ServiceNow Studio personas and roles

  • Release version: Australia
  • Updated March 12, 2026
  • 2 minutes to read
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    Summary of ServiceNow Studio personas and roles

    ServiceNow Studio is a development environment where different user roles have distinct permissions and capabilities to create, update, and manage applications and related metadata. Understanding these roles helps you control access, delegate development tasks, and manage application lifecycle effectively.

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    Key Roles and Capabilities

    • Delegated Developer (delegateddeveloper)
      • Access limited to assigned apps with permissions that vary by configuration.
      • Can update assigned apps, create update sets, modify app files and metadata, and submit apps for deployment.
    • Admin
      • Full access to ServiceNow Studio for creating and editing apps and app files.
      • Can delegate development permissions to others.
      • Manages update sets and global metadata records.
      • Reviews and approves custom app development tasks.
    • Guided Application Creator (GAC) Roles (sngappcreator.appcreator, sngappcreator.global)
      • Can access Studio and create new applications.
      • Upon app creation, automatically granted delegateddeveloper role for that app.
      • GAC Global role allows creation of custom global applications.
    • ServiceNow Studio Admin / Unified Developer Core (UDC) Admin (snudc.admin)
      • Provides granular administrative control over Studio system properties, settings, and roles.
      • Manages experience switcher roles across Creator Studio, ServiceNow Studio, and ServiceNow IDE.
    • Preferred Tables Admin (snprfrdtables.admin)
      • Administers configuration of preferred tables for Table Builder functionality.
      • Note: Table Builder use does not require additional admin roles.
    • Metadata-specific Admin Roles (e.g., Business Rule Admin, Script Include Admin)
      • Provide admin-level CRUD permissions on specific metadata types within ServiceNow Studio.
      • These roles allow focused development on specific metadata like script includes.
      • They can be configured within the experience switcher for tailored access.

    Practical Implications for Customers

    Assigning the appropriate ServiceNow Studio roles enables controlled and efficient application development workflows. Admins can delegate development to trusted users, while Guided Application Creators can quickly build new apps with delegated permissions. Granular admin roles help manage Studio settings and metadata access, ensuring compliance and governance. Understanding the distinct permissions tied to each role helps in planning your development team’s access and responsibilities effectively within ServiceNow Studio.

    Admins, delegated developers, and users with Guided Application Creator roles can access and develop in ServiceNow Studio. Each role has different capabilities and permissions.

    What can each role do in ServiceNow Studio?

    Admins and delegated developers have different capabilities in ServiceNow Studio. Admins can delegate users to work on specific apps and app files by assigning delegated_developer permissions.

    For more information about roles and access to different app development tools, see Roles and access in app development tools.
    Table 1. Roles and capabilities
    Role Permissions Capabilities
    Delegated developer (delegated_developer) Delegated developers have access only to the apps they are assigned to. Permissions may vary based on your configuration.
    • Access ServiceNow Studio.
    • Update apps they have delegated development permissions for.
    • Create an update set to package changes.
    • Create and update app files and other metadata records.
    • Submit an app for deployment through update sets, pipelines, or the Application Repository.
    Admin Admins can review and approve tasks related to custom application development.
    • Access ServiceNow Studio.
    • Create apps in ServiceNow Studio.
    • Edit existing apps and app files, or delegate development to another user.
    • Create, edit, and manage update sets.
    • Update existing metadata records.
    • Create and edit global (unscoped) metadata records.
    Guided Application Creator (GAC) roles (sn_g_app_creator.app_creator, sn_g_app_creator.global) Users with GAC roles can access ServiceNow Studio and create apps. After creating an application, the user receives the delegated_developer role for that application.
    • Access ServiceNow Studio.
    • Create custom applications.
    • With the GAC Global role, create custom global apps.
    ServiceNow Studio admin / Unified Developer Core (UDC) admin (sn_udc.admin) Provides administrative access to tables within ServiceNow Studio scope and configuration access to the experience switcher roles. Granular admin role that enables the following actions:
    • Manage all ServiceNow Studio system properties, settings, and configurations.
    • Manage roles and permissions specific to ServiceNow Studio.
    • Configure the experience switcher roles across Creator Studio, ServiceNow Studio, and ServiceNow IDE.

    For more information about granular admin roles, see Granular admin roles.
    Preferred tables admin (sn_prfrd_tables.admin) Provides administrative access to configure preferred tables for Table Builder. Granular admin role that enables you to configure preferred tables in your instance for Table Builder.
    Note:
    Table Builder does not require an additional admin role.
    Metadata-specific admin roles
    • Business rule admin
    • Script include admin
    		 Provide access to ServiceNow Studio. Metadata-specific admin roles are existing roles on the ServiceNow AI Platform that provide developers with admin access to a specific metadata type. For example, the script include admin role enables a developer to create, read, update, and delete (CRUD) any script include on the ServiceNow AI Platform and perform development on script includes in ServiceNow Studio.
    Each metadata-specific admin role must:
    • Enable CRUD access to the metadata types it represents directly within ServiceNow Studio.
    • Be configurable within the experience switcher.