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Overview

To authenticate with ServiceNow using Client Credentials, you need:

1. Domain - Your ServiceNow instance’s full hostname (e.g., dev12345.service-now.com).
2. Client ID - The unique identifier for your OAuth application.
3. Client Secret - A confidential key used to authenticate the application.

This guide will walk you through configuring OAuth 2.0 Client Credentials in ServiceNow and obtaining your credentials.

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Prerequisites:

• You must have a ServiceNow instance (Washington DC release or later)
• You must have admin access to configure OAuth settings
• These plugins must be active on your instance: OAuth 2.0 (com.snc.platform.security.oauth), REST API Provider (com.glide.rest), Authentication scope (com.glide.auth.scope), and REST API Auth Scope Plugin (com.glide.rest.auth.scope)

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Instructions:

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Step 1: Enable Client Credentials Grant Type

Client Credentials must be enabled at the instance level:

1. In ServiceNow, navigate to sys_properties.list (this won’t appear under the “All” menu - type it in the navigation filter and press Enter to be redirected).

2. Search for glide.oauth.inbound.client.credential.grant_type.enabled.

3. If it doesn’t exist, click New and create it:
   • Name: glide.oauth.inbound.client.credential.grant_type.enabled
   • Type: true | false
   • Value: true
4. Click Save.

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Step 2: Create an OAuth Application User

This is the service account identity that API calls will be made as:

1. Navigate to User Administration > Users.
2. Click New and configure:
   • User ID: nango_integration (or your preferred name)
   • First name: Nango
   • Last name: Integration
   • Active: Checked
   • Web service access only: Checked (recommended)
3. Click Submit.
4. Open the newly created user and go to the Roles tab.
5. Click Edit and add these roles:
   • rest_service - Required for REST API access
   • itil - Required for incident/change request creation
6. Click Save.

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Step 3: Create an API Authentication Scope (optional but recommended)

This step restricts the application’s access to a specific API rather than granting broad access. You can skip it if you don’t need that level of control.

1. Navigate to System OAuth > REST API Auth Scope.
2. Click New and configure:
   • Name: nango_api_access
   • Active: Checked
   • REST API: Table API or whichever API you need to target.
   • REST API PATH: now/table
   • Check: Apply auth scope to all HTTP methods in this API
3. Click Submit.

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Step 4: Create an OAuth Application

1. Navigate to System OAuth > Application Registry.
2. Click New > Create an OAuth API endpoint for external clients.
3. Important: The default form view doesn’t show all required fields. To add them:
   • Click on the burger icon next to “Application Registries”
   
   • Select Configure > Form Builder
   
   • Add the OAuth Application User and Default Grant Type fields to the form
   
   • Save the form layout
4. Configure the application:
   • Name: Nango Integration
   • Client ID: Auto-generated (copy this)
   • Client Secret: Click the lock icon to reveal, then copy
   • Default Grant Type: Client Credentials
   • OAuth Application User: Select the user created in Step 2
   • Public Client: Unchecked/false — this grant type requires a confidential client
   • Active: Checked
   • Redirect URL and Login URL: leave blank, they’re not used by the Client Credentials grant type

5. Click Submit.
6. If you created an API Authentication Scope in Step 3, open the application, go to the Auth Scopes related list, click Add, select that scope, then Save.

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Step 5: Enter credentials in the Connect UI

Once you have your credentials:

1. Open the form where you need to authenticate with ServiceNow.
2. Enter your Domain (e.g., dev12345.service-now.com), Client ID, and Client Secret in their designated fields.

3. Submit the form, and you should be successfully authenticated.

You are now connected to ServiceNow.