Add an Attachment to a ServiceNow Table Record with Scripting

For times when you want to add an attachment to a record in ServiceNow but want to do it through scripting (such as when you are doing some testing and want to quickly create some records with attachments in your instance), you can run the following script:

var parentTable = '<table_name>';
var parentRecord = '<table_sys_id>';

var ecc = new GlideRecord('ecc_queue');
ecc.agent = 'AttachmentCreator';
ecc.topic = 'AttachmentCreator';
ecc.source = parentTable + ':' + parentRecord;
ecc.name = '<file_name>:<mime_type>';
ecc.payload = '<base_64_encoded_file_content>';
ecc.insert();

Where:

<table_name> is the name of the ServiceNow table with the record you want to add an attachment to. For example incident

<table_sys_id> is the sys_id of the record you want to add an attachment to. For example 2b407db2976211101e327f5e6253afc6

<file_name> is the file name of the attachment you want to add. For example sample.pdf or image.jpg

<mime_type> is the mime type of the attachment you want to add. For example application/pdf or image/jpeg

<base_64_encoded_file_content> is the file content of the attachment as a base 64 encoded string. You can use a site like https://base64.guru/converter/encode/file to encode the file you're trying to add.

Some caveats with using this script

1. This script will always attach a new file to the record, even if you specify the exact same file name as before.

2. The AttachmentCreator engine does check the content to verify if it matches the mime type specified. So if your base 64 encoded file content is of a PDF (application/pdf) but you specify the <mime_type> as image/jpeg, it will error out and say the content doesn't match the type.

3. Performance will depend on your instance's resources and any properties/settings you have configured. On my developer instance I tested the script in Scripts - Background and could only attach a file of about 1MB (since the base 64 encoded content got pretty large when pasting it in the browser's script window) while running it as a scheduled job I was able to do a 5MB file.

An actual example

The below script will attach a sample.pdf file to the incident record that has a sys_id of 2b407db2976211101e327f5e6253afc6:

var parentTable = 'incident';
var parentRecord = '2b407db2976211101e327f5e6253afc6';

var ecc = new GlideRecord('ecc_queue');
ecc.agent = 'AttachmentCreator';
ecc.topic = 'AttachmentCreator';
ecc.source = parentTable + ':' + parentRecord;
ecc.name = 'sample.pdf:application/pdf';
ecc.payload = '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';
ecc.insert();

Feel free to reach out to me if you want to discuss this or anything else further.

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