Automated Test Framework (ATF) for ServiceNow
ATF provides automated testing capabilities for ServiceNow applications, enabling regression testing and continuous integration.
ATF Architecture Test Hierarchy Test Suite: Incident Management Tests ├── Test: Create Incident │ ├── Step 1: Impersonate User │ ├── Step 2: Open New Record │ ├── Step 3: Set Field Values │ ├── Step 4: Submit Form │ └── Step 5: Assert Values ├── Test: Assign Incident │ └── Steps... └── Test: Resolve Incident └── Steps...
Key Tables Table Purpose sys_atf_test Test definitions sys_atf_step Individual test steps sys_atf_test_suite Test suite groupings sys_atf_test_suite_test Suite-test relationships sys_atf_test_result Test execution results Test Step Types Common Step Types Step Type Purpose Example Impersonate Run as specific user Test as ITIL user Open a New Form Create new record New incident form Open an Existing Form Edit record Open INC0010001 Set Field Values Populate fields Set priority, description Click a UI Action Trigger button Click "Save" Assert Field Values Validate values Priority = 1 Run Server Side Script Execute script Custom validation Wait Pause execution Wait for async Creating Tests Basic Test Structure (ES5) // Create a new ATF test var test = new GlideRecord('sys_atf_test'); test.initialize(); test.setValue('name', 'Test: Create High Priority Incident'); test.setValue('description', 'Verify high priority incident creation workflow'); test.setValue('active', true); test.setValue('application', 'global'); // or scoped app sys_id var testSysId = test.insert();
// Add test steps function addTestStep(testId, order, stepType, config) { var step = new GlideRecord('sys_atf_step'); step.initialize(); step.setValue('test', testId); step.setValue('order', order); step.setValue('step_config', stepType);
// Set step-specific configuration
for (var key in config) {
if (config.hasOwnProperty(key)) {
step.setValue(key, config[key]);
}
}
return step.insert();
}
Impersonate Step // Step 1: Impersonate ITIL user addTestStep(testSysId, 100, 'sys_atf_step_config_impersonate', { description: 'Impersonate ITIL user', inputs: JSON.stringify({ user: 'itil' // or sys_id }) });
Open New Form Step // Step 2: Open new incident form addTestStep(testSysId, 200, 'sys_atf_step_config_open_new_form', { description: 'Open new incident form', inputs: JSON.stringify({ table: 'incident' }) });
Set Field Values Step // Step 3: Set field values addTestStep(testSysId, 300, 'sys_atf_step_config_set_field_values', { description: 'Set incident fields', inputs: JSON.stringify({ table: 'incident', values: [ { field: 'short_description', value: 'ATF Test Incident' }, { field: 'priority', value: '1' }, { field: 'category', value: 'network' }, { field: 'caller_id', value: 'admin' } ] }) });
Submit Form Step // Step 4: Submit form (click Save) addTestStep(testSysId, 400, 'sys_atf_step_config_click_ui_action', { description: 'Save the incident', inputs: JSON.stringify({ ui_action: 'sysverb_insert' // Submit/Insert action }) });
Assert Field Values Step // Step 5: Assert values addTestStep(testSysId, 500, 'sys_atf_step_config_assert_field_values', { description: 'Verify incident was created correctly', inputs: JSON.stringify({ table: 'incident', assertions: [ { field: 'priority', operator: 'equals', value: '1' }, { field: 'state', operator: 'equals', value: '1' // New }, { field: 'number', operator: 'is not empty' } ] }) });
Server-Side Script Steps Custom Validation Script (ES5) // Step: Run Server Side Script // Script (ES5 only!):
(function(outputs, steps, params, stepResult) {
// Access outputs from previous steps
var incidentSysId = steps['step_sys_id'].record_id;
// Perform custom validation
var gr = new GlideRecord('incident');
if (gr.get(incidentSysId)) {
// Check business rule fired
if (gr.getValue('assignment_group') === '') {
stepResult.setOutputMessage('Assignment group not set by business rule');
stepResult.setFailed();
return;
}
// Check SLA attached
var sla = new GlideRecord('task_sla');
sla.addQuery('task', incidentSysId);
sla.query();
if (!sla.hasNext()) {
stepResult.setOutputMessage('No SLA attached to incident');
stepResult.setFailed();
return;
}
// All validations passed
outputs.incident_number = gr.getValue('number');
outputs.sla_count = sla.getRowCount();
stepResult.setOutputMessage('All validations passed');
} else {
stepResult.setOutputMessage('Incident not found');
stepResult.setFailed();
}
})(outputs, steps, params, stepResult);
Data Setup Script (ES5) // Step: Setup test data (function(outputs, steps, params, stepResult) {
// Create test user if needed
var user = new GlideRecord('sys_user');
user.addQuery('user_name', 'atf_test_user');
user.query();
if (!user.next()) {
user.initialize();
user.setValue('user_name', 'atf_test_user');
user.setValue('first_name', 'ATF');
user.setValue('last_name', 'Test User');
user.setValue('email', 'atf@test.com');
user.setValue('active', true);
outputs.user_sys_id = user.insert();
} else {
outputs.user_sys_id = user.getUniqueValue();
}
stepResult.setOutputMessage('Test user ready: ' + outputs.user_sys_id);
})(outputs, steps, params, stepResult);
Cleanup Script (ES5) // Step: Cleanup test data (always runs) (function(outputs, steps, params, stepResult) {
var testRecordId = steps['create_incident_step'].record_id;
if (testRecordId) {
var gr = new GlideRecord('incident');
if (gr.get(testRecordId)) {
gr.deleteRecord();
stepResult.setOutputMessage('Cleaned up test incident: ' + testRecordId);
}
}
})(outputs, steps, params, stepResult);
Test Suites Creating Test Suite // Create test suite var suite = new GlideRecord('sys_atf_test_suite'); suite.initialize(); suite.setValue('name', 'Incident Management Regression Suite'); suite.setValue('description', 'Full regression tests for incident management'); suite.setValue('active', true); var suiteSysId = suite.insert();
// Add tests to suite function addTestToSuite(suiteId, testId, order) { var link = new GlideRecord('sys_atf_test_suite_test'); link.initialize(); link.setValue('test_suite', suiteId); link.setValue('test', testId); link.setValue('order', order); return link.insert(); }
addTestToSuite(suiteSysId, createTestId, 100); addTestToSuite(suiteSysId, assignTestId, 200); addTestToSuite(suiteSysId, resolveTestId, 300);
Parameterized Tests Using Test Parameters // Test with parameters var test = new GlideRecord('sys_atf_test'); test.initialize(); test.setValue('name', 'Test: Create Incident with Priority'); test.setValue('parameters', JSON.stringify({ priority: '2', category: 'software' })); test.insert();
// In step, reference parameter { "values": [ { "field": "priority", "value": "${priority}" }, { "field": "category", "value": "${category}" } ] }
MCP Tool Integration Available ATF Tools Tool Purpose snow_create_atf_test Create test snow_create_atf_test_step Add step to test snow_create_atf_test_suite Create suite snow_execute_atf_test Run test snow_get_atf_results Get results snow_discover_atf_tests Find existing tests Example Workflow // 1. Create test var testId = await snow_create_atf_test({ name: 'Test: Incident Priority Escalation', description: 'Verify priority changes trigger notifications' });
// 2. Add steps await snow_create_atf_test_step({ test_id: testId, order: 100, type: 'impersonate', user: 'itil' });
await snow_create_atf_test_step({ test_id: testId, order: 200, type: 'server_script', script: createIncidentScript });
// 3. Execute test var resultId = await snow_execute_atf_test({ test_id: testId });
// 4. Get results var results = await snow_get_atf_results({ result_id: resultId });
Best Practices Isolate Test Data - Create and cleanup test data in each test Use Impersonation - Test as actual user roles Atomic Tests - Each test validates one scenario Descriptive Names - Clear test and step descriptions Order Steps - Use 100, 200, 300 for easy insertion Handle Async - Add wait steps for async operations Cleanup Always - Use finally steps for cleanup Parameterize - Use parameters for reusable tests Common Assertions Assertion Use Case equals Exact value match not equals Value exclusion is empty Field should be empty is not empty Field must have value contains Substring match starts with Prefix match greater than Numeric comparison less than Numeric comparison