ServiceNow MCP Server

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Connect Claude to ServiceNow instances via MCP

How to install ↓ Compare GitHub source repository ↗

Category: Other #158 of 230
Stars: ★ 305 Popular
Transport: stdio (local process) · SSE
Runtime: Python 3.11+
Credentials: API key / credential required
License: MIT
Last commit: 12 months ago ⚠
Tools: 76

49FMRS · D

A broad, community-maintained MCP server for ServiceNow covering incident, change, catalog, knowledge base, agile, workflow, and user management use cases, with role-based tool packaging to limit exposed tools. Requires a live ServiceNow instance and credentials, defaults to broad write permissions, and should be scoped down via tool packages and credentials handled carefully.

Strongest · Documentation 16/20 Weakest · Security and permissions 4/20

Reliability

7/20

Security and permissions

4/20

Maintenance

9/20

Documentation

16/20

Setup experience

13/20

Why each score

Reliability 7/20: This review is based solely on the README text; the server manifest is marked 'not cached' and no source code, CI workflow, or test files were supplied as evidence, so the MCP init/tool-list handshake and the accuracy of the ~70 declared tools cannot be verified against real behavior. The README's own Troubleshooting section actually reveals a history of genuine interface bugs (Pydantic model objects passed where dicts were expected, swapped argument order for auth_manager/server_config), indicating the implementation has had real instability; the claim that these are 'now handled automatically' is asserted, not evidenced by any changelog or regression test. Per the static calibration rule, reliability is capped at 12 without verifiable CI+test evidence, and given the near-total absence of evidence plus a documented history of defects, a score of 7 is assigned.
Security and permissions 4/20: Red line triggered: the tool set includes multiple irreversible or deploy-type operations (delete_workflow, delete_script_include, delete_story_dependency, remove_group_members, commit_changeset/publish_changeset to production, approve_change/reject_change) and the README does not mention any confirmation step, dry-run mode, approval gate, or least-privilege scoping for these — they appear to execute directly against a live ServiceNow instance when invoked. Credentials are configured in plaintext via a .env file (Basic/OAuth/API Key) with no guidance on secret storage, scope limitation, or least-privilege practice, and there is no discussion of outbound network boundaries or data-exfiltration safeguards. Per the rubric, irreversible delete/deploy defaults without confirmation constitute a red line, so security is capped at 0-4.
Maintenance 9/20: The repository is MIT-licensed and not archived, with 32 open issues indicating ongoing usage and feedback, but no commit history, release cadence, changelog, or dependency-update policy was available for this review, and the README does not disclose versioning practices, a security-response channel, or maintainer identity. The contribution guide is a generic fork-and-PR flow without further governance detail. Given the lack of verifiable maintenance-activity evidence, only a below-average score is warranted based on the 'not archived + licensed + some responsiveness signal' baseline.
Documentation 16/20: Documentation is fairly extensive: it covers installation, three authentication method configurations, both stdio and SSE run modes, the MCP_TOOL_PACKAGE tool-packaging mechanism, a list of nearly 70 tools, many natural-language usage examples, a troubleshooting section, and links to topic-specific docs (catalog.md, change_management.md, etc.) plus example scripts. Points are deducted because individual tools lack parameter-level documentation (only a name and one-line description, no types/required fields/return shape), and there is no disclosure of rate limits, cost, data retention, or permission boundaries, so it falls short of full marks.
Setup experience 13/20: The setup path is clear: clone the repo, create a virtualenv, pip install -e ., write a .env credentials file, register via CLI or mcp install, with a concrete Claude Desktop claude_desktop_config.json example and SSE-mode host/port customization instructions — the steps are explicit and code examples are provided. However, per the static-review rule, setup cannot exceed 15 without CI workflows and real tests proving these steps are reproducible; the process also depends on the user manually supplying real credentials and adjusting OS-specific paths, introducing some manual/environment-dependent fragility, so it is scored below that ceiling.

Static review · not runListed 2026-08-26

Read the FMRS scoring method →

Fit and risk

What it can accessUses the networkChanges third-party account data

Best for

IT service desk staff and administrators with access to a ServiceNow instance
ServiceNow admins/developers who want conversational control over change management, catalog building, or knowledge base work
Teams wanting to automate agile project tracking (stories/epics/tasks) inside ServiceNow via Claude

Not for

Users without a ServiceNow instance or valid credentials
Scenarios requiring strictly read-only access — the default 'full' tool package grants full create/update/delete permissions
Enterprises needing official ServiceNow vendor support or SLAs (this is a third-party community project, not an official ServiceNow product)

Required permissions

ServiceNow instance URL and an account with read/write access to relevant tables (incident, change_request, sc_cat_item, kb_knowledge, sys_user, sys_user_group, sys_script_include, workflow, sys_update_set, etc.)
Basic auth username/password, OR OAuth client ID/secret, OR an API key (one authentication method)
Local filesystem access to read the .env file storing credentials

Risks and side effects

The default 'full' tool package grants create, update, and even delete access across incidents, changes, catalog, knowledge base, and users/groups — misuse could modify or destroy production data
Credentials are stored in plaintext in the .env file or Claude Desktop config, creating exposure risk
Tools like approve_change, reject_change, publish_changeset, and publish_article directly affect live ServiceNow processes and visibility, and should be granted carefully
The SSE server listens on 0.0.0.0 by default, which could allow unauthorized access without proper network isolation

Setup

Before you start

Runtime：Python 3.11+

SERVICENOW_INSTANCE_URL required Your ServiceNow instance URL, e.g. https://your-instance.service-now.com, provided by your administrator.

SERVICENOW_USERNAME optionalsecret ServiceNow username for basic authentication.

SERVICENOW_PASSWORD optionalsecret ServiceNow password for basic authentication.

SERVICENOW_CLIENT_SECRET optionalsecret OAuth client secret for OAuth authentication.

SERVICENOW_API_KEY optionalsecret API key used when SERVICENOW_AUTH_TYPE=api_key.

Other optional settings (4)

SERVICENOW_AUTH_TYPE optional Authentication method: basic, oauth, or api_key.

SERVICENOW_CLIENT_ID optional OAuth client ID, created via OAuth application registration on your ServiceNow instance.

SERVICENOW_TOKEN_URL optional OAuth token endpoint, typically https://your-instance.service-now.com/oauth_token.do.

MCP_TOOL_PACKAGE optional Optional; name of the tool package to load (e.g. service_desk, catalog_builder). Defaults to full.

Clone the repository: git clone https://github.com/echelon-ai-labs/servicenow-mcp.git and cd into it.
Create a virtual environment and install: python -m venv .venv, activate it, then pip install -e . (requires Python 3.11+).
Create a .env file with SERVICENOW_INSTANCE_URL, SERVICENOW_USERNAME, SERVICENOW_PASSWORD, and SERVICENOW_AUTH_TYPE (basic/oauth/api_key — OAuth needs CLIENT_ID/CLIENT_SECRET/TOKEN_URL, API Key needs SERVICENOW_API_KEY).
Run in stdio mode with python -m servicenow_mcp.cli, or start the SSE web server with servicenow-mcp-sse (default 0.0.0.0:8080).
For Claude Desktop, add a server entry to claude_desktop_config.json with the command, args, and env fields as shown, then restart Claude Desktop.
Optionally set MCP_TOOL_PACKAGE and edit config/tool_packages.yaml to limit which tools load for a given role.

claude_desktop_config.json

{"mcpServers":{"ServiceNow":{"command":"/Users/yourusername/dev/servicenow-mcp/.venv/bin/python","args":["-m","servicenow_mcp.cli"],"env":{"SERVICENOW_INSTANCE_URL":"https://your-instance.service-now.com","SERVICENOW_USERNAME":"your-username","SERVICENOW_PASSWORD":"your-password","SERVICENOW_AUTH_TYPE":"basic"}}}}

Shown for Claude Desktop. Other clients may use a different file or key (VS Code uses "servers") — the configurator below converts it.

.vscode/mcp.json

{
  "servers": {
    "ServiceNow": {
      "command": "/Users/yourusername/dev/servicenow-mcp/.venv/bin/python",
      "args": [
        "-m",
        "servicenow_mcp.cli"
      ],
      "env": {
        "SERVICENOW_INSTANCE_URL": "https://your-instance.service-now.com",
        "SERVICENOW_USERNAME": "your-username",
        "SERVICENOW_PASSWORD": "your-password",
        "SERVICENOW_AUTH_TYPE": "basic"
      }
    }
  }
}

Goes in your project's .vscode/mcp.json (VS Code uses a "servers" key).

Terminal

claude mcp add ServiceNow -e SERVICENOW_INSTANCE_URL=https://your-instance.service-now.com -e SERVICENOW_USERNAME=your-username -e SERVICENOW_PASSWORD=your-password -e SERVICENOW_AUTH_TYPE=basic -- /Users/yourusername/dev/servicenow-mcp/.venv/bin/python -m servicenow_mcp.cli

Run it in a terminal; replace any <…> placeholders with your own values first.

Generate and validate client config

Check that it works

Start the server with python -m servicenow_mcp.cli; tools such as list_incidents should appear in your client's tool list, and asking "List all high priority incidents" returning real data from the instance confirms the connection works.

Troubleshooting

'argument after ** must be a mapping, not CreateChangeRequestParams': pass a dictionary, not a Pydantic model object, to create_change_request
'Missing required parameter type': include both short_description and type when creating a change request
'Invalid value for parameter type': type must be one of normal, standard, or emergency
'Cannot find get_headers method in either auth_manager or server_config': verify auth_manager and server_config are passed in the correct order
Confirm SERVICENOW_INSTANCE_URL and the credential fields in .env match the selected SERVICENOW_AUTH_TYPE
If expected tools are missing, check whether MCP_TOOL_PACKAGE is set to a valid package name defined in config/tool_packages.yaml

Things to try

Once connected, you can ask your AI assistant things like:

List all high priority incidents assigned to the Network team.
Create a change request for server maintenance to apply security patches tomorrow night.
Show me all items in the service catalog.
Write an article about VPN setup in the Network Troubleshooting knowledge base and publish it.

Tools 76

create_incident writes

Create a new incident record in ServiceNow

update_incident writes

Update fields on an existing incident

add_comment writes

Add a comment to an incident

resolve_incident writes

Mark an incident as resolved

list_incidents read-only

List incidents with optional filters

list_catalog_items read-only

List items in the service catalog

get_catalog_item read-only

Get details of a specific catalog item

list_catalog_categories read-only

List service catalog categories

Show 68 more tools

create_catalog_category writes

Create a new service catalog category

update_catalog_category writes

Update an existing service catalog category

move_catalog_items writes

Move catalog items between categories

create_catalog_item_variable writes

Create a form field (variable) for a catalog item

list_catalog_item_variables read-only

List all variables for a catalog item

update_catalog_item_variable writes

Update an existing catalog item variable

list_catalogs read-only

List service catalogs

get_optimization_recommendations read-only

Get recommendations for optimizing the service catalog

update_catalog_item writes

Update a service catalog item

create_change_request writes

Create a new change request

update_change_request writes

Update an existing change request

list_change_requests read-only

List change requests with filtering options

get_change_request_details read-only

Get detailed information about a specific change request

add_change_task writes

Add a task to a change request

submit_change_for_approval writes

Submit a change request for approval

approve_change writes

Approve a change request

reject_change writes

Reject a change request

create_story writes

Create a new user story

update_story writes

Update an existing user story

list_stories read-only

List user stories with filtering options

create_story_dependency writes

Create a dependency between two stories

delete_story_dependency destructive

Delete a dependency between stories

create_epic writes

Create a new epic

update_epic writes

Update an existing epic

list_epics read-only

List epics with filtering options

create_scrum_task writes

Create a new scrum task

update_scrum_task writes

Update an existing scrum task

list_scrum_tasks read-only

List scrum tasks with filtering options

create_project writes

Create a new project

update_project writes

Update an existing project

list_projects read-only

List projects with filtering options

list_workflows read-only

List workflows

get_workflow read-only

Get a specific workflow

create_workflow writes

Create a new workflow

update_workflow writes

Update an existing workflow

delete_workflow destructive

Delete a workflow

list_script_includes read-only

List script includes

get_script_include read-only

Get a specific script include

create_script_include writes

Create a new script include

update_script_include writes

Update an existing script include

delete_script_include destructive

Delete a script include

list_changesets read-only

List changesets with filtering options

get_changeset_details read-only

Get detailed information about a specific changeset

create_changeset writes

Create a new changeset

update_changeset writes

Update an existing changeset

commit_changeset writes

Commit a changeset

publish_changeset writes

Publish a changeset to production

add_file_to_changeset writes

Add a file to a changeset

create_knowledge_base writes

Create a new knowledge base

list_knowledge_bases read-only

List knowledge bases with filtering options

create_category writes

Create a new category in a knowledge base

create_article writes

Create a new knowledge article

update_article writes

Update an existing knowledge article

publish_article writes

Publish a knowledge article

list_articles read-only

List knowledge articles with filtering options

get_article read-only

Get a specific knowledge article by ID

create_user writes

Create a new user

update_user writes

Update an existing user

get_user read-only

Get a specific user by ID, username, or email

list_users read-only

List users with filtering options

create_group writes

Create a new group

update_group writes

Update an existing group

add_group_members writes

Add members to a group

remove_group_members writes

Remove members from a group

list_groups read-only

List groups with filtering options

create_ui_policy writes

Create a UI policy, typically for a catalog item

create_ui_policy_action writes

Create an action tied to a UI policy to control variable state (visibility, mandatory, etc.)

list_tool_packages read-only

List available tool package names and show the currently loaded package

Use cases

Have Claude create, update, comment on, and resolve ServiceNow incidents

Query and manage service catalog items, categories, and form variables through natural language

Create and progress change requests through the approval workflow

Manage agile artifacts — user stories, epics, scrum tasks, and projects

Create, publish, and maintain knowledge base articles

Manage ServiceNow users, groups, and group membership

View, create, and publish changesets and script includes for platform development

Supported clients

Claude Desktop

Listed from the project's documentation, not tested by this site.

Overview

ServiceNow MCP Server is an open-source Model Context Protocol server implementation written in Python that lets Claude connect to ServiceNow instances, query records, and perform actions through the ServiceNow API. It supports Basic, OAuth, and API Key authentication, and ships with tools spanning incident management, the service catalog, change management, agile management (stories, epics, scrum tasks, projects), workflow management, script includes, changesets, knowledge base management, user/group management, and UI policies. A MCP_TOOL_PACKAGE environment variable lets you load role-based subsets of tools (e.g. service desk, catalog builder, change coordinator) to control how many tools are exposed to the model. It runs in both stdio mode and as an SSE-based web server.

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Source revision 06250607bdfc Data synced 2026-10-19 Read the FMRS scoring method