UI Builder & Now Experience
Quick answer
Build workspace and portal pages with components, data resources and client state.
Key takeaways
- Pages are built from components plus data resources
- Client state parameters carry values between components
- Workspaces are the primary use case today
- Custom components need the Now CLI and developer tooling
What UI Builder is
UI Builder assembles pages from Now Experience components. A page has variants, a data layer of data resources such as Look Up Records, and client state parameters that components read and write. It is configuration driven rather than Angular templating.
Data and events
Data resources fetch records or call scripted APIs. Components dispatch events, and event mappings turn an event into an action such as navigating, opening a modal or setting a client state parameter.
When to use it
Match the tool to the audience.
- Workspace experiences for agents and fulfillers belong in UI Builder
- Employee facing portals today still commonly use Service Portal
- Custom components require the Now CLI and a build pipeline, plan for that skill
- Keep pages simple, deeply nested repeaters are hard to debug
Want to learn this properly?
Our live, instructor-led ServiceNow Training covers this hands-on, with real projects and a certification path.
Check your understanding
What fetches records for a UI Builder page?
- A. A widget server script
- B. A data resource
- C. A business rule
- D. A UI policy
Show answer
B. A data resource
Data resources are the declarative data layer.
Which audience is UI Builder aimed at today?
- A. Anonymous visitors
- B. Agents in workspaces
- C. Email recipients
- D. Mobile only
Show answer
B. Agents in workspaces
Configurable workspaces are the primary UI Builder use case.