are granted. Approvers sometimes need to review these task records before they add developers to the application.

If you're an admin, you can modify the Collaboration Request flow. The base system Collaboration Request flow handles collaboration requests as follows:

• If the user has AES or delegated developer permissions and isn't new to the platform, the collaboration request approval record is auto-approved.
• If the user does not have AES or delegated developer permissions and is new to the platform, approval is required.

If you're an admin, you can modify the collaboration descriptors that developers use to assign delegated development permissions. The base table provides Owner and Editor collaboration descriptors. By default, Owners have the manage collaborator delegated development permission set, and Editors have the invite collaborator delegated development permission set.

Note:

If you’re using source control to collaborate with other developers, only changes that have been checked in are available to other developers. For example, if an admin creates a new flow for an app that’s linked to Git, the new flow won’t be available in the app for other AES users until the admin checks the flow into Git.

Add a user or group to collaboration

Give users or groups permission to collaborate with other developers in App Engine Studio (AES) using the Collaboration feature.

Before you begin

Role required: admin, manage collaborator delegated development role, or invite collaborator delegated development role

Procedure

1. Navigate to All > App Engine > App Engine Studio.
2. From the My Apps page, open your application.
3. Select the Manage collaborators button.

   Figure 1. Collaborate with others

   

4. To add another user or group as a collaborator, enter the user name or group name in the Invite people by name or group field.
5. Search for a specific user or group by entering the first few characters of the name.
   A drop-down list with matching user names and groups appears where you can select the user or group you want to add. If a user or group appears in the drop-down list but you can't select it, it's already been added as a collaborator and can't be re-selected.
6. Select the collaboration descriptor for the user or group that you're adding.
   For a list of collaboration permissions, see Delegated development and collaboration permissions.

   Note:

   Users with Invite Collaborators permissions can't do this, and will default to the Editor option.

   Only App Collaboration Descriptors that are defined in the global scope and have the standard option selected appear in the list.

7. Select Send.
   • If the user has AES or delegated developer permissions and is new to the platform, the user is listed under the pending requests section and approval is required. After the request is approved, both the requester and the user receive an email indicating that the user has been added to the application.
   • If the user has AES or delegated developer permissions and is not new to the platform, the collaboration request is auto-approved. Both the requester and the user receive an email indicating that the user has been added to the application.

   Note:

   If a valid controller has been configured on the instance from which the collaboration request originated, a collaboration request task is created on the controller instance. If the originating instance isn't configured on the controller, work notes are automatically added to the request record indicating that the instance must be configured before approval is granted. If the originating instance is the controller or a valid controller has not been configured, the collaboration request task is created on the requesting instance. For more information, see Configure your controller instance.

Change collaborator permissions

Change the permissions that are assigned to a collaborator or create a custom collaboration permission to enable what people can do in App Engine Studio (AES).

Before you begin

Role required: admin or manage collaborator delegated development role

Procedure

1. Navigate to All > App Engine > App Engine Studio.
2. From the My Apps page, open your application.
3. Select the Manage collaborators button.
4. For the user or group you want to change, select a different collaborator descriptor from the drop-down list.
   Customized users and groups are not editable by non-admins.
5. Admin only: Create custom collaboration permissions for specific users in an application.
   1. In AES, select Customize Permissions from the drop-down list across from the user's name.
   2. Select or clear delegated development permissions for the user or group.
      For a list of collaboration permissions, see Delegated development and collaboration permissions.

   If the selection matches that of another standard Collaboration descriptor, the system will provide a prompt before proceeding. For details on each delegated development permission, see Delegate development and deployment permissions to personnel.

6. Select Save.

Delegated development and collaboration permissions

Collaboration permissions define what users can do in App Engine Studio (AES).

File type access permissions

File type access permissions grant access to application file types.

Table 1. File type access permissions

Permission	Description
All file types	Grants access to collaborate on all file types. Note: This option includes access to additional file types not listed in separate permissions.
Integrations	Grants access to web service APIs, REST APIs, data sources, and Integration Hub - Import.
Reporting	Grants access to reports and scheduled reports.
Mobile builders	Grants access to build mobile experiences, such as with Mobile App Builder.
UI Builder	Grants access to work with UI Builder to build more complex interfaces.
Workflow	Grants access to the Workflow Editor and Activity Creator.
Service Portal	Grants access to work with Service Portal editors and tools.
Workflow Studio	Grants access to the Flows design environment in Workflow Studio to create flows and actions. Script action steps require the Allow Scripting permission.
Service Catalog	Grants access to work with catalog-related file types such as catalog items, record producers, and variables to add catalog items to apps.
Tables and forms	Grants access to model and layout-related file types such as table columns, form layout, and list layout.
Playbooks	Grants access to work with the Playbooks design environment to create processes. Editing activity subflows or actions requires the Flow Designer permission.
Decision Tables	Grants access to work with Decision Tables to create decision logic based on multiple if-then rules.
Notifications	Grants access to create automatic email notifications in apps.

Security/Entitlement permission

The Manage ACLs and Roles permission grants access to security management files, such as Access Control Lists and roles.

Programming tools permission

The Allow scripting permission grants access to script fields, such as scripting in business rules, UI actions, and client scripts.

Application management permissions

The application management permissions grant access to basic app management functions, like managing collaborators.

Table 2. Application management permissions

Permission	Description
Delete application	Grants the collaborator within a scoped app rights to delete the application.
Manage collaborators	Grants access to manage and invite collaborators for apps.
Source control	Grants full access to use source control.
Invite collaborators	Grants access to invite developers to collaborate on an app.

Deployment permissions

The deployment permissions grant access to installing, upgrading, and publishing apps.

Table 3. Deployment permissions

Permission	Description
Upgrade app	Grants access to upgrade the associated application after it has been installed in the current instance.
Submit for deployment	Grants access to submit the associated application for review and deployment.
Publish to app repo	Grants access to publish the associated application to the application repository in the current instance.
Publish to app store	Grants access to publish the associated application to the ServiceNow Store in the current instance.

Remove a user or group from collaboration

Remove users and groups from collaboration to restrict them from owning or editing an app.

Before you begin

Role required: admin or manage collaborator delegated development role

About this task

You can remove the final owner and editor for an app. If an app doesn't have any owners and needs one, an admin must add them.

Procedure

1. Navigate to All > App Engine > App Engine Studio.
2. From the My Apps page, open your application.
3. Select the Manage collaborators button.
   The Collaborate with others modal appears with a list of the current collaborators.
4. To remove a user or group as a collaborator, select Remove from the drop-down list.