Self-Service and Automation
Service Catalog
Catalog items let users request things. Key building blocks: categories (how the catalog is organized), catalog items (the requestable form, with variables and variable sets for reuse), record producers (a catalog-style form that creates a record on a table such as Incident), and order guides (a bundled wizard of multiple items). Variable values are stored in sc_item_option and tied to a request via sc_req_item.
Automation
- Flow Designer builds trigger-based flows (record created/updated, schedule, inbound call) with actions and subflows.
- Workflow Editor is the legacy engine; both may exist in one instance.
- Business rules run server-side on insert/update/delete/query.
- Scheduled jobs and SLA definitions (start, stop, pause conditions plus stage durations) drive time-based behaviour.
- Client scripts and UI policies shape the form in the browser; catalog UI policies apply specifically to catalog variables.
Traps
Client-side logic is for user experience only - anything that must be enforced regardless of UI (calculation, validation, cross-record updates) belongs in a business rule, not a client script. A record producer produces a record; a catalog item produces a request item. Order guides do not create a single merged record; they create multiple requested items.
Worked example
"Set the priority to Critical whenever a P1 customer logs a case, even via API." A UI policy would fail for API calls. Use a business rule (before insert/update) so the rule fires regardless of channel. If the requirement said "hide the field from the form," that is a UI policy.