Collaborating with others to build apps in Creator Studio
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Summary of Collaborating with others to build apps in Creator Studio
Collaboration in Creator Studio enables multiple developers to co-create and develop apps together by sharing editing permissions. This delegated development feature allows users to request permission to edit existing apps or invite others to collaborate on their apps, improving teamwork and efficiency in app building. Collaboration requires an App Engine Enterprise license and is supported by the ServiceNow AI Platform Collaboration app, which is installed automatically with Creator Studio.
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Collaboration Roles and Permissions
There are two main collaboration roles, called collaboration descriptors, that determine the level of access and control a user has over an app:
- Owner: Typically the app creator, owners have full control including managing collaborators, editing app settings (name, description, icon), deleting the app, and automatically receive the delegateddeveloper role.
- Editor: Editors can invite other collaborators and have limited editing capabilities but cannot manage collaborators or delete the app.
Administrators can define custom collaboration descriptors for finer permission control through Guided Setup or the Collaboration app.
Managing Collaboration Permissions
Owners and editors can invite collaborators; however, if an invited user lacks the delegateddeveloper role, an App Engine admin must approve the collaboration request. This approval process generates collaboration tasks that admins can review and manage using App Engine Management Center (AEMC) or directly via the Collaboration Tasks module. The approval workflow ensures that only authorized users gain access to develop or deploy apps.
Key Capabilities by Role
- Owners: Can invite and manage collaborators, edit app settings, create/edit/delete forms and automation, manage fulfiller workspace configurations, submit apps for deployment, and delete apps.
- Editors: Can invite collaborators, create/edit/delete forms and automation, and manage fulfiller workspace configurations, but cannot manage collaborators, edit app settings, delete apps, or submit apps for deployment.
Handling Version Differences and Access Requests
When Creator Studio is installed on non-production instances but not on production instances, collaboration approval workflows may be disrupted. Admins should assign the catalogbuildereditor role to Creator Studio user groups to maintain workflow functionality across versions.
If a user wants to work on an app they do not have access to, they can request permission through the platform. Similarly, app owners can manage collaborator lists and permissions via the Manage collaborators option in Creator Studio.
Sometimes you need help building out your app, and that’s ok! And sometimes other people need your help building their apps, which is great! This is where collaboration comes into play.
You can collaborate on apps you don't own by requesting permission to edit them, and invite other people you work with to collaborate on your apps with you.
The ServiceNow AI Platform Collaboration app is automatically installed with Creator Studio. For more information about the Collaboration app, see Application collaboration.
Collaboration descriptors: Owners and Editors
So, you realize you either need help with your app, or you want to help someone else building their app. What’s next? You need the right collaboration role.
There are two standard types of collaborators when you co-develop an app with other people: Owners and Editors. These two roles are called collaboration descriptors. The collaboration descriptor that someone is assigned determines if they can assign, manage, and monitor delegated development permissions. For example, people who are Owners can do more than people with the Editor collaboration type.
If needed, your admin can define custom collaboration descriptors to select when managing collaborators, either in the Creator Studio Guided Setup or in the Collaboration app. For more information on custom descriptors, see Configure Creator Studio using Guided Setup and Create collaboration descriptors to assign permissions.
| Descriptor | Description |
|---|---|
| Owner | Owner of the application.
|
| Editor |
|
Collaboration development permissions
You’ve designated Owners and Editors in your app, now what? You need to invite other collaborators to work in your app.
Collaboration permissions enable you to control who's building apps in Creator Studio. You assign permissions to developers (or users who deploy applications) so that they can develop and deploy applications.
If you invite someone to collaborate on an app and they don't have the Delegated developer (delegated_developer) role, an App Engine admin must approve the collaboration request. For more information, see Delegated development and deployment.
When you add a user or group, a collaboration task is generated behind the scenes, and an approval flow kicks off. If you have App Engine Management Center (AEMC) installed, your admin can review and approve/deny these collaboration request tasks there. If you don’t have AEMC installed, admins can navigate to .
The collaboration task that goes to your admin provides information on which application a developer is being added to, and what permissions are granted. Approvers sometimes need to review these task records before they add developers to the application.
What can owners and editors do?
If you’re in the Creator Studio users group, you can see all users and groups collaborating on an app, as well as their collaboration descriptors.
If you can’t see the users and groups, you may have a different permission with more restrictions. But fear not! You can always contact your admin if you have any questions about who's working on an app.
The following table provides a list of general defaults for what owners and editors can do in Creator Studio.
| Creator Studio feature | Owner | Editor |
|---|---|---|
| Invite collaborators | Yes | Yes |
| Manage collaborators | Yes | No |
| Edit app settings, such as name, description, and icon | Yes | No |
| Create, edit, and delete forms | Yes | Yes |
| Create, edit, and delete automation | Yes | Yes |
| Manage the fulfiller workspace list configurations and records | Yes | Yes |
| Submit app for deployment | Yes | No |
| Delete app | Yes | No |
Collaboration roles and instances on different versions
As admins implement Creator Studio, they may have it installed on a non-production instance while their production instance is on a previous version of the ServiceNow AI Platform that doesn't have Creator Studio. This mis-match of instance versions affects the Collaboration Approval Workflow, which specifies the non-production instance as the source and the production instance as the controller. If the controller doesn't have the version of the collaboration plugin that supports Creator Studio, collaboration is unsupported.
To ensure that users can use the Collaboration Approval Workflow regardless of instance versions, admins must assign the catalog _builder_editor role to Creator Studio user groups.