Embedded Help system properties

  • Release version: Australia
  • Updated March 12, 2026
  • 2 minutes to read
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    Summary of Embedded Help System Properties

    Embedded help is enabled by default in your ServiceNow instance, allowing administrators to customize its functionality through system properties. These properties can be accessed via the Embedded Help > Properties menu.

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    Key Features

    • Auto Close: Automatically closes the help pane when starting a tour or returning to guided setup (default: true).
    • CDN Timeout: Sets the timeout duration for content retrieval from the Content Delivery Network, defined in milliseconds (default: 2000).
    • Help Plugin Activation: Enables or disables the embedded help plugin (default: true).
    • Video Embedding: Allows the inclusion of videos in help content; if disabled, videos will not be displayed (default: true).
    • Content Sync: Enables the instance to check for updated content from the CDN when users access UI pages (default: true).
    • Sync Frequency: Determines the number of days before checking for updated content in the CDN (default: 15).
    • Self-Hosted Sync: Specifies if a self-hosted instance should sync with the CDN (default: false).
    • Dynamic URL Retrieval: Indicates the location for dynamically retrieving embedded help content (default: varies).
    • Version Specific Help: Displays help relevant to the current instance version (default: Jakarta).
    • Guided Setup Actions: Enables actions based on states to persist across all pages in the embedded help panel (default: false).

    Key Outcomes

    By configuring these properties, ServiceNow customers can tailor the embedded help experience to better meet user needs, ensuring timely access to relevant assistance and guidance throughout the platform. This customization enhances user engagement and supports effective onboarding and task completion.

    Embedded help is active by default on your instance. The administrator can change system properties to modify how the instance interacts with embedded help.

    The administrator navigates to Embedded Help > Properties to change these properties.

    Table 1. Embedded help system properties
    Name Description
    com.glide.embedded_help.auto_close Auto-closes the help pane when the user clicks Start a Tour or Back To Guided Setup.
    • Type: true | false
    • Default value: true
    com.glide.embedded_help.cdn_timeout Duration in milliseconds at which a content pull from the Content Delivery Network (CDN) is timed out.
    • Type: integer
    • Default value: 2000
    com.glide.embedded_help.enabled Enables the embedded help plugin for activation.
    • Type: true | false
    • Default value: true
    com.glide.embedded_help.enable_video Enables users to see embedded videos in help content. The administrator can embed video and a description, but if this property is false, the video and description are hidden in the help pane.
    • Type: true | false
    • Default value: true
    Note:
    When you embed video content, enclose the video embed code and description inside a <div class="video"> tag. If you disable the property, the content inside the <div class="video"> tag is hidden when the content is displayed.
    com.glide.embedded_help.sync Enables the instance to look in the CDN for updated content when a user accesses a UI page. The instance checks the Last sync date in the topic against the specified frequency to determine whether to look in the CDN for updated content.
    • Type: true | false
    • Default value: true

    If the property is disabled (false), the embedded help content is never synced with CDN topic updates.
    com.glide.embedded_help.sync_frequency Specifies how many days must pass from the Last sync date in the topic for the embedded help process to look for updated content in the CDN.
    • Type: integer
    • Default value: 15
    com.glide.embedded_help.sync_self_hosted Specifies whether a self-hosted instance syncs content with the CDN.
    • Type: true | false
    • Default value: false
    com.glide.embedded_help.url Lists the location from where embedded help is dynamically retrieved.
    • Type: string
    • Default value: varies
    com.glide.embedded_help.version Specifies the instance version for which help is displayed.
    • Type: string
    • Default value: Jakarta

    If blank, displays the help for the version the instance is currently running.

    The following system property is available by navigating to the [sys_properties] table.

    Name Description
    com.glide.embedded_help.guided_setup.persist_actions Enables Guided Setup actions in the embedded help panel that are based on states to display on all pages. An example is the Mark as Complete action. The default behavior (false) is to only show actions on the initial Guided Setup page.
    • Type: true | false
    • Default value: false