---

name: problem-management description: This skill should be used when the user asks to "create problem", "problem record", "root cause analysis", "RCA", "known error", "KEDB", "problem investigation", or any ServiceNow Problem Management development. license: Apache-2.0 compatibility: Designed for Snow-Code and ServiceNow development metadata: author: groeimetai version: "1.0.0" category: servicenow tools:

• snow_query_table
• snow_find_artifact
• snow_execute_script_with_output
• snow_knowledge_article_create

---

Problem Management for ServiceNow

Problem Management identifies root causes of incidents and implements permanent solutions.

Problem Lifecycle

CopyNew (1)
    ↓
Assess (2)
    ↓
Root Cause Analysis (3)
    ↓
Fix in Progress (4) ← Known Error Database
    ↓
Resolved (5)
    ↓
Closed (6)

Cancelled (7) ← Can occur from any state

Key Tables

Creating Problems (ES5)

Create Problem from Incidents

Copy// Create problem from multiple incidents (ES5 ONLY!)
function createProblemFromIncidents(incidentSysIds, problemData) {
    // Create problem
    var problem = new GlideRecord('problem');
    problem.initialize();

    problem.setValue('short_description', problemData.title);
    problem.setValue('description', problemData.description);
    problem.setValue('category', problemData.category);
    problem.setValue('subcategory', problemData.subcategory);

    // Set impact based on related incidents
    var highestImpact = 3;
    for (var i = 0; i < incidentSysIds.length; i++) {
        var incident = new GlideRecord('incident');
        if (incident.get(incidentSysIds[i])) {
            var incImpact = parseInt(incident.getValue('impact'), 10);
            if (incImpact < highestImpact) {
                highestImpact = incImpact;
            }
        }
    }
    problem.setValue('impact', highestImpact);
    problem.setValue('urgency', highestImpact);

    // Assignment
    if (problemData.assignmentGroup) {
        problem.setValue('assignment_group', problemData.assignmentGroup);
    }

    // Affected CI
    if (problemData.cmdb_ci) {
        problem.setValue('cmdb_ci', problemData.cmdb_ci);
    }

    var problemSysId = problem.insert();

    // Link incidents to problem
    for (var j = 0; j < incidentSysIds.length; j++) {
        var incidentToLink = new GlideRecord('incident');
        if (incidentToLink.get(incidentSysIds[j])) {
            incidentToLink.setValue('problem_id', problemSysId);
            incidentToLink.work_notes = 'Linked to Problem: ' + problem.getValue('number');
            incidentToLink.update();
        }
    }

    return {
        sys_id: problemSysId,
        number: problem.getValue('number')
    };
}

Proactive Problem Creation

Copy// Identify patterns for proactive problems (ES5 ONLY!)
function identifyProactiveProblems() {
    var LOG_PREFIX = '[ProactiveProblem] ';
    var threshold = 5;  // Minimum incidents to trigger

    // Find recurring incident patterns
    var ga = new GlideAggregate('incident');
    ga.addQuery('opened_at', '>=', gs.daysAgo(30));
    ga.addQuery('active', false);  // Only closed incidents
    ga.addNotNullQuery('cmdb_ci');
    ga.addAggregate('COUNT');
    ga.groupBy('cmdb_ci');
    ga.groupBy('category');
    ga.groupBy('subcategory');
    ga.addHaving('COUNT', '>', threshold);
    ga.orderByAggregate('COUNT', 'DESC');
    ga.query();

    var patterns = [];

    while (ga.next()) {
        var count = parseInt(ga.getAggregate('COUNT'), 10);
        var ci = ga.getValue('cmdb_ci');
        var category = ga.getValue('category');
        var subcategory = ga.getValue('subcategory');

        // Check if problem already exists
        if (!problemExistsForPattern(ci, category, subcategory)) {
            patterns.push({
                cmdb_ci: ci,
                ci_name: ga.cmdb_ci.getDisplayValue(),
                category: category,
                subcategory: subcategory,
                incident_count: count
            });

            gs.info(LOG_PREFIX + 'Pattern found: ' + count +
                   ' incidents for CI ' + ga.cmdb_ci.getDisplayValue() +
                   ' (' + category + '/' + subcategory + ')');
        }
    }

    return patterns;
}

function problemExistsForPattern(ci, category, subcategory) {
    var problem = new GlideRecord('problem');
    problem.addQuery('cmdb_ci', ci);
    problem.addQuery('category', category);
    problem.addQuery('subcategory', subcategory);
    problem.addQuery('state', 'NOT IN', '5,6,7');  // Not resolved/closed/cancelled
    problem.query();
    return problem.hasNext();
}

Root Cause Analysis (ES5)

RCA Workflow

Copy// Start RCA process (ES5 ONLY!)
function startRootCauseAnalysis(problemSysId) {
    var problem = new GlideRecord('problem');
    if (!problem.get(problemSysId)) {
        return false;
    }

    // Move to RCA state
    problem.setValue('state', 3);  // Root Cause Analysis
    problem.update();

    // Create RCA tasks
    var tasks = [
        { title: 'Gather incident data', order: 100 },
        { title: 'Interview stakeholders', order: 200 },
        { title: 'Review system logs', order: 300 },
        { title: 'Identify contributing factors', order: 400 },
        { title: 'Document root cause', order: 500 }
    ];

    for (var i = 0; i < tasks.length; i++) {
        createProblemTask(problemSysId, tasks[i]);
    }

    return true;
}

function createProblemTask(problemSysId, taskData) {
    var task = new GlideRecord('problem_task');
    task.initialize();
    task.setValue('problem', problemSysId);
    task.setValue('short_description', taskData.title);
    task.setValue('order', taskData.order);
    task.setValue('state', 1);  // New
    return task.insert();
}

Document Root Cause

Copy// Document RCA findings (ES5 ONLY!)
function documentRootCause(problemSysId, rcaData) {
    var problem = new GlideRecord('problem');
    if (!problem.get(problemSysId)) {
        return false;
    }

    // Set root cause fields
    problem.setValue('cause_notes', rcaData.rootCause);
    problem.setValue('u_contributing_factors', rcaData.contributingFactors);

    // 5 Whys analysis
    if (rcaData.fiveWhys) {
        problem.setValue('u_five_whys', JSON.stringify(rcaData.fiveWhys));
    }

    // Set root cause category
    problem.setValue('u_root_cause_category', rcaData.category);

    // Document fix
    problem.setValue('fix_notes', rcaData.proposedFix);

    // Move to Fix in Progress if ready
    if (rcaData.readyToFix) {
        problem.setValue('state', 4);  // Fix in Progress
    }

    problem.update();

    // Add to work notes
    problem.work_notes = 'Root Cause Documented:\n' +
                        '-------------------\n' +
                        rcaData.rootCause + '\n\n' +
                        'Proposed Fix:\n' +
                        '-------------\n' +
                        rcaData.proposedFix;
    problem.update();

    return true;
}

Known Error Database (ES5)

Create Known Error

Copy// Create Known Error from Problem (ES5 ONLY!)
function createKnownError(problemSysId, workaroundInfo) {
    var problem = new GlideRecord('problem');
    if (!problem.get(problemSysId)) {
        return null;
    }

    // Create Known Error
    var ke = new GlideRecord('known_error');
    ke.initialize();

    // Copy from problem
    ke.setValue('short_description', problem.getValue('short_description'));
    ke.setValue('description', problem.getValue('description'));
    ke.setValue('cause_notes', problem.getValue('cause_notes'));
    ke.setValue('cmdb_ci', problem.getValue('cmdb_ci'));
    ke.setValue('category', problem.getValue('category'));
    ke.setValue('subcategory', problem.getValue('subcategory'));

    // Workaround
    ke.setValue('workaround', workaroundInfo.description);
    ke.setValue('u_workaround_effectiveness', workaroundInfo.effectiveness);

    // Link to problem
    ke.setValue('problem', problemSysId);

    // Set state
    ke.setValue('state', 'published');

    var keSysId = ke.insert();

    // Update problem with known error link
    problem.setValue('known_error', keSysId);
    problem.setValue('known_error_state', 'accepted');
    problem.update();

    return {
        sys_id: keSysId,
        number: ke.getValue('number')
    };
}

Search Known Errors

Copy// Search KEDB for matching workarounds (ES5 ONLY!)
var KEDBSearch = Class.create();
KEDBSearch.prototype = {
    initialize: function() {},

    /**
     * Find matching known errors for an incident
     */
    findForIncident: function(incidentSysId) {
        var incident = new GlideRecord('incident');
        if (!incident.get(incidentSysId)) {
            return [];
        }

        var matches = [];

        // Search by CI
        if (incident.cmdb_ci) {
            var ciMatches = this._searchByCI(incident.getValue('cmdb_ci'));
            matches = matches.concat(ciMatches);
        }

        // Search by category
        var catMatches = this._searchByCategory(
            incident.getValue('category'),
            incident.getValue('subcategory')
        );
        matches = matches.concat(catMatches);

        // Search by keywords
        var keywordMatches = this._searchByKeywords(
            incident.getValue('short_description')
        );
        matches = matches.concat(keywordMatches);

        // Deduplicate
        return this._deduplicate(matches);
    },

    _searchByCI: function(ciSysId) {
        var results = [];
        var ke = new GlideRecord('known_error');
        ke.addQuery('cmdb_ci', ciSysId);
        ke.addQuery('state', 'published');
        ke.query();

        while (ke.next()) {
            results.push(this._toObject(ke, 'CI Match'));
        }
        return results;
    },

    _searchByCategory: function(category, subcategory) {
        var results = [];
        var ke = new GlideRecord('known_error');
        ke.addQuery('category', category);
        if (subcategory) {
            ke.addQuery('subcategory', subcategory);
        }
        ke.addQuery('state', 'published');
        ke.query();

        while (ke.next()) {
            results.push(this._toObject(ke, 'Category Match'));
        }
        return results;
    },

    _searchByKeywords: function(description) {
        var results = [];
        var keywords = description.split(' ').filter(function(w) {
            return w.length > 3;
        });

        var ke = new GlideRecord('known_error');
        ke.addQuery('state', 'published');

        var qc = null;
        for (var i = 0; i < keywords.length && i < 5; i++) {
            if (qc === null) {
                qc = ke.addQuery('short_description', 'CONTAINS', keywords[i]);
            } else {
                qc.addOrCondition('short_description', 'CONTAINS', keywords[i]);
            }
        }
        ke.query();

        while (ke.next()) {
            results.push(this._toObject(ke, 'Keyword Match'));
        }
        return results;
    },

    _toObject: function(gr, matchType) {
        return {
            sys_id: gr.getUniqueValue(),
            number: gr.getValue('number'),
            title: gr.getValue('short_description'),
            workaround: gr.getValue('workaround'),
            matchType: matchType
        };
    },

    _deduplicate: function(matches) {
        var seen = {};
        var unique = [];
        for (var i = 0; i < matches.length; i++) {
            if (!seen[matches[i].sys_id]) {
                seen[matches[i].sys_id] = true;
                unique.push(matches[i]);
            }
        }
        return unique;
    },

    type: 'KEDBSearch'
};

Problem Resolution (ES5)

Resolve Problem

Copy// Resolve problem with fix (ES5 ONLY!)
function resolveProblem(problemSysId, resolutionData) {
    var problem = new GlideRecord('problem');
    if (!problem.get(problemSysId)) {
        return { success: false, message: 'Problem not found' };
    }

    // Validate
    if (!resolutionData.fixNotes) {
        return { success: false, message: 'Fix notes required' };
    }

    // Update problem
    problem.setValue('state', 5);  // Resolved
    problem.setValue('fix_notes', resolutionData.fixNotes);
    problem.setValue('resolution_code', resolutionData.resolutionCode);
    problem.setValue('resolved_at', new GlideDateTime());
    problem.setValue('resolved_by', gs.getUserID());

    // Link to change if permanent fix deployed
    if (resolutionData.changeRequest) {
        problem.setValue('rfc', resolutionData.changeRequest);
    }

    problem.update();

    // Update related Known Error if exists
    if (problem.known_error) {
        var ke = new GlideRecord('known_error');
        if (ke.get(problem.getValue('known_error'))) {
            ke.setValue('state', 'closed');
            ke.setValue('u_permanent_fix', resolutionData.fixNotes);
            ke.update();
        }
    }

    // Notify incident owners
    notifyLinkedIncidents(problemSysId, 'Problem resolved: ' + problem.getValue('number'));

    return {
        success: true,
        number: problem.getValue('number')
    };
}

function notifyLinkedIncidents(problemSysId, message) {
    var incident = new GlideRecord('incident');
    incident.addQuery('problem_id', problemSysId);
    incident.addQuery('active', true);
    incident.query();

    while (incident.next()) {
        incident.work_notes = message;
        incident.update();
    }
}

MCP Tool Integration

Available Tools

Example Workflow

Copy// 1. Find open problems
await snow_query_table({
    table: 'problem',
    query: 'active=true',
    fields: 'number,short_description,state,assignment_group'
});

// 2. Search KEDB
await snow_query_table({
    table: 'known_error',
    query: 'state=published^short_descriptionLIKEemail',
    fields: 'number,short_description,workaround'
});

// 3. Find recurring incidents for proactive problems
await snow_execute_script_with_output({
    script: `
        var patterns = identifyProactiveProblems();
        gs.info('Patterns found: ' + patterns.length);
    `
});

Best Practices

1. Incident Linking - Link all related incidents
2. Root Cause Focus - Find actual cause, not symptoms
3. 5 Whys Technique - Drill down to root cause
4. Known Errors - Document workarounds
5. Permanent Fixes - Link to change requests
6. Metrics - Track problem resolution time
7. Proactive - Identify patterns before escalation
8. ES5 Only - No modern JavaScript syntax