Prepare

The Prepare phase addresses what exists that might meet your needs. Workflow Data Fabric Home provides an AI-guided entry point where natural language queries surface relevant assets. The Data Catalog functions as a marketplace where you explore existing Data Products and Data Interfaces, evaluating them through trust scores, lineage visualization, and metadata quality. This exploration helps you decide whether to reuse existing assets, connect new data sources, or build new data products.

Roles: WDF Consumers and WDF Builders

Where: Workflow Data Fabric Home for guided search; Data Catalog for detailed exploration

Why: Helps prevent duplicate work and enables informed decisions through comprehensive asset visibility

For more information, see Ask Now Assist for Workflow Data Fabric for recommendations.

Connect

A connection represents the boundary between ServiceNow and external systems. This phase establishes secure pathways to external data sources and configures how ServiceNow discovers their metadata.

Install and configure spokes, Integration Hub connectors, and MCP servers for your target systems in Connect Hub. Set up credentials, authentication, and access controls. Create and configure metadata collectors that scan these systems to populate the Data Catalog. These collectors are created here but execute during the Understand phase.

Roles: Connection Admins establish and maintain connections; WDF Builders create custom integration components

Where: Connect Hub

Why: Provides secure, governed access to external data sources while enabling automated metadata discovery

For more information, see Connect to external systems.

Understand

In the Understand phase, you convert raw connectivity into governed, reusable data. The metadata track executes automatically as collectors populate the Data Catalog with schemas, lineage, and governance signals. Simultaneously, the contract track involves deliberate authoring of data access patterns.

Metadata collectors execute automatically, populating the Data Catalog with discovered schemas, lineage, and governance metadata. Data Stewards curate this catalog. In Data Workbench, Data Stewards author Data Interfaces that define stable contracts for data access, supporting single table, JOIN, and UNION patterns. They package these interfaces into Data Products with business context, documentation, and access controls.

Role: Data Stewards curate discovered metadata and author all contracts

Where: Data Workbench for contract authoring; Data Catalog for metadata curation

Why: Creates backward-compatible contracts that abstract source system complexity while maintaining comprehensive metadata

For more information, see Build data assets.

Act

The Act phase represents the consumption layer where governed data powers business outcomes. The Data Catalog shifts from a curation tool to a discovery and access portal. Users build workflows, analytics, and AI experiences that consume data exclusively through Data Interface contracts.

Discover published Data Products in the Data Catalog and request access through governance workflows. Verify lineage before using. Build workflows in Flow Designer, create dashboards in Performance Analytics, or enable AI agents—all consuming data through the stable Data Interface contracts. Metadata collectors continuously refresh the catalog as Data Products evolve, keeping documentation and lineage current.

Roles: WDF Consumers discover and request access; WDF Operators build workflows and experiences

Where: Data Catalog for discovery and access; Data Workbench supports maintenance activities

Why: Delivers business value while preserving governance boundaries and data quality

For more information, see .