Connecting ServiceNow to Drata allows you to automatically monitor and verify how your organization tracks and prioritizes security issues within ServiceNow.

Prerequisite

To authenticate ServiceNow, you will need to provide the following information:

ServiceNow Subdomain
ServiceNow Username
ServiceNow Password

Setup Options

Before connecting, decide how you want to configure access within ServiceNow.

This determines what roles and permissions your ServiceNow user will need.

ServiceNow Role	ServiceNow Requirements
Admin Setup (Recommended)	Requires `admin` and `web_service_admin` roles
Non-Admin Setup (Least Privilege)	Requires creating a custom role, assigning ACLs, and granting table-level permissions

Option 1: Admin Setup (Quick Start)

Step 1: Locate Your Subdomain

If you sign in at https://acme.service-now.com, your subdomain is acme.
When prompted in Drata, enter your subdomain only.

Step 2: Confirm Admin Roles

In ServiceNow:

Go to All → User Administration → Users.
Find your admin user record.
In the Roles tab, confirm the following roles are added:
- admin
- web_service_admin
If missing, click Edit, add the roles, and click Save.

Option 2: Non-Admin Setup (Least Privilege)

This method follows the principle of least privilege, using a custom integration user and ACL-based table access.

Recommended for organizations that restrict admin credentials or enforce role-based access controls.

Step 1: Create a Custom Role

In ServiceNow:

Navigate to All → User Administration → Roles → New.
Fill out:
- Name/Suffix: drata_integration_role (or similar)
- Description: Custom role for Drata API access
Click Save.

Step 2: Create a Non-Admin Integration User

Go to All → User Administration → Users → New.
Fill out:
- User ID: integration_user
- Active: ✅
- Web service access only: (optional, enables API-only access)
- Password: Set a local password (required for Basic Auth)
Save the user record.

Step 3: Assign the Role to the User

Open the integration user you just created.
Scroll to Roles → Edit.
Add:
- Your custom role (x_<instance_prefix>_drata_integration_role)
- (Optional) itil and snc_platform_rest_api_access for ITSM and REST access.
Click Save.

Step 4: Create Custom ACLs

Note: Before creating a Custom ACL, make sure your role is allowed to add Custom ACLs. This can be manually done by User Profile > Keyboard shortcuts > Elevate role and enabling the security_admin role for the user.

You must create an ACL per table and operation type (read, write, create).

Go to All → System Security → Access Control (ACL) → New.
Fill out:
- Type: record
- Operation: read, write, or create
- Name: table name (e.g., incident)
- Requires role: your custom integration role
Click Submit.
Repeat for all relevant tables (incident, problem, task, sys_user, etc.).

Step 5: Writing Tickets (POST Access)

Grant Table Access Permissions
To create tickets via the ServiceNow Table API (POST /api/now/table/<table_name>), the user must have create ACLs or roles granting write access.

Table	Purpose	Required Role
`/now/table/incident`	Create incidents	`itil`
`/now/table/problem`	Create problems	`itil`
`/now/table/task`	Create generic tasks	`itil`
`/now/table/sc_task`	Create catalog tasks	`itil`
`/now/table/sc_request`	Create service requests	`itil` or `catalog_admin`
`/now/table/sn_customerservice_case`	Create customer cases	`sn_customerservice_agent`

For detailed ACL creation steps, see Merge: Setting up ServiceNow Scopes and Roles for Non-Admin Users.

Connect ServiceNow in Drata

In Drata, go to Connections → Available Connections → ServiceNow.
Select the ticket type(s) your organization uses for security issues.
- Drata currently supports 3 ticket types: Incidents, Problems, and Tasks.
Enter your Security Tag (e.g., Security). It must exactly match the tag used in ServiceNow.
Ensure the Priority field is enabled in ServiceNow for your selected ticket types.
(Optional) Toggle Write Access to allow Drata to create tickets directly.
Click Make Connection to open the ServiceNow authentication widget.

When the widget opens you will see two options:

Option	What Happens
Use My Credentials (Recommended)	Accept permissions → Enter your subdomain → Click Connect ServiceNow → Sign in and authorize access.
Username and Password	Accept permissions → Enter subdomain → Enter username and password → Drata sets up your account (usually completes within a few minutes).