Use URL navigation settings to specify where and how chat links open. You can configure certain links to open in a specific portal. You can also specify the link target, such as a popup window.

Your base system instance provides default portals in which chat links to records from certain ServiceNow tables are opened automatically. For example, Service Portal is the default portal used to display knowledge records from the Knowledge [kbknowledge] table and also catalog items from the Catalog Item [sc_cat_item] table.

Use URL navigation in Chat Settings to change these default mappings, as well as define custom mappings that map a portal URL to a specified ServiceNow table. The portal configurations apply to the web client, chat channels, and messaging channels.

How URL navigation works

To determine the portals to be used for chat links, the system evaluates the following information in the order listed:
  1. sysparm portal parameter - If you specified a sysparm_portal parameter in the instance URL for the web client, that portal is used.
  2. Topic script variable - If you specified a portal in a topic script variable, that portal is used.
  3. Default portal for Provider Channel Identity - If you specified a default portal in the Provider Channel Identity [sys_cs_provider_application] table for pre-built chat integrations or custom chat integrations, that portal is used. The default portal applies to the chat and messaging channels for the provider. For details on configuring the Provider Channel Identity, see Create a channel identifier for your custom chat integration in Custom chat integration framework.
  4. Default portal for a table - Uses the portal value in the default portal mapping listed in URL navigation Chat Setting.
  5. Global default portal - If you defined a global default portal using the com.glide.cs.url_redirect.default.portal system property, that global portal is used.
  6. Service Portal - If you didn't define a global portal using the com.glide.cs.url_redirect.default.portal property, Service Portal is used.

Legacy URL mappings defined in previous releases (fallback method)

If you previously added the com.glide.cs.portal_url_mapping.default.<portal_value>.<table_name> property to create URL mappings that were used instead of the default URL mappings, those properties are retained after you upgrade to the Washington DC release. However, you can now view the mappings using URL navigation in Chat Settings or the URL Navigation [sys_cs_portal_url_mapping] table. There are two types of URL mappings.

Default mappings
All system properties with the format com.glide.cs.portal_url_mapping.portal.<table_name> that define the default portal used for certain ServiceNow tables.
Table 1. Default URL mapping properties
Property Description

com.glide.cs.portal_url_mapping.portal.kb_knowledge

 Default portal context (URL mapping) to use for Knowledge Base articles.
  • Type: string
  • Default value: sp (Service Portal)

com.glide.cs.portal_url_mapping.portal.sc_cat_item

 Default portal context (URL mapping) to use for Service Catalog items.
  • Type: string
  • Default value: sp (Service Portal)

com.glide.cs.portal_url_mapping.portal.sys_user

 Default portal context (URL mapping) for sys_ user records.
  • Type: string
  • Default value: esc (Employee Service Center)
Custom mappings
All system properties that define a portal and table combination using the format com.glide.cs.portal_url_mapping.<portal_name>.<table_name>. These mappings are retained as custom mappings. When the portal or table is specified with _default, it indicates that any portal or table is used.
The system determines the URL for custom mappings by evaluating the following values:
  • Portal and table/parent table
  • Portal and any table
  • Any portal and table/parent table
  • Any portal and any table
Table 2. Custom URL mapping properties
PropertyDescription

com.glide.cs.portal_url_mapping._default.kb_knowledge

Default for Knowledge URL mapping.

  • Type: string
  • Value:/{{portal}}?id=kb_article&sys_id={{data.sys_id}}

com.glide.cs.portal_url_mapping._default.sc_cat_item

Default for Catalog Item URL mapping.

  • Type: string
  • Value: /{{portal}}?sys_id={{data.sys_id}}&id={{data.table_name}}&table={{data.table_name}}

com.glide.cs.portal_url_mapping._default.sys_user

Default for User URL mapping.

  • Type: string
  • Value: /{{portal}}?id=user_profile&sys_id={{data.sys_id}}

com.glide.cs.portal_url_mapping._default._default

Default URL mapping for records other than knowledge articles, Service Catalog items, People (sys_user) records, publication records, and task records.

  • Type: string
  • Value: /{{portal}}?sys_id={{data.sys_id}}&id=form&table={{data.table_name}}

Smart links

As an admin, you can specify the target for URL links based on patterns that you specify. For example, if you want all KB articles to open in a new window, you can configure the mapping in general chat settings. For more information, see Create a smart link preference.