Workflow stages

  • Release version: Australia
  • Updated March 12, 2026
  • 3 minutes to read
    • Summarize
    Summarized using AI
    This content was generated using new OpenAI-powered functionality. Results are provided on an as is basis and are not guaranteed to be accurate or complete.

    Summary of Workflow Stages

    Workflow stages are essential for tracking the progress of workflows in ServiceNow. They update designated fields, such as the Incident state field or the Service Catalog's Stage field, to reflect the workflow's current state. The interface automatically updates the selected Stage field in workflow properties based on the workflow's activities.

    Show full answer Show less

    Key Features

    • Dynamic Stage Updates: Workflow stages can be assigned to activities, enabling real-time updates to the associated records.
    • Stage Value Sources: Stage values can be derived from choice lists, default stages, workflow-specific stages, and existing record values.
    • Automatic Stage Assignment: For workflows using the Requested Item table, the stage field is automatically set and reflects the activity states.
    • Stage Sets: Workflow stage sets allow users to group and reuse stages across multiple workflows, enhancing organization and efficiency.

    Key Outcomes

    By effectively managing workflow stages, ServiceNow customers can enhance visibility into process status and improve workflow management. Users can add, modify, and translate stages to align with specific business processes, ensuring that workflows communicate progress clearly. This structured approach leads to better resource allocation and timely completion of tasks.

    Workflows can indicate workflow progress by updating any field designated as a stage field.

    For example, the Incident [incident] table has an Incident state field that indicates progress, but the service catalog uses the Stage field.

    To indicate the workflow's progress through the possible stage values, the interface updates the Stage field selected in the workflow properties. Available fields depend on the table used by the workflow. If the field provides a choice list, then the choices are available as stage values for the workflow. If the field is a workflow field, it displays an icon to indicate the workflow's progress, as with the Service Catalog's Stage field.

    Figure 1. Service Catalog Stage field with icons

    After stages are added to the workflow, they can be assigned to each workflow activity. If an activity with an assigned stage is encountered when the workflow runs, the workflow engine assigns the stage to the record associated with the workflow context.

    For workflows that use the Requested Item [sc_req_item] table, the stage field is automatically set to the Stage field of the table and cannot be changed. The stage state displayed for a workflow running on the Requested Item table is based on the state of the workflow activities.
    • If an activity is active, then the stage is shown with the state of In progress.
    • If an activity is in the Pending or Completed state, the stage reflects this state.
    • If an activity is canceled, Request Cancelled appears in the Stage field. The "Cancelled" label set in the wf_stage table is a reserved word, and does not display in the Stage field.

    How stage values are derived

    Stage values are derived from various sources in the interface.

    Note:
    An updated method for managing workflow stages as a set is also available. For information about grouping and reusing stages, see Workflow stage sets.
    Stage values are derived from the following sources:
    • Choices for Stage column: Choices defined for the column selected as the Stage column for the workflow.
    • Default stages for table: Stages defined in the Stage Default [wf_stage_default] table for the table selected.
    • Workflow-specific stages: Applied only to the workflow for which they were defined in the Workflow Stage [wf_stage] table.
    • Stage values in existing records: Values from the designated Stage column in the table assigned to the workflow are inherited from existing records.

    If the stage field for a workflow is the table column named Stage, then the progress of the workflow appears in any list view containing the Stage column.

    Figure 2. Stages in a list

    Stage values shown in the list views are accompanied by the state, based on the workflow activities being executed. If an activity has a stage specified for it, and the activity is currently active in the workflow, then the stage is shown with a state of In progress. Similarly, if the activity is in the Pending or Completed state, the stage reflects this state.

    Example

    If the workflow table is Request Item [sc_req_item], then the stage field is automatically set to the Stage column of that table and cannot be changed. The following stage values for the request item are displayed in a choice list from the Dictionary Entry [sys_dictionary] table:
    • Waiting for Approval
    • Fulfillment
    • Delivery
    In addition, the Request Item table has the following default stages:
    • Request Cancelled
    • Completed
    Note:
    If an activity is cancelled, Request Cancelled appears in the Stage field. The "Cancelled" label set in the wf_stage table is a reserved word, and does not display in the Stage field.
    When you edit available activity stages in the Workflow Editor, the list displays the following stage values:
    • Waiting for Approval
    • Fulfillment
    • Delivery
    • Request Cancelled
    • Completed
    The following diagram depicts the process used to gather stage values from the Request Item table to populate the Stages list in workflow activities.
    Gathering stage values for workflow activities
    Note:
    If you are creating a workflow with a table other than Request Item [sc_req_item], you must select a Stage field in the workflow properties for the workflow to have stages.