Initialize the NowSDK in your application

  • Release version: Zurich
  • Updated July 31, 2025
  • 2 minutes to read
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    Summary of Initialize the NowSDK in your application

    To utilize the functionalities of the NowSDK in your iOS application, you must first initialize it. This asynchronous process should ideally begin in the application delegate’s launch method. Initialization occurs once per application launch and does not need to be repeated when the app is foregrounded or when a new scene is detected.

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    Key Features

    • Authorization Provider: Implement an authorization provider conforming to NowSDKAuthorizationProviding using JWT for authentication.
    • Device Permissions: Use a delegate conforming to DevicePermissionDelegate to manage device permissions effectively.
    • Guest User Access: Support guest users by providing a guest authorization token, allowing limited access without authentication.
    • Logout Functionality: Call NowSDK.logout() to clear user sessions and tokens when logging out.

    Key Outcomes

    By initializing the NowSDK correctly, your application will be able to provide seamless access to ServiceNow features, manage user permissions, and handle guest access efficiently. Proper configuration ensures a smooth user experience and effective session management, enhancing the overall functionality of your application.

    To access the functionality provided by the NowSDK, you must first initialize the NowSDK in your application.

    The Mobile SDK initialization is asynchronous. It is a good practice to start the initialization process as early as possible, such as in the application delegate’s application(application:didFinishLaunchingWithOptions:) function. Initialization only needs to occur once per application launch. There is no need to reinitialize when foregrounded or when a new scene is detected.

    To initialize the ServiceNow Mobile SDK in your iOS application you’ll need an authorization provider conforming to NowSDKAuthorizationProviding, which uses your JWT provider information, and a delegate conforming to DevicePermissionDelegate.

    The following is an example of a structure of an SDK initialization. For additional code examples, refer to the ServiceNow Mobile SDK sample application.

    // 
    
    //  JWTProvider.swift 
    
    import Foundation 
    import NowSDK 
    
    class JWTProvider: NowSDKAuthorizationProviding { 
      let token: String 
    
      init(token: String) { 
        self.token = token 
      } 
    
      func requestAuthorization(for instanceUrl: URL, completion: @escaping ([AuthorizationToken]?) -> Void) { 
        completion([AuthorizationToken(type: .jwt, token: token)]) 
      } 
    } 
    //
    //  PermissionProvider.swift 
    
    import Foundation
    import NowSDK 
    
    class PermissionProvider: DevicePermissionDelegate { 
      var isUserPermissionAllowed: Bool { Bool.random() } 
    
      func canRequestPermission(_ permission: DevicePermission) -> Bool { 
        guard isUserPermissionAllowed else { false } 
        return true 
      } 
    }
    //  
    //  AppDelegate.swift  
    
    import Foundation  
    import NowSDK  
    
    @main 
    class AppDelegate: UIResponder, UIApplicationDelegate { 
      func application(_ application: UIApplication, didFinishLaunchingWithOptions launchOptions: [UIApplication.LaunchOptionsKey: Any]?) -> Bool { 
    
        let jwtProvider = JWTProvider(token: "a_valid_token”) 
        let permissionDelegate = PermissionProvider()  
        let logLevel: NowLogLevel = .debug 
    
        let config = NowSDKConfiguration(authorizationProvider: jwtProvider, permissionDelegate: permissionProvider, logLevel: logLevel)  
    
        do { 
          try NowSDK.configure(with: config) 
        } catch { 
          // Handle 'error' 
        }
    
        return true 
    
    }

    Guest users

    If the current user is not authenticated, it is possible to for them to access SDK functionality as a guest. To indicate that the current user is a guest, the requestAuthorization function in the authorization provider should complete with a guest type of AuthorizationToken, as shown below. The token value in this case is not important so long as the AuthorizationTokenType is set to .guest. For additional information on guest users, see Configure guest user access.

    //  GuestTokenProvider.swift 
    import Foundation 
    import NowSDK 
    class GuestTokenProvider: NowSDKAuthorizationProviding { 
        func requestAuthorization(for instanceUrl: URL,  
            completion: @escaping ([AuthorizationToken]?) -> Void) { 
            completion([AuthorizationToken(type: .guest, token: "")]) 
        } 
    } 

    Logging users out of the SDK

    After a user is logged out of a host application, you should call the NowSDK.logout() method to clear that user's ServiceNow sessions and tokens from the SDK. For example:

    func onLogout() {
      NowSDK.logout()
    }