Universal Task data model

  • Release version: Zurich
  • Updated July 31, 2025
  • 2 minutes to read
    • Summarize
    Summarized using AI
    This content was generated using new OpenAI-powered functionality. Results are provided on an as is basis and are not guaranteed to be accurate or complete.

    Summary of Universal Task data model

    The Universal Task data model provides a flexible tasking framework that integrates with the ticketing systems of various departments within your organization. It enables you to create and manage tasks—called Universal Tasks—across services such as incident management, HR cases, legal matters, or universal requests. Multiple Universal Tasks can be assigned to a single request, enhancing task granularity and management.

    Show full answer Show less

    This data model leverages a combination of ServiceNow AI Platform tables and specific tables included with the Universal Task application to store and manage task data effectively.

    Key Features

    • Universal Task table extension: The snunitaskuniversaltask table extends the core Task [task] table to include fields for task type (e.g., Upload document), catalog item details for Submit Catalog Item tasks, employee forms and survey instances for Collect Employee Input tasks, and task templates for auto-filling forms.
    • State and Priority customization: Universal Task modifies the Task table’s State and Priority fields to fit task management needs:
      • States: New (Draft), Work in Progress, Complete, and Canceled—each defining task visibility and lifecycle.
      • Priorities: Critical, High, Moderate, and Low—allowing prioritization based on urgency and importance.
    • Data separation: The Universal Task table supports data separation to maintain data security and segregation across departments.
    • Configuration tables: The Universal Task configuration table (snunitaskconfig) allows you to define:
      • The parent table (department-specific task table that extends the Task table).
      • Available task types for agents to assign.
      • The Default Assigned to field to auto-fill the assignee during task creation.
    • Additional configurations: Certain task types, such as Submit Catalog Item, utilize specialized configuration tables like the Catalog task configuration (snunitaskcatalogtaskconfig) to apply filters and control catalog item availability for agents.
    • Process separation: Both the Universal Task configuration and Catalog task configuration tables support process separation to isolate configurations per process or department.

    Practical Implications for ServiceNow Customers

    Implementing the Universal Task data model enables organizations to standardize task creation and management across diverse departments, improving visibility and control over task assignments. By leveraging task types and configurations, you can tailor Universal Tasks to your specific service requirements, automate task assignments, and enforce data and process separation policies. This flexibility supports efficient workflow management and better aligns task handling with business needs.

    The Universal Task is a tasking framework that you can append to the ticketing system of any department in your organization. The Universal Task data model explains the tasking framework and its customizations.

    You can create Universal Task for any department or service, such as a universal request, an incident, an HR case, or a legal matter. You can also assign multiple universal tasks for a single request.

    The following diagram is a high-level overview of the Universal Task data model.

    Universal task data model.

    The Universal Task data model uses a combination of tables to store data:
    • ServiceNow AI Platform tables.
    • Tables that are included with the Universal Task application.
    For information on the tables and components that are installed with the Universal Task application, see Components installed with Universal Task.
    The Universal Task [sn_uni_task_universal_task] table extends the Task [task] table to include:
    • The type of task for the current record, for example, Upload document.
    • The catalog item if the task is of type Submit Catalog Item.
    • The generated table that stores the table name that contains the requested catalog items.
    • The generated ID that is the sys_id of the requested catalog item.
      Note:
      The catalog item, generated table, and generated ID are only applicable for the Submit Catalog item task type.
    • The employee form that is used to request information for the Collect Employee Input task type.
    • The survey instance that stores the instance ID of the employee form for the Collect Employee Input task type.
    • Task template to be used, if any, to auto-fill the Universal Task [universal-task] form.
    The values for the State and Priority fields in the Task [task] table have been modified for Universal Task. The valid states for Universal Task are:
    • 1: New (Draft state). Tasks at this state are only visible to the agent.
    • 2: Work in Progress. Tasks at this state are assigned to and visible to the employee.
    • 3: Complete. Tasks transition to the complete state when the employee completes the task.
    • 4: Canceled. Tasks at this state can be canceled by agents before the task is completed.
    The valid priority values for Universal Task are:
    • 1: Critical. Highest priority for urgent or time-sensitive tasks.
    • 2: High. Tasks that are important but not urgent.
    • 3: Moderate. Tasks that should be completed.
    • 4: Low. Optional tasks.
    The Universal Task [sn_uni_task_universal_task] table follows data separation.

    Universal Task configuration table

    The Universal Task configuration table is configured to identify the following details:
    • The Parent table, or the department-specific table that uses Universal Task. For example, if Universal Task is being used with HR cases, then the HR case table is the parent table. Universal Task can only be created on a table that is an extension of the task table.
    • The task types that are available to the agents to task the requester with. For more details, see Universal Task types.
    • The Default Assigned to field that points to the requester field in the parent table. To auto-fill the Assigned to field with the assignee while creating a task, configure the Default Assigned to field.
    For more details, see Configure Universal Task for your service.

    Specific task types might have additional configuration tables. For example, for the Submit catalog item task type, the Catalog task configuration [sn_uni_task_catalog_task_config] table determines which filters to apply to the catalog items that are available to an agent. For more information, see Configure the catalog items for your service.

    The Universal task configuration [sn_uni_task_config] table and the Catalog task configuration [sn_uni_task_catalog_task_config] table follow process separation.