Integration Hub spokes let you connect ServiceNow flows to external systems like Slack, Jira, or Microsoft Teams using pre-built actions instead of REST calls. This guide walks you through installing a spoke and using its actions in a flow.
Why spokes replace custom REST integrations
Before Integration Hub spokes, connecting flows to external systems meant building custom REST actions for every API call — authentication, request formatting, error handling, all from scratch. Flow builders would copy-paste connection details across multiple flows, hardcode credentials in subflow inputs, and debug API quirks that someone else already solved. Platform teams inherited fragile integrations that broke when APIs changed, with no central place to update credentials or connection logic.
How spokes work in flows
A spoke is a collection of pre-built flow actions for a specific system, packaged with connection management and credential handling. You install the spoke from the ServiceNow Store, configure one connection credential that all flows share, then use the spoke's actions in Flow Designer like any other action. The spoke handles authentication, request formatting, and error responses automatically. Actions appear in the action picker under the vendor name — Slack actions under 'Slack', Jira actions under 'Atlassian Jira', etc. Each action exposes the underlying API as flow-friendly inputs and outputs.
Building production-quality spoke integrations
Start with basic spoke actions to prove the integration works, then add error handling subflows that catch spoke failures and implement retry logic or fallback actions. Create connection aliases so different environments can use different credentials without changing flows. Most production implementations need custom subflows that wrap spoke actions with business logic — validating inputs before the API call, transforming outputs to match your data model, and logging integration events for troubleshooting.
Before you start
- •Integration Hub Starter or Professional licensing
- •flow_designer role
- •Credentials for the external system you're integrating
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Step by step
Install the spoke from ServiceNow Store
Navigate to System Applications > All Available Applications > All. Search for your integration (like 'Slack' or 'Jira'). Click the spoke application, then Install. The installation creates the spoke's flow actions, connection record template, and credential types.
Filter by 'Integration Hub' in the Category dropdown to see only spoke applications.
Create the connection credential
Go to Connections & Credentials > Connections. Click New and select the connection type that matches your spoke (like 'Slack Connection'). Fill in the connection name and the required authentication fields — API tokens, OAuth credentials, or basic auth depending on the system. Test the connection before saving.
Use descriptive connection names like 'Slack - IT Operations' since flows reference connections by name.
Open or create your target flow
Navigate to Process Automation > Flow Designer. Open an existing flow or create a new one where you want to use the spoke action. The flow must have a trigger already configured — spokes actions work as steps within flows, not as triggers themselves.
Add the spoke action to your flow
Click the plus icon to add an action. In the action picker, look for the vendor category (like 'Slack' or 'Atlassian Jira') and expand it. Select the specific action you need, like 'Post Message to Channel' or 'Create Issue'. The action appears in your flow with inputs specific to that API operation.
Configure the spoke action inputs
Set the Connection field to the connection you created in step 2. Fill in the required action inputs using flow data pills or static values. Each spoke action maps to one API operation, so the inputs match what that API expects — channel names for Slack, project keys for Jira, etc.
Test the integration
Use Flow Designer's Test feature to run the flow and verify the spoke action executes successfully. Check the execution details to see the actual API request and response. Verify the expected result in the external system — message posted to Slack, ticket created in Jira, etc. Save and activate the flow once testing succeeds.
Best practices
Create one connection per environment and use connection aliases to reference the same logical connection across dev, test, and prod flows.
Always check spoke action outputs for error conditions before continuing flow execution — spokes return success indicators you should validate.
Use spoke actions inside subflows when you need the same integration pattern across multiple flows — it centralizes the business logic and error handling.
Set spoke connection timeouts based on the external system's typical response time — don't use default timeouts for slow APIs like reporting systems.
Test spoke integrations with realistic data volumes — some APIs have rate limits or payload size restrictions that don't surface in basic testing.
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