Inbound Actions & Email Processing
What are Inbound Actions (Processing Incoming Mail)?
Scripts that execute when the ServiceNow instance receives an email. They parse the email to create or update records.
Backend Table Name: sysevent_in_email_action
Navigation Path: System Policy → Email → Inbound Actions
Field-by-Field Deep Dive
| Field Name | Type | Section | Explanation | Backend Field |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Name | String | Identification | A unique, descriptive name for the Inbound Action (e.g., “Create Incident from Email” or “Approve Change Request”). | name |
| 2. Target table | Table Name | Target | The record type this action will create or update (e.g., incident, sysapproval_approver, sc_request). | target_table |
| 3. Active | Boolean | Control | Turns the Inbound Action logic on or off. Must be checked for the system to evaluate it. | active |
| 4. Order | Integer | Execution | The sequential position in which this action is evaluated, from lowest (highest priority) to highest. Crucial for ensuring priority actions run first. | order |
| 5. Action Type | Choice | Post-Script | Defines what happens after the script runs successfully: Record Action (Proceeds to finish processing) or Reply Email (Sends an auto-reply back to the sender). | action_type |
| 6. Type | Choice | Trigger | Defines which inbound emails activate evaluation: New (Runs if no watermark is found, typically for creating new records), Reply (Runs if a watermark matches an existing record), Forward (Runs if “FWD” is in the subject). | type |
| 7. Condition | Condition Builder | Filtering | A dynamic filter used to restrict execution based on the current record (if a reply) or the email object. E.g., email.subject contains “URGENT”. | condition |
| 8. Stop processing | Checkbox | Flow Control | If checked, once this Inbound Action is executed, no other Inbound Actions with a higher Order number will be evaluated for this specific email. | stop_processing |
| 9. Require login | Checkbox | Security | Only emails from this sender will trigger this inbound action. | require_match |
| 10. Script | Script Field | Logic | The mandatory JavaScript is executed when all conditions are met. This uses the global email object and the current object (GlideRecord). | script |
For example:
Inbound Action 100
↓
Inbound Action 200
↓
Inbound Action 300
If Stop Processing=True
↓
200 and 300 never execute.
Conclusion
Understanding ServiceNow Notifications, events, and email configurations will help admins create a bridge between the automated ServiceNow platform and end users.
To build scalable communication systems real-world enterprise notification architecture often combines:
- Business Rules
- Events
- Notifications
- Email Templates
- Mail Scripts
- Inbound Actions
Using customized email templates, event parameters, and inbound actions, users can create a consistent interface for the users. It eventually helps in providing an dreciveing the important notifications on the preferred channel.
In the next chapter, we will be covering ServiceNow data import and import sets.
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