Troubleshoot Desktop Assistant notification delivery

  • Release version: Australia
  • Updated May 6, 2026
  • 2 minutes to read

    • Check notification records, queue processing, event handling, logs, and the endpoint client to identify why Desktop Assistant notifications aren't delivered.

    Before you begin

    Role required: admin

    Procedure

    1. Verify the notification record.
      1. Navigate to All > System Definition > Tables.
      2. Open the Desktop Assistant Notification (sn_dex_desktop_assistant_notification) table and filter for records created within the last hour.
      3. Verify that the notification record is valid.
        • The Notification message, Recipient list, and Notification source columns contain values.
        • The Active column is set to True.
        • The Expiry date column is set to the current date plus the configured time-to-live (TTL) value.
      4. Optional: If no record exists and the insert operation fails, verify the following:
        • The invoking account has the sn_dex_desktop.admin role.
        • The system property sn_dex_desktop.enable_push_notification is set to true.
    2. Check the notification delivery queue.
      1. Navigate to All > System Definition > Tables and open the Desktop Assistant Notification Queue (sn_dex_desktop_notify_queue) table.
      2. Filter for records where value of the Notification column matches the sys_id of the corresponding notification record.
        Each queue record represents a delivery attempt to a single device and can have one of the following statuses:
        • Pending: Queued and not yet delivered to the Desktop Assistant client.
        • Sent: Retrieved by the Desktop Assistant client.
        • Failed: Delivery failed due to an Agent Client Collector (ACC) agent timeout or push service error.
      3. If no queue records exist, verify that the desktop_assistant_notification_call flow is active — notification delivery does not proceed if the flow did not trigger.
    3. Review event processing.
      1. Navigate to System Logs > Events and search for the sn_dex_desktop.trigger_checkdef event.
      2. Optional: If the event is not present, check if the sn_dex_desktop.poll_glide_for_notification property is set to true.
        If this property is enabled, the event queue path is skipped and the event is not generated.
    4. Review application logs.
      1. Navigate to System Logs > Application Logs and filter for entries with a source that contains [DEX Notification][DEX Notification].
      2. Check the log messages to identify the failure point.
        The following log messages indicate common failure points.
        Table 1. Log messages for Desktop Assistant notification failures
        Log message Description
        [DEX Notification] Executing REST request: Push service REST call initiated.
        [DEX Notification] Response body: OK Push service acknowledged the request.
        [DEX Notification] Error during REST API call: Push service REST call failed.
        DesktopAppNotificationUtils: ERROR, invalid notification Stored notification payload is invalid JSON.
    5. Optional: If the log shows [DEX Notification] Error during REST API call:, check network connectivity and verify the sn_dex_desktop.push_notification_service_info property.
    6. If the queue status is Sent but the user reports no visible notification, validate the endpoint and ACC agent.
      1. Confirm that the Desktop Assistant client is running and the user is signed in.
      2. Review the ACC logs to confirm that the agent is running and communicating with the ServiceNow instance.
        For information about accessing ACC logs, see View the Agent Client Collector logs.
      3. Open the Desktop Assistant (sn_dex_desktop_assistant_notification) table.
      4. Filter by Created or Recipient list to locate the notification record.
      5. Check the value in the Expiry date field on the record.
      6. Compare the Expiry date value with the current system date and time.
        • If the expiry date is earlier than the current date and time, the notification has expired and is no longer delivered to the Desktop Assistant client.
        • If the expiry date is in the future, the notification is still eligible for delivery.