Building applications

  • Release version: Yokohama
  • Updated January 30, 2025
  • 3 minutes to read
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    Summary of Building applications

    This guide introduces ServiceNow customers to developing applications using the ServiceNow AI Platform's low-code tools. It outlines a structured, five-phase process to build, test, deploy, and maintain applications that modernize legacy processes and meet specific business needs. The guide also highlights the new ServiceNow Studio, a unified environment that accelerates app development with streamlined navigation, integrated tools, and enhanced productivity features.

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    Application Development Phases

    • Learning about creating applications: Understand foundational concepts such as how the AI Platform uses tables and records, converting spreadsheets to data, obtaining a development instance, subscription licensing, and developer support options. Decide whether to build a new application or extend existing solutions found in the ServiceNow Store or Community.
    • Phase 1: Planning your application: Define your application’s goals, users, access controls, data sources, UI experience, supported processes, and relevant subscriptions. Assess if existing applications can be leveraged or extended.
    • Phase 2: Developing your application: Build your app by adding data tables, user experience elements (like portals), logic and automation (such as workflows and notifications), and security configurations (roles and access controls). Choose appropriate builder tools based on your app’s user experience needs, including App Engine Studio for low-code development and Workflow Studio or Playbooks for automation.
    • Phase 3: Testing and debugging your application: Verify business requirements through testing record operations (create, read, update, delete), UI components (views, policies), and runtime behaviors (business rules, event scripts).
    • Phase 4: Deploying your application: After successful testing, deploy your application to production using builder tools. Utilize the App Engine Management Center, Application Repository, or classic update sets for deployment management.
    • Phase 5: Maintaining your application: Continuously update and modify your application using development tools and ensure ongoing functionality through testing tools.

    Why This Matters

    Following this phased approach enables ServiceNow customers to efficiently create tailored applications that improve user experience and modernize processes. The modular structure ensures clarity in planning and development, while integrated tools support faster delivery and ongoing maintenance, maximizing the value of your ServiceNow platform investment.

    Learn how to become an application developer using ServiceNow AI Platform low-code tools. Start with what you know and use a library of reusable components and published applications to modernize your legacy processes.

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    What's new

    Build apps smarter and deliver them faster with the new ServiceNow Studio. ServiceNow Studio empowers platform developers with a modern, unified environment for building on the ServiceNow AI Platform. ServiceNow Studio features streamlined navigation to applications and metadata, integrated low-code tools, efficient tracking and packaging of development work that accelerates development processes and enhances productivity.

    App development phases

    Learning about creating applications

    Decide whether you want to build a new application or extend an existing application. Check the ServiceNow Store and the ServiceNow Community for existing solutions.

    Before building your first application, you may want to learn some basic information about application development. This phase is optional, and you can complete it at any time while you work on other phases.

    Phase 1: Planning your application
    The application development process starts with planning. Consider how the application will work, who will use it, and how it will improve your users' experience. Your application plan should answer the following questions:
    • What are the goals, objectives, and outputs of your application?
    • Who uses your application?
    • Who has access to parts of the application?
    • What tasks do people complete with your application?
    • Where does the data come from?
    • How do people interact with your application?
    • What processes must the application support?
    • What UI experience does the application use?
    • Is there an existing application available on the ServiceNow Store or the ServiceNow Community that you can use or extend?
    • What subscriptions does your application require?
    Phase 2: Developing your application
    During the development phase, you add the components and content of your application. Most applications consist of the following:
    Data
    Information is stored in your application via tables that you configure. For example, employee phone numbers or office locations.
    Experience
    Experiences are graphical interfaces that your users interact with. For example, you can create a portal where users find information, submit requests, or complete business tasks.
    Logic and automation
    Automate all the work in your application by adding logic and automation. For example, you can build a flow that sends a notification to the admin when someone makes a request.
    Security
    Configure roles and access controls to limit who can use your application. For example, you can restrict access to application data to users who have a specific role.

    Choose a builder that matches the type of user experience that your application provides.

    Phase 3: Testing and debugging your application
    Verify that the application meets your business requirements. Your testing should cover the following elements:
    • Record operations, such as create, read, update, and delete.
    • User interface elements, such as views and UI policies.
    • Runtime operations, such as business rules and event script actions.
    Phase 4: Deploying your application

    After successfully testing an application, deploy it to your production environment with your builder tool.

    Phase 5: Maintaining your application

    Use your Phase 2 builder tool to update and modify your application. Use your Phase 3 testing tool to verify that your application still functions properly.

    Applications and features