ServiceNow CSM MCP server

Integrate ServiceNow Customer Service Management with AI agents to automate case handling, customer communications, and service operations. An AI agent connected to CSM can create and route cases, manage customer accounts, search knowledge articles, track service entitlements, monitor SLAs, and generate reports—all from natural language requests. Use this for automating customer support workflows, intelligent case routing, knowledge-based customer self-service, or service team productivity.

Setting up an MCP server

This article covers the standard steps for creating an MCP server in AI Gateway and connecting it to an AI client. The steps are the same for every integration — application-specific details (API credentials, OAuth endpoints, and scopes) are covered in the individual application pages.

Before you begin

You'll need:

• Access to AI Gateway with permission to create MCP servers
• API credentials for the application you're connecting (see the relevant application page for what to collect)

Create an MCP server

Find the API in the catalog

1. Sign in to AI Gateway and select MCP Servers from the left navigation.
2. Select New MCP Server.
3. Search for the application you want to connect, then select it from the catalog.

Configure the server

1. Enter a Name for your server — something descriptive that identifies both the application and its purpose (for example, "Zendesk Support — Prod").
2. Enter a Description so your team knows what the server is for.
3. Set the Timeout value. 30 seconds works for most APIs; increase to 60 seconds for APIs that return large payloads.
4. Toggle Production mode on if this server will be used in a live workflow.
5. Select Next.

Configure authentication

Enter the authentication details for the application. This varies by service — see the Authentication section of the relevant application page for the specific credentials, OAuth URLs, and scopes to use.

Configure security

1. Set any Rate limits appropriate for your use case and the API's own limits.
2. Enable Logging if you want AI Gateway to record requests and responses for auditing.
3. Select Next.

Deploy

Review the summary, then select Deploy. AI Gateway provisions the server and provides a server URL you'll use when configuring your AI client.

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Connect to an AI client

Once your server is deployed, you'll need to add it to the AI client your team uses. Select your client for setup instructions:

• Claude Desktop
• Claude Code
• Cursor
• VS Code
• Windsurf

Tips

• You can create multiple MCP servers for the same application — for example, a read-only server for reporting agents and a read-write server for automation workflows.
• If you're unsure which OAuth scopes to request, start with the minimum read-only set and add write scopes only when needed. Most application pages include scope recommendations.
• You can edit a server's name, description, timeout, and security settings after deployment without redeploying.

Authentication

CSM integration uses OAuth 2.0 authentication. When you register an OAuth application in your ServiceNow instance, you'll receive authorization and token endpoints in the pattern https://{instance}.service-now.com/oauth_auth.do and https://{instance}.service-now.com/oauth_token.do. You'll need your client ID and client secret to configure the MCP server. ServiceNow OAuth uses a default scope called useraccount which provides access to user account information and standard API operations across the CSM module.

Available tools

These tools enable case management, customer account operations, knowledge search, entitlement tracking, and service analytics.

Tool	Description
Create case	Create a new customer case or ticket
Get case	Retrieve details for a specific case
Update case	Modify case status, assignment, or properties
List cases	Query cases with filtering and sorting
Search cases	Find similar cases by description or attributes
Create account	Add a new customer account
Get account	Retrieve customer account details
Update account	Modify customer information
Create contact	Add a contact person for a customer
Get contact	Retrieve contact details
Search knowledge	Find knowledge articles in the KB
Get article	Retrieve full content of a knowledge article
Get entitlements	Check customer service contracts and SLAs
Check SLA	Verify SLA status for a case
Create task	Add a follow-up task or assignment
List tasks	Get tasks related to a case

Tips

Create case templates for common issues so the agent can populate required fields consistently.

Link related cases together to help identify recurring customer problems.

Update knowledge articles based on resolved cases to improve self-service deflection rates.

Monitor SLA compliance by prioritizing cases that are approaching breach times.

Route cases to specialists based on skill tags to improve first-contact resolution rates.