ServiceNow — Claude Code MCP server: incidents and requests
Wires ServiceNow ITSM into your coding agent so it can pull incidents, change requests, users and knowledge articles without leaving the chat.
claude mcp add --env SERVICENOW_INSTANCE=<SERVICENOW_INSTANCE> --env SERVICENOW_USERNAME=<SERVICENOW_USERNAME> --env SERVICENOW_PASSWORD=<SERVICENOW_PASSWORD> --env SERVICENOW_CLIENT_ID=<SERVICENOW_CLIENT_ID> --env SERVICENOW_CLIENT_SECRET=<SERVICENOW_CLIENT_SECRET> --transport stdio servicenow -- npx -y @mindstone/mcp-server-servicenowWhat ServiceNow does
This MCP server from mindstone exposes 13 tools for ServiceNow ITSM. An agent can search and create incidents, update them with entries in work_notes and comments, work with change requests, users, the knowledge base and the service catalog. Calls go to the instance's cloud API.
Two auth paths exist: basic auth with a username and password, or the OAuth 2.0 client credentials grant. The second one matters on instances that enforce MFA or SSO and have basic auth switched off. Setting it up means enabling the inbound client credentials grant, registering an application under System OAuth, then supplying SERVICENOW_INSTANCE, SERVICENOW_CLIENT_ID and SERVICENOW_CLIENT_SECRET. When both are configured, basic auth wins. Tokens come from oauth_token.do and are cached until just before they expire.
Node.js 20+ and npm are required. Text coming back from ServiceNow — record descriptions, work notes, user names, article bodies — gets wrapped in <untrusted-content source="servicenow:..."> envelopes with close-tag escaping, so third-party content reaches the model as data rather than instructions. Identifiers and timestamps stay literal, which lets you pass them straight into the next tool call.
What it helps with
- look up an incident by number or sys_id and check its state
- file an incident straight from a conversation with the agent
- append a work note to an incident that is already open
- open a change request and attach it to a release
- find a knowledge base article that matches a symptom
Example prompts for the agent
- List every open ServiceNow incident mentioning VPN and show me the numbers
- Create an incident: a user cannot open their mail client, medium priority
- Add a work note to that incident saying the issue reproduces on the test bench
How to install ServiceNow
Platform CLI
claude mcp add --env SERVICENOW_INSTANCE=<SERVICENOW_INSTANCE> --env SERVICENOW_USERNAME=<SERVICENOW_USERNAME> --env SERVICENOW_PASSWORD=<SERVICENOW_PASSWORD> --env SERVICENOW_CLIENT_ID=<SERVICENOW_CLIENT_ID> --env SERVICENOW_CLIENT_SECRET=<SERVICENOW_CLIENT_SECRET> --transport stdio servicenow -- npx -y @mindstone/mcp-server-servicenowReplace <…> with your own values
Platform CLI
codex mcp add servicenow --env SERVICENOW_INSTANCE=<SERVICENOW_INSTANCE> --env SERVICENOW_USERNAME=<SERVICENOW_USERNAME> --env SERVICENOW_PASSWORD=<SERVICENOW_PASSWORD> --env SERVICENOW_CLIENT_ID=<SERVICENOW_CLIENT_ID> --env SERVICENOW_CLIENT_SECRET=<SERVICENOW_CLIENT_SECRET> -- npx -y @mindstone/mcp-server-servicenowReplace <…> with your own values
Config file
{
"mcpServers": {
"servicenow": {
"command": "npx",
"args": [
"-y",
"@mindstone/mcp-server-servicenow"
],
"env": {
"SERVICENOW_INSTANCE": "<SERVICENOW_INSTANCE>",
"SERVICENOW_USERNAME": "<SERVICENOW_USERNAME>",
"SERVICENOW_PASSWORD": "<SERVICENOW_PASSWORD>",
"SERVICENOW_CLIENT_ID": "<SERVICENOW_CLIENT_ID>",
"SERVICENOW_CLIENT_SECRET": "<SERVICENOW_CLIENT_SECRET>"
}
}
}
}Replace <…> with your own values
Config file
{
"servers": {
"servicenow": {
"type": "stdio",
"command": "npx",
"args": [
"-y",
"@mindstone/mcp-server-servicenow"
],
"env": {
"SERVICENOW_INSTANCE": "<SERVICENOW_INSTANCE>",
"SERVICENOW_USERNAME": "<SERVICENOW_USERNAME>",
"SERVICENOW_PASSWORD": "<SERVICENOW_PASSWORD>",
"SERVICENOW_CLIENT_ID": "<SERVICENOW_CLIENT_ID>",
"SERVICENOW_CLIENT_SECRET": "<SERVICENOW_CLIENT_SECRET>"
}
}
}
}Replace <…> with your own values
Platform CLI
gemini mcp add -e SERVICENOW_INSTANCE=<SERVICENOW_INSTANCE> -e SERVICENOW_USERNAME=<SERVICENOW_USERNAME> -e SERVICENOW_PASSWORD=<SERVICENOW_PASSWORD> -e SERVICENOW_CLIENT_ID=<SERVICENOW_CLIENT_ID> -e SERVICENOW_CLIENT_SECRET=<SERVICENOW_CLIENT_SECRET> servicenow npx -y @mindstone/mcp-server-servicenowReplace <…> with your own values
Step by step, with commands for each platform: How to add an MCP server to Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, VS Code, Gemini CLI and more
Questions about ServiceNow
How do I install ServiceNow in Claude Code?
Run `claude mcp add mcp-server-servicenow -e SERVICENOW_INSTANCE=<SERVICENOW_INSTANCE> -e SERVICENOW_USERNAME=<SERVICENOW_USERNAME> -e SERVICENOW_PASSWORD=<SERVICENOW_PASSWORD> -e SERVICENOW_CLIENT_SECRET=<SERVICENOW_CLIENT_SECRET> -- npx -y @mindstone/mcp-server-servicenow`, replacing the placeholders with your instance and credentials.
What does the ServiceNow MCP server do?
It gives an agent 13 tools covering ServiceNow ITSM: incidents, change requests, users, the knowledge base and the service catalog. The agent can search records, create new ones and update existing ones.
What do I need before running it?
Node.js 20+ and npm, plus access to a ServiceNow instance. Authentication works with a username and password, or with OAuth 2.0 client credentials when basic auth is disabled.
