Every command
Every command the palette registers, what it takes, and what it does.
The palette registers 98 commands. Eighty-seven of them are always there, ten register only if the instance actually has the page behind them, and one only when the instance tag is on screen. Your own commands add to the list at runtime.
How a line is read
The leading / is optional, and so is any number of them. The line is split at the first
whitespace: the first word is the command, and everything after it is a single argument, spaces
and all.
A trailing space is meaningful. Typing br with a space shows the switch reference for that
command, which is why the box does not trim as you type.
Tab completes to the selected command without running it, and adds a trailing space when the
command takes an argument. Enter runs it. The digits 1 to 9 run a numbered row when a
results panel is showing, and only then: with no panel open, typing 3 types a 3.
Below, <x> is required and [x] is optional.
Navigation
| Command | Argument | Does |
|---|---|---|
/me | Opens your own user record | |
/tsk | <number> | Opens a task by number, following sys_class_name to the real table |
/sysid | <sys_id> | Finds which table owns a 32-character sys_id and opens it. Hub tables and back-references first, then a sweep of every root table on the instance, so a record in any table is found. The palette says Searching while it looks |
/list | The list of the table of the record you have open | |
/list-view | This record as the single row of its own list. Refused on an unsaved record | |
/search | <text> | Instance-wide global search. A - in the term is part of the term here |
/tab | <page> | Any page in a new tab: incident_list.do, /sp, a full URL. javascript:, data:, vbscript:, blob: and file: are refused |
/crn | The current record in a new tab | |
/cancel | Cancel your running transactions |
You can also paste. A bare sys_id, a table_sysid pair, a record URL or a record number such as
INC0010023 typed into the box produces a row that opens it.
Platform pages
Always present: /st Studio, /va Virtual Agent Designer, /db Dashboards, /wf Workflow
Editor, /sp Service Portal, /ec Employee Center.
Present only when the instance has the route, which is checked against sys_ux_page_registry at
boot: /ws Workflow Studio, /aes App Engine Studio, /uib UI Builder, /sns Studio, /pad
Process Automation Designer, /mab Mobile App Builder, /sow Service Operations Workspace,
/ide ServiceNow IDE, /naa AI Agent Studio, /nas Now Assist Skill Kit.
A command that is missing is a route the instance does not have. On a stock developer instance four of the eleven well-known routes do not exist, which is why they are probed rather than assumed. Any other registered page is reachable by typing two or more characters of its title.
Development artefacts
Each of these opens a filtered list, and each takes the list switches.
| Command | Table | Matched on |
|---|---|---|
/br | sys_script | name |
/cs | sys_script_client | name |
/si | sys_script_include | API name, name |
/ua | sys_ui_action | name |
/up | sys_ui_policy | short description |
/uis | sys_ui_script | name |
/p | sys_properties | name |
/spw | sp_widget | name, id |
/tables | sys_db_object | label, name |
/app | sys_scope | name, scope |
/plug | v_plugin | name |
/acl | sys_security_acl | name, then operation as the second word |
/log | syslog | message, source. Always narrowed to today |
/trans | syslog_transaction | url, table. Always narrowed to today |
Any other table is reachable by typing two or more characters of its name or label, with the same switches.
The record you have open
| Command | Does |
|---|---|
/xml | This record as raw XML, in a new tab |
/json | This record as JSON |
/versions | The version history for this record |
/link | Copies an absolute URL to this record |
/atlas | What this record points at. Each row opens the referenced record |
/refs | What could point at this table |
/align | Compares this update set against your other instances |
/vex | Variable Explorer for a catalog item: what touches each variable |
Forms
| Command | Does |
|---|---|
/tn | Technical field names on labels and list columns, workspace lists included, on or off |
/uh | Reveal fields a UI Policy hid. Run again to hide them |
/um | Drop every mandatory flag. Run again to restore |
/rnd | Fill the form with plausible values. References, read-only and disabled controls are skipped |
/save | Save and stay |
/saveinsert | Insert a copy and stay on it |
/saveexit | Save and go back to the list |
/next | Next record in the list |
/prev | Previous record |
Lists and queries
| Command | Argument | Does |
|---|---|---|
/q | Runs the filter you built by Ctrl-clicking form labels | |
/qc | Forgets that filter | |
/query, /eq | [encoded query] | With no argument, puts this list's encoded query into the box so you can edit it. With one, applies it. -c clears the filter |
/copycolumn | <field> | Copies one column for the whole filtered list, not only the visible page |
/copycells | <field> | The same, for the ticked rows only |
/eq is the only alias in the whole registry.
Scripts and debugging
| Command | Does |
|---|---|
/bg | Background Scripts |
/bgc | Background Scripts, preloaded with a gr.get() for the record you are on |
/bgl | Background Scripts, preloaded with a loop over the list you are on: same filter, same page size |
/bgp | The background-script panel: history, output, and what the run changed |
/debug | The Script Debugger |
/code <text> | Searches every script field on the instance. Three characters minimum |
/token | Copies an editor token to the clipboard. It is never transmitted |
/vscode [off] | Opens the VS Code bridge page, or disconnects both ends |
Instances and sessions
| Command | Argument | Does |
|---|---|---|
/imp | <name> | Searches users and impersonates the one you pick |
/unimp | Stops impersonating, by re-impersonating your own account | |
/elev | [role] | Bare, it lists the roles this session may elevate to. With a role, it elevates |
/lang | [language] | Bare, lists the installed languages. With one, switches and reloads |
/sd | [domain] | The same for the session domain |
/env | <instance> | The same page on another instance. For a record it first checks that the sys_id exists there |
/diffenv | <instance> | Field-by-field comparison of this record against the same record elsewhere |
/diff1 | [-] | Marks this record as the left side of a comparison |
/diff2 | [-] | Marks the right side and runs the comparison |
/node | [node] | Node latency, and switching node |
/itt | The on-screen instance tag, on or off |
/elev with no argument is a question rather than a shortcut for security_admin. An account
with no elevatable role is told exactly that, because elevation is granted by the role itself.
Flows, modules, catalog
/fd <name> searches flows, subflows and actions, and opens Flow Designer when given nothing.
/m <module> searches the application navigator. Both show a numbered panel.
Tabs, theme, storage
/tt turns dark mode on or off in every open frame with no reload. /tabs turns in-page tabs
on or off. /cls clears this instance's local and session storage. /pip <filter> watches the
log in a picture-in-picture window that survives navigation.
Recorded tests
/rec <test name> starts recording what you do, and running it again stops and saves. /prove
opens the library: run one, read its steps, delete it, including against another instance.
Your own commands
| Command | Argument | Does |
|---|---|---|
/newcmd | [name] or <name> <target> | Enter alone opens a form, filled from the list you are on; with a name it opens that command to edit. <name> <target> saves in one line |
/cmds | Lists your commands with what each one opens. Pick one to run it | |
/delcmd | <name> | Deletes one. It leaves the palette at once, in every frame |
/export | Copies your commands to the clipboard. Nothing is uploaded | |
/import | Reads a bundle from the clipboard and merges it | |
/settings | HolySN settings | |
/keys | Every keyboard chord this build claims |
Targets, variables such as $0 and $sysid, and aliases are all in
custom commands.
Documentation
/docs, /api, /dev and /comm each take a search term and open the ServiceNow product
documentation, the API reference, the developer portal or the community. With no term they open
the site itself.
What gates a command
No command is behind a paid plan. What actually gates one is smaller and more specific.
The credential vault. /env, /diffenv, /align and a cross-instance /prove need stored
credentials for the other instance. Without them /env still opens the page, and tells you the
check did not happen rather than implying it passed.
A ServiceNow role. /elev, /node, /imp and the background-script commands run with your
rights. None of them pre-checks a capability flag: they ask the instance and report what it
says, including the note that you are impersonating and are therefore running with someone
else's rights.
A browser capability. /pip needs Document Picture-in-Picture, and /import needs
permission to read the clipboard.
Being signed in changes nothing about which commands run. It only means the command name and the date are counted towards your own usage history.