Exploring ServiceNow AI Platform tables

  • Release version: Zurich
  • Updated July 31, 2025
  • 2 minutes to read
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    Summary of Exploring ServiceNow AI Platform tables

    The ServiceNow AI Platform® organizes data and processes using a table-based structure, including pre-built tables for common IT service management (ITSM) needs such as Incident, Problem, and CMDB. Tables can be extended to create parent-child relationships, enabling flexible data modeling and management. Data within these tables can be imported and exported in formats like CSV and XML.

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    Table Administration

    Administrators play a central role in managing tables by creating custom tables tailored to business requirements, defining field properties, establishing relationships between tables, and extending existing tables without altering the originals. They also set access controls to ensure secure data handling, define business rules, and maintain table cleanliness by removing outdated records.

    The administration workflow includes:

    • Viewing and understanding table relationships and extensions.
    • Creating custom parent and child tables to extend functionality.
    • Defining access controls for data security.
    • Importing and exporting data to and from core and custom tables.

    Key Features and Benefits

    • Model and Entity Relationships: Define complex relationships across multiple tables to support diverse applications.
    • Data Dictionary Tables: Access detailed visual references of tables, columns, and field labels for better data understanding.
    • Table Management: Create, index, and delete custom tables to optimize your instance’s data structure.
    • Many-to-Many Relationships: Link lists of multiple entries effectively, enhancing data connectivity.
    • Task Table Management: Organize and handle task-related data efficiently.
    • Reporting Integration: Use database views to connect tables for comprehensive reporting.

    Custom Tables and Table Relationships

    Custom tables allow you to extend the platform’s functionality and build bespoke applications. Relationships between tables can be created via extensions, references, many-to-many connections, or database views. Table extension lets child tables share fields and records with parent tables, enabling inheritance and streamlined data management. Note that table extensions are defined only during table creation.

    Additional Concepts

    Storage aliases facilitate data manipulation and field creation, contributing to flexible data structuring within the platform.

    Practical Actions for ServiceNow Customers

    • Use table administration tools to customize and extend core tables without impacting original data structures.
    • Implement access controls to secure sensitive data and comply with organizational policies.
    • Leverage data import/export capabilities for data integration and migration tasks.
    • Create many-to-many relationships to model complex business scenarios.
    • Utilize database views for enhanced reporting across related tables.

    Applications use tables and records to manage data and processes, such as Incident, Problem, and CMDB. Tables can extend other tables, creating parent tables and child tables.

    Table administration overview

    The ServiceNow AI Platform® uses a table-based data structure to store and organize information. Pre-built tables are included for common IT service management (ITSM) processes, with their data fully importable and exportable in CSV, XML, or other formats.

    Table administration users

    Table 1. Users
    User Description
    Administrator Admins can create custom tables for specific business requirements, define field properties, create relationships between tables, and extend existing tables without modifying the originals. Administrators also define access controls to allow only approved user access to records, business rules for various tasks, and table cleanup policies for unused and outdated records.

    Table administration workflow

    This infographic depicts how an administrator can extend both core tables and custom tables.

    Figure 1. Extending core tables and custom Tables
    Data can be exported and imported between Core Tables and Custom Tables. Admins define access controls to restrict access.
    1. An administrator views table relationships and learns how table extension works on the ServiceNow AI Platform®.
    2. The administrator creates a custom parent table and extends it by creating a custom child table.
    3. The administrator defines access controls to restrict access to each table.
    4. The administrator exports and imports data to core and custom tables as needed.

    Table administration benefits

    Benefit Feature Users
    Define models and entity relationships across multiple tables. Data dictionary tables Admin
    Access visual references for tables and their contents. Viewing table references and extensions Admin
    Store records for your instance. Create a table Admin
    Remove unneeded tables from your instance. Deleting custom tables Admin
    Quickly find data stored in a table. Create a table index Admin
    Connect a list to another list of multiple entries instead of a single field. Create a many-to-many table relationship Admin
    Organize and store task-related data. Working with the Task table Admin
    Connect tables for reporting purposes. Working with database views for reporting Admin

    What to explore next

    To learn more about using table administration features, see: