Combined Change Management release notes for upgrades from Xanadu to Yokohama

yokohama Combined Product Files

Release

yokohama

ft:locale

en-US

ft:publication_title

yokohama Combined Product Files

ft:clusterId

delta3yx

bundleId

delta3yx

Combined Change Management release notes for upgrades from Xanadu to Yokohama

Release version: Yokohama

Updated July 20, 2026

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Summary of Combined Change Management release notes for upgrades from Xanadu to Yokohama

This consolidated release notes document provides ServiceNow customers with a comprehensive summary of changes and new features introduced in Change Management between the Xanadu and Yokohama releases. It is designed to assist you in preparing for your upgrade by highlighting important updates, pre- and post-upgrade tasks, and key improvements.

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Key Features

snservicedeskagent User Role: A new role tailored for tier 1 service desk agents to improve operational efficiency by streamlining information gathering and resolution delivery. This role includes several associated roles (snincidentwrite, snproblemwrite, snchangewrite, snrequestwrite, and trackedfilereader), and integrates knowledgeuser and nowassistpaneluser roles when the ITSM Gen AI plugin is installed. It is supported starting with Service Operations Workspace version 6.1.
Change Model Type Field: A new 'Model' option in the change model Type field helps identify changes controlled by a change model. It is set as the default if no Type is specified for a change request under a change model.
No Default Risk Value: The Risk field on the Change Request table no longer has a default value and is set to '-- None --' until explicitly evaluated, supporting more accurate risk assessments.
Mandatory Field Transition Condition: Enforces completion of required fields before a change request can advance through states, as defined by the Change Model. This ensures critical information is captured before progression.
Deny-unless ACLs on Core Tables: Added deny-unless Access Control Lists on changerequest and changetask tables to prevent unauthorized access by non-authenticated users. This security feature is available via the ITSM Enhanced Security Features plugin and requires testing before production deployment.

Key Changes and Updates

Workflows Replaced by Flows: Change Management workflows have been removed for new customers and replaced by flows. Existing customers using workflows remain unaffected. Flows are customizable via ServiceNow Workflow Studio and Flow Designer.

Activation and Additional Information

Activation: Change Management is now a ServiceNow AI Platform feature that is active by default in Yokohama.
Other Areas: No updates or changes were noted for deprecations, browser requirements, accessibility, localization, or additional requirements between the Xanadu and Yokohama releases.

Practical Impact for ServiceNow Customers

Upgrading to Yokohama enhances Change Management by improving the role-based access for service desk agents, enforcing stricter data quality through mandatory fields and risk assessments, and increasing security with deny-unless ACLs. The switch from workflows to flows modernizes automation capabilities while maintaining backward compatibility for existing customers. These changes collectively enable more efficient, secure, and controlled change management processes.

Consolidated page of all release notes for Change Management from Xanadu to Yokohama.

How to use this page

To help you prepare for your upgrade, we have combined the cross-family Change Management release notes onto one page. Read this summary of the new features, changes, and updated information for your product from Xanadu to Yokohama.

Tip:

If there were no updates for a release notes section in a certain family release, we included a short note for your reference. For example, if a product did not have any updates in Tokyo, the row says "No updates for this release."

Important information for upgrading Change Management to Yokohama

Before you upgrade to Yokohama, review these pre- and post-upgrade tasks and complete the tasks as needed.


Release	Release notes
Xanadu	No updates for this release.
Yokohama	No updates for this release.

New features

Between your current release family and Yokohama, new features were introduced for Change Management.


Release	Release notes
Xanadu	No updates for this release.
Yokohama	User role for service desk agents With the sn_service_desk_agent user role, increase operational efficiency by streamlining the process of asking about, gathering, and verifying information, as well as delivering quick resolutions. This role is designed for tier 1 service desk agents and is accessible when the ITSM Roles plugin (com.snc.itsm.roles) installed. The sn_service_desk_agent role includes the following roles: sn_incident_write sn_problem_write sn_change_write sn_request_write tracked_file_reader Additionally, with the installation of the ITSM Gen AI (com.sn.itsm.gen.ai) plugin, the knowledge_user and now_assist_panel_user roles are integrated within the sn_service_desk_agent role. The sn_service_desk_agent user role can be used starting with Service Operations Workspace version 6.1. Change model Type field A new Model option has been added to the change model Type field to help users identify a change that is controlled by a change model. Model is the default if a Type has not been set for the change request of a certain change model. No default Risk value for change requests There is no longer a default value for the Risk field on the Change Request table. The Risk value is set to -- None -- until the risk is evaluated for the change request. This change ensures that no risk value is pre-assigned, allowing for a more accurate assessment before advancing the change Mandatory field transition condition Ensure mandatory fields are completed before advancing through states for a change request, as defined by the Change Model. This feature enables change managers to mandate the completion of required fields before states can progress according to the Change Model. Deny-unless ACLs on core tables Prevent unauthorized access to change_request and change_task tables using deny-unless ACLs. The deny-unless ACLs restrict access on these tables for a non-authenticated user to perform actions such as read, write, delete, or create. This feature is available for new or zBoot customers with the installation of the ITSM Enhanced Security Features (com.snc.itsm.enhanced_security) plugin. Existing or upgrade customers must test and evaluate in their sub production instance before installing the plugin and implementing the security change in their production instance.

Changes

Between your current release family and Yokohama, some changes were made to existing Change Management features.


Release	Release notes
Xanadu	No updates for this release.
Yokohama	No updates for this release.

Removed

Between your current release family and Yokohama, some Change Management features or functionality were removed.


Release	Release notes
Xanadu	No updates for this release.
Yokohama	Change Management workflows have been removed and replaced by flows for new customers. Existing customers that use these workflows are unaffected. The flows are available to both new and existing customers. You can use ServiceNow® Workflow Studio to customize or extend these flows. For more information, see Flow Designer.

Deprecations

Between your current release family and Yokohama, some Change Management features or functionality were deprecated.


Release	Release notes
Xanadu	No updates for this release.
Yokohama	No updates for this release.

Activation information

Review information on how to activate Change Management.


Release	Release notes
Xanadu	No updates for this release.
Yokohama	Change Management is a ServiceNow AI Platform feature that is active by default.

Additional requirements

If any additional requirements were introduced or changed for Change Management we have noted them here.


Release	Release notes
Xanadu	No updates for this release.
Yokohama	No updates for this release.

Browser requirements

If any specific browser requirements were introduced or changed for Change Management we have noted them here.


Release	Release notes
Xanadu	No updates for this release.
Yokohama	No updates for this release.

Accessibility information

Review details on accessibility information for Change Management, such as specific requirements or compliance levels.


Release	Release notes
Xanadu	No updates for this release.
Yokohama	No updates for this release.

Localization information

If there are specific localization considerations for Change Management we have noted them here.


Release	Release notes
Xanadu	No updates for this release.
Yokohama	No updates for this release.

Highlight information

If there are specific highlight considerations for Change Management we have noted them here.


Release	Release notes
Xanadu	No updates for this release.
Yokohama	Increase operational efficiency of tier 1 service desk agents with the dedicated sn_service_desk_agent role. Require specified field details to be updated before transitioning the state of a change request by converting existing optional fields to mandatory fields. Restrict unauthorized access to Change Management tables using deny ACLs. See Change Management for more information.