Domain scope

  • Release version: Yokohama
  • Updated January 30, 2025
  • 4 minutes to read
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    Summary of Domain scope

    Domain scope in a domain-separated ServiceNow instance controls what users can access based on their domain. Every user has two domain scopes during a session: thesession scope, set to the domain in their user record and changeable via the domain picker, and therecord scope, which corresponds to the domain of the record being viewed. By default, record scope takes precedence, ensuring users adhere to the data and process constraints of each record's domain.

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    Users with appropriate roles can toggle between expanded session scope (viewing data across their domain and child domains) and collapsed record scope (restricting view to the record’s domain). Users always have access to domains explicitly granted through domain visibility.

    Key Features

    • Session and Record Scopes: Session scope is user domain-based; record scope is record domain-based, with record scope taking precedence by default.
    • Toggle Domain Scope UI Action: Users with the domainexpandscope role can switch between session and record scopes on record forms to control data visibility.
    • Cross-domain Record Value Selection: Users can select reference field values from domains different than the record’s domain, e.g., assigning incidents from a child domain to users in the service provider’s domain, without changing the record’s original domain.
    • Domain Visibility Controls: Visibility into reference fields and selectable values depends on the user’s access to referenced domains.
    • Domain and Company Association: Users are automatically assigned to the domain of their associated company. Changes to a company’s domain cascade to associated records such as locations, departments, groups, and users.
    • Domain Deactivation: Deactivating a domain automatically deactivates all companies within it and prevents users from those companies from logging in, displaying a relevant error message.

    Practical Implications for ServiceNow Customers

    Understanding domain scope helps ensure users see only the data relevant to their domain and its child domains unless explicitly expanded. This maintains data security and integrity in multi-tenant or segmented environments. Customers can manage domain visibility flexibly, enabling service providers to support child domains effectively while controlling administrative privileges and user access.

    Administrators should be aware that domain changes to companies affect multiple associated records and that domain deactivation impacts user access immediately. Proper role assignment, domain visibility configuration, and domain management policies are essential for maintaining secure and efficient domain-separated instances.

    Domain scope defines what users can and cannot access.

    Every user has two domain scopes when establishing a session in a domain-separated instance.

    • Session scope is set upon session establishment to the domain listed in the user's user record. Users can manually change their session domain scope from the domain picker.
    • Record scope uses the domain of the record and is active when viewing the form of any record.

    By default, the record scope takes precedence over the session scope so that users in higher level domains adhere to each record's data and process constraints. However, these users can choose to expand or collapse the domain scope to show or hide data from other domains. For example, a user in the Service Provider (SP) domain also has visibility into child domains such as the ACME domain. When looking at an incident record from the ACME domain, the user can choose to expand the domain scope to show values from the SP domain or collapse the domain scope to show only record values that match the record's ACME domain.

    Note:
    Users always have access to data from domains that have been explicitly granted to them by domain visibility.

    Users with the domain_expand_scope user role can select the domain scope from the Toggle Domain Scope UI action on the form. When record scope is in effect, click the UI action to expand to session scope and display all data available based to the user's domain and child domains. When session scope is in effect, click the UI action to collapse to record scope and display only data that matches the current record's domain.

    Note:
    A record does not display the UI action to toggle the domain scope if the record is in the global domain or if the user's domain matches the record's domain.

    Record value selection from other domains

    Users who can see multiple domains have the option to select record values from a domain that is different than the record's domain.

    For example, service desk agents working for a service provider might want to assign certain incidents to themselves to resolve issues on behalf of their customers. When they do this, the incident Assigned to field might contain a user from the SP domain, even though the incident record itself is associated with a child domain such as ACME.

    Selecting a record value from another domain does not change the record's domain. The record retains its original domain. When a user views a record with values from multiple domains, the user's domain visibility determines what they see.

    Table 1. Record value selection
    When these conditions are met The user has access to these UI elements
    The user has access to the domain of the current record referenced in a field. The user can:
    • See reference field display value. For example, sees the user name in the Assigned to field.
    • See the related record from reference icon. For example, sees the user record for the user in the Assigned to field.
    • Select values from any visible domain. For example, can select users from either the SP and ACME domains.
    The user does not have access to the domain of the current record referenced in a field. The user can:
    • Not see reference field display values. (This is the case if domain separation was activated in Madrid or later releases and the user doesn't have access to the domain of that record.)
    • Only select values from the record's domain. For example, can only select users from the ACME domain.

    Domains and associated companies

    With domain separation you can cascade changes you make to a company record to the domain and other records associated to the company.

    By default, the system automatically assigns users to the same domain as their company. For example, all users of the ACME company automatically become members of the TOP/ACME domain.

    Note:
    Users with the admin role can change their own user records and therefore change domains. Service Providers may want to either disable delegated administration or set up an approval process to verify that the user needs the admin role.

    When you change a company's domain, the instance automatically changes the domain of the following associated records to match the company's new domain.

    • Locations
    • Departments
    • Groups
    • Users
    Note:
    The instance does not automatically change the domain of any record where you have selected the Managed domain checkbox.

    Domain deactivation and associated companies

    When you deactivate a domain, the instance also automatically completes the following actions.

    • Deactivates all companies in the domain.
    • Prevents all users assigned to the inactive company from logging in.
    Note:
    When a user from an inactive company attempts to log in, the user sees an error message similar to Company inactive - your access to this instance is not authorized.

    For example, if you deactivate the ACME domain from the sample data, the instance also deactivates the ACME company, and the three sample users are locked out.