sys_portal Table — ServiceNow Reference

Table Reference/sys_portal

The sys_portal table stores Service Portal configuration records in the Service Portal module. Each record defines a complete portal instance with its URL suffix, theme, homepage, and CSS variables — the foundation for all portal customization.

What This Table Is

The sys_portal table stores the master configuration for each Service Portal instance. Each record represents a complete portal configuration including URL suffix, theme selection, homepage definition, CSS variable overrides, and knowledge base associations. This table is the entry point that determines how users access and experience your portal.

Owned by the Service Portal module, this table supports the entire portal framework from initial load to theme rendering. When users hit /sp or a custom portal URL, ServiceNow queries this table to determine which portal configuration to load, then cascades through the associated theme, pages, and widgets.

This is a standalone configuration table — it doesn't extend task or any other table, and no tables extend it. Portal records are referenced by sp_page and sp_theme records to build the complete portal experience.

Record volume stays extremely low — most enterprises have 2-10 portal records representing different portal experiences (employee portal, customer portal, vendor portal). Performance is rarely a concern due to aggressive caching, but portal changes require cache clearing to take effect.

When You'll Script Against This Table

You'll primarily script against sys_portal in Business Rules for portal lifecycle management, Script Includes for portal resolution logic, and Scheduled Jobs for bulk portal configuration updates. Widget Server Scripts occasionally query this table to determine portal-specific behavior or branding.

Portal records inherit standard ACL permissions — sp_admin and admin roles can modify portal configurations, while most scripts run in global scope and can read portal data freely.

Common scripting patterns:

Query by URL suffix to resolve which portal configuration to load
Bulk update CSS variables across multiple portals during rebranding
Clone portal configurations for new departments or subsidiaries
Dynamically switch themes based on user attributes or business rules
Generate portal URLs programmatically for email templates and notifications
Audit portal configuration changes and maintain configuration documentation
Enable or disable portals based on maintenance schedules or business conditions

Table Gotchas

⚠️

Portal changes require cache clearing to take effect. The url_suffix field change won't be visible to users until you clear the cache or restart the instance.

The css_variables field stores JSON but displays as a plain text area — invalid JSON breaks portal rendering silently

⚠️

Empty url_suffix creates the default portal accessed via /sp — only one portal can have an empty suffix per instance.

The quick_start_user reference field determines which user's perspective is used for portal previews in the designer
Portal records with active=false still respond to direct URL access — use Business Rules to redirect or block access

⚠️

The homepage reference can point to pages in different portals, creating confusing cross-portal navigation — always verify page-to-portal associations.

Theme changes cascade to all portal pages immediately but CSS variable changes require individual page cache clearing for complex pages with embedded widgets

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Portal configuration directly references sp_theme (theme selection), sp_page (homepage definition), kb_knowledge_base (knowledge base association), and sys_user (quick start user). These relationships form the foundation of portal architecture.

You'll frequently query sp_page alongside portal records to understand complete portal structure, and sp_instance_menu to build navigation menus. Widget developers commonly join portal and theme data to access CSS variables and branding elements programmatically.

When troubleshooting portal issues, developers typically start with sys_portal, then follow references to sp_theme and sp_page to trace configuration problems through the complete portal rendering pipeline.

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Key Fields

Column	Type	Label	Notes
title	string	Title	Portal display name shown in lists and breadcrumbs. Not used for URL generation.
url_suffix	string	URL Suffix	Defines the portal URL path after /sp/. Empty value creates the default portal at /sp/.
homepage	reference	Homepage	References sp_page table for the default landing page. Can reference pages from different portals.
theme	reference	Theme	References sp_theme table for visual styling. Theme changes cascade immediately to all portal pages.
css_variables	string	CSS Variables	Stores JSON object of CSS variable overrides. Invalid JSON silently breaks portal rendering.
active	boolean	Active	Controls portal availability but doesn't block direct URL access — requires Business Rules for enforcement.
quick_start_user	reference	Quick Start User	References sys_user table for portal designer preview context. Determines whose permissions are used in designer.
knowledge_base	reference	Knowledge Base	References kb_knowledge_base table for portal's knowledge articles. Filters knowledge searches to this base.
logo	user_image	Logo	Portal logo image attachment. Overrides theme logo when specified.
short_description	string	Short Description	Portal purpose description for administrative documentation. Not displayed to portal users.
login_page	reference	Login Page	References sp_page table for custom login page. Falls back to system default when empty.
enable_rtl	boolean	Enable RTL	Enables right-to-left text direction support for Arabic, Hebrew, and other RTL languages.
sc_catalog	reference	Service Catalog	References sc_catalog table for default catalog. Limits catalog visibility in this portal.
default_language	string	Default Language	ISO language code for portal's default language. Affects initial page load before user preferences.

Common Queries

Get all active portal configurations

// Most basic portal query - returns all available portals
var portal = new GlideRecord('sys_portal');
portal.addQuery('active', true);
portal.query();

while (portal.next()) {
    gs.info('Portal: ' + portal.getDisplayValue('title'));
    gs.info('URL: /sp/' + portal.getValue('url_suffix'));
    gs.info('Theme: ' + portal.getDisplayValue('theme'));
}

Find portal by URL suffix and check theme configuration

// Portal resolution logic - what ServiceNow does internally
var urlSuffix = 'employee'; // or empty string for default portal
var portal = new GlideRecord('sys_portal');
portal.addQuery('url_suffix', urlSuffix);
portal.addQuery('active', true);
portal.query();

if (portal.next()) {
    var theme = portal.getDisplayValue('theme');
    var homepage = portal.getDisplayValue('homepage');
    gs.info('Found portal: ' + portal.getDisplayValue('title'));
    gs.info('Using theme: ' + theme + ', homepage: ' + homepage);
}

Get portals with custom CSS variables for rebranding project

// Real-world scenario - audit custom styling before rebrand
var portal = new GlideRecord('sys_portal');
portal.addQuery('css_variables', '!=', '');
portal.addNotNullQuery('css_variables');
portal.query();

while (portal.next()) {
    var cssVars = portal.getValue('css_variables');
    try {
        var variables = JSON.parse(cssVars);
        gs.info(portal.getDisplayValue('title') + ' has ' + Object.keys(variables).length + ' custom variables');
    } catch (e) {
        gs.warn('Invalid CSS JSON in portal: ' + portal.getDisplayValue('title'));
    }
}

Count active portals grouped by theme

// Theme usage analysis for governance
var agg = new GlideAggregate('sys_portal');
agg.addQuery('active', true);
agg.addNotNullQuery('theme');
agg.groupBy('theme');
agg.addAggregate('COUNT');
agg.query();

while (agg.next()) {
    var themeName = agg.getDisplayValue('theme');
    var count = agg.getAggregate('COUNT');
    gs.info('Theme "' + themeName + '" used by ' + count + ' portal(s)');
}

Wrong vs right way to find default portal

// WRONG: assumes title or naming convention
// var portal = new GlideRecord('sys_portal');
// portal.addQuery('title', 'CONTAINS', 'default');

// RIGHT: empty url_suffix indicates default portal
var portal = new GlideRecord('sys_portal');
portal.addQuery('url_suffix', '');
portal.addQuery('active', true);
portal.query();

if (portal.next()) {
    gs.info('Default portal: ' + portal.getDisplayValue('title'));
    // This portal responds to /sp/ URLs
}

Related Tables

sp_page kb_knowledge_base sys_user

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