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Core Application Development

Practise ServiceNow Certified Application Developer CAD Core Application Development practice questions — original exam-style scenarios with answer choices, explanations, and analysis of common mistakes.

68 questions21 easy25 medium22 hard

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What this domain covers

What to know about Core Application Development

Core Application Development questions test whether you can apply the concept in context, not just recognise a definition.

How the topic appears in realistic exam-style scenarios.

Which detail in the question changes the correct answer.

How to eliminate plausible but wrong options.

How to connect the question back to the wider exam objective.

Watch out for

Common Core Application Development exam traps

  • Answering from memory before reading the full scenario.
  • Missing a constraint such as cost, availability, security, scope or command context.
  • Choosing a broad answer when the question asks for the most specific fix.
  • Ignoring why the wrong options are tempting.

Question index

All Core Application Development questions (68)

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1

The ACL above is on the 'incident' table. A user with role 'itil' tries to update an incident record. What will happen?

Medium
2

Which TWO of the following are valid ways to retrieve a single record from a GlideRecord query on the task table?

Hard
3

A company has a Business Rule that runs after a record is updated. The rule needs to update a related record on a different table. However, the related record update is not being saved. What is the most likely cause?

Medium
4

A developer is configuring an approval flow for a catalog item. When a user submits a request, an approval record is created with a single approver. The approver must be the user's manager. Which is the correct way to set the approver?

Medium
5

A developer needs to create a UI Policy that hides a field when a checkbox is checked. The UI Policy has a condition: 'State is 2'. The field should be hidden when the checkbox is checked and state is 2. What is the correct approach?

Easy
6

Which TWO of the following are valid ways to create a Business Rule? (Choose two.)

Medium
7

A developer has created a Business Rule that runs on the 'After' order of the incident table. The Business Rule modifies several fields on the incident record. After testing, the developer notices that the changes are not being saved to the database. What is the most likely cause?

Medium
8

The business rule above does not set the urgency on new incidents created via web service when the caller's department is IT. What is the most likely reason?

Medium
9

The ACL is meant to allow users to read an incident only if they are the manager of the assigned user. However, users who are not managers can also read the incident. What is the flaw?

Hard
10

Which TWO statements about update sets are correct? (Choose two.)

Hard
11

A service catalog item has a variable set that includes a reference field to the 'cmdb_ci' table. The requirement is to show only 'Server' type CI's in the reference field. Which approach should be used?

Easy
12

An application scope includes a Business Rule that runs on the 'before' operation of the Incident table. It attempts to set the 'assignment_group' based on the caller's company. However, the assignment is not being applied. Which is the most likely cause?

Medium
13

Which THREE of the following are attributes of a Service Portal widget? (Choose three.)

Medium
14

A developer needs to display a warning message to the user when a specific field value changes on a form, but the record should still be savable. Which approach should be used?

Easy
15

A developer implements the above Business Rule on the 'incident' table. What is the effect of this script?

Hard
16

A developer is debugging an issue where a Script Action in a Flow Designer flow is not triggering. The flow is configured to run when a record is created or updated in the incident table. The Script Action is supposed to set a field based on a condition, but it never executes. What should the developer check first?

Hard
17

Which TWO are valid ways to create a new application scope in ServiceNow? (Choose two.)

Easy
18

A senior developer is troubleshooting a performance issue in a Production instance. The instance has a large number of Business Rules that run on the incident table. One particular Business Rule, 'Update CI Impact', runs on the 'After Update' order and performs a GlideRecord query on the cmdb_ci table based on the incident's configuration item (ci) field. The query uses a filter to find all CIs related to the same location as the incident. Recently, users have reported that saving an incident takes over 30 seconds. The developer suspects this Business Rule is the cause. The developer examines the script and finds it uses a synchronous GlideRecord query with no scoping on the query. The developer wants to minimize impact on performance without removing the functionality. Which approach should the developer take?

Hard
19

The data policy is intended to require short description when category changes during an update. However, the short description is never made mandatory. Which issue exists?

Easy
20

A developer wants to prevent users from closing an incident after it has been resolved for more than 30 days. Which approach should be used?

Easy
21

A business rule runs on 'before' and 'update' for the incident table. The rule sets the short_description to 'Test' only when the state changes to 'In Progress'. However, the short_description is being updated even when the state does not change. What is the most likely cause?

Medium
22

A developer needs to create a service catalog variable that allows the user to select multiple values from a predefined list. Which variable type should be used?

Easy
23

Which TWO of the following are valid ways to reference a sys_id of a record in a business rule? (Choose two.)

Easy
24

Match each ServiceNow access control rule (ACL) type to its function.

Medium
25

Which TWO of the following are types of UI Policies? (Choose two.)

Easy
26

The Business Rule above runs on the 'incident' table. It is set to run 'before' update. What is the most likely issue with this script?

Hard
27

Drag and drop the steps to create a new Catalog Item in ServiceNow into the correct order.

Medium
28

A developer needs to capture the time when a field (assigned_to) was last changed. Which approach should be used?

Medium
29

Which THREE of the following statements are true about ACLs? (Choose three.)

Hard
30

A developer wants to restrict access to a specific record in the incident table so that only members of the 'ITIL' group can read it. Which type of ACL should be created?

Easy
31

Which TWO of the following are true about client-callable script includes? (Choose two.)

Medium
32

A developer needs to create a scheduled job that runs every Monday at 8 AM to update all incidents with a priority of '1' that are still open. Which condition script should be used in the scheduled job?

Medium
33

A company has a custom table 'u_incident_task' that extends 'task'. The developer wants to add a field 'u_approval' that is a reference to 'sysapproval_approver'. Which method is the correct way to create this field?

Medium
34

A developer is troubleshooting a UI policy that sets a field to mandatory when another field equals 'Yes'. The UI policy works on desktop but not on the mobile app. What is the most likely cause?

Hard
35

A developer needs to ensure that a catalog variable of type 'Reference' displays only active users from the sys_user table. Which property configuration should be applied to the variable?

Easy
36

A company has a custom table 'u_asset' with a reference field 'u_location' pointing to 'cmn_location'. When a user changes the location on an asset record, the system must automatically update the location on all related 'u_asset_software' records. Which approach should the developer use?

Medium
37

What happens when a user changes the state from '2' to '1' on an incident record?

Easy
38

A developer is creating a new custom table for tracking software licenses. The table must inherit the core fields (sys_id, sys_created_by, etc.) and support extensibility for future sub-tables. Which base table should be used?

Easy
39

A scoped application includes a script include that is intended to be used by a business rule in the global scope. The script include is marked as 'Client callable: false' and 'Accessible from: This application only'. The business rule cannot call the script include. Which change fixes this?

Hard
40

Which TWO of the following are valid ways to personalize a Service Portal widget without modifying the original widget code?

Medium
41

A junior developer is creating a new catalog item for requesting software licenses. The catalog item includes several variables such as software name, quantity, and cost center. The business requires that when a user submits the request, the cost center variable should automatically populate with the cost center of the user's manager. The developer has written a script in the 'On Load' catalog client script to populate the cost center field. However, during testing, the cost center field remains empty after the form loads. The developer checks the script and finds it uses GlideAjax to call a Scripted REST API to fetch the manager's cost center. What is the most likely cause of the issue?

Easy
42

A company uses a custom application with a table 'incident_task' to track work on incidents. The requirement is to automatically reassign any incident_task that has not been updated in the last 7 days to a specific 'Escalation' group. A developer writes a Business Rule on the 'incident_task' table with the condition 'Current' table and runs on 'before query'. The script checks if (gs.daysAgo(current.sys_updated_on) >= 7) and then performs a current.assignment_group.setValue('escalation_group_sys_id'), followed by current.update(). After testing, the tasks are not being reassigned. What is the most likely cause of this issue?

Medium
43

A developer needs to create a catalog item that requires approval from the user's manager. What is the best practice to configure this?

Easy
44

A ServiceNow developer is working on a new application that requires a custom table to store project information. The table needs to have fields for project name, start date, end date, and project manager (reference to sys_user). The developer creates the table using the Application Creator and adds the fields. After creating the table, the developer wants to automatically generate a unique project ID in the format 'PROJ-00001' for each new record. The developer considers using a Business Rule with a script or a Default Value with a scripted function. Which approach would be the most efficient and maintainable for generating the project ID?

Easy
45

A developer reports that an after business rule on the Change Request table is running twice for each update. The business rule is not scheduled or async. Which is the most likely cause?

Hard
46

A developer creates a script include with client-callable true. The script include is used in a client script to validate a field. However, when the client script runs, it throws an error that GlideAjax is not defined. What is the most likely issue?

Hard
47

A developer implemented an ACL to restrict read access on the 'incident' table. The condition script checks if the user is a member of the 'incident_manager' group. However, users who are not in the group are still able to see incidents. What is the most likely reason?

Hard
48

A Script Include is defined as 'Scoped' and has 'Accessible from' set to 'All applications'. It contains a function that uses 'gs.getUser()'. When the Script Include is called from a Business Rule in a different application scope, what is the result?

Medium
49

A ServiceNow instance has a custom application for managing IT assets. The application uses a custom table 'u_asset' with fields: u_asset_tag (string), u_model (string), u_assignee (reference to sys_user), u_status (choice: In Use, In Stock, Retired). The application requires that when an asset is retired, the assignee field must be cleared. The developer created a Business Rule on the 'u_asset' table that runs before update. The script checks if the status changes to 'Retired' and sets the assignee to empty. However, the assignee is not being cleared when the status is changed to 'Retired'. The Business Rule is active and runs before update. What is the most likely cause?

Medium
50

Which TWO statements about ServiceNow UI Policies are true?

Medium
51

This ACL is configured to control read access on the 'incident' table. Under what condition will a user be allowed to read an incident record?

Hard
52

The exhibit shows an ACL condition script intended to allow read access to an incident only if the user has the 'itil' role and is a member of the incident's assignment group. However, users who are members of the assignment group but do not have the 'itil' role are still able to read the incident. What is the most likely problem?

Medium
53

The UI Policy has a 'Reverse if false' checkbox unchecked. When will the UI Policy's actions (such as setting a field mandatory) be applied?

Medium
54

An administrator sees that a client script on a catalog item is not firing. The script is defined in the catalog item's 'Variable Editor' as a 'onSubmit' script. Which is the most likely reason?

Easy
55

A company has implemented a custom application for tracking employee training. The application uses a custom table 'u_training' with fields: u_employee (reference to sys_user), u_course (string), u_completion_date (date), and u_status (choice: Not Started, In Progress, Completed). The application has a Business Rule that runs after insert and after update. The rule should send an email notification to the employee when the status changes to 'Completed'. However, the email is not being sent. The developer has verified that the notification record exists and is active. The Business Rule script uses the 'gs.eventQueue' method to trigger a custom event. The event is registered and the notification is configured to be triggered by that event. What is the most likely cause of the issue?

Hard
56

A company has a requirement that the 'state' field of an incident cannot be changed from 'In Progress' to 'Resolved' if the 'category' field is empty. This validation must be enforced server-side to prevent data integrity issues. Which implementation should be used?

Hard
57

A developer creates a Scheduled Job that runs daily and sends an email notification to a list of users. The job uses a Script Action to query the 'incident' table and sends an email if the count exceeds a threshold. However, the email is not being sent. What is the most likely cause?

Medium
58

A company is using ServiceNow for incident management. They have a business rule on the 'before update' of the incident table that automatically assigns the incident to the first available member of the 'Support' group when the state changes to 'New'. The business rule works correctly when an incident is first created with state 'New', but when an existing incident's state is changed to 'New' from another state, the assignment does not happen. The business rule script checks if current.state.changesTo('New') and then queries the group members. The group has multiple members. Other business rules that run on state changes work fine. What is the most likely cause?

Hard
59

Which THREE of the following are true about ACLs (Access Control Lists)? (Choose three.)

Hard
60

A developer needs to create a new application scope. Which of the following is a best practice when defining the scope?

Hard
61

A developer is designing a solution to allow users to request access to specific applications through a Service Catalog. Each application can be requested by multiple users, and each user can request multiple applications. The request must capture the user's business justification and the date needed. The developer needs to model the data. Which database schema design best adheres to ServiceNow best practices?

Hard
62

Which THREE are valid actions that can be performed by a Workflow Activity in Legacy Workflow Editor?

Easy
63

A company is expanding its use of ServiceNow and needs to create a custom application for managing employee onboarding tasks. The application includes several tables: Onboarding Request, Task, and Checklist Items. The business requires that when an onboarding request is submitted, a set of tasks should be automatically created in a specific order. Additionally, when all tasks are completed, the onboarding request status should automatically update to 'Completed'. The developer decides to use Flow Designer to automate this process. The developer creates a flow with a trigger on the Onboarding Request table for 'Record created or updated' and adds actions to create tasks. However, during testing, the flow creates tasks but does not update the request status when tasks are completed. What is the most likely issue?

Medium
64

Which TWO conditions must be met for a Scoped Application to access a table from another scope without using an access grant?

Hard
65

A developer needs to create a record in the 'task' table when a specific condition is met in a Business Rule. The new record should be linked back to the current record via a reference field. What is the best practice to ensure the new record is created in the same transaction?

Easy
66

A developer is creating a catalog item that requires a user to upload a file. Which variable type should be used?

Easy
67

A developer is optimizing a Business Rule that runs on every update to the 'incident' table. The rule uses GlideAggregate to count related records. The developer notices performance degradation. Which change will most improve performance while maintaining functionality?

Hard
68

A developer wants to send an email notification when a new incident is created. Which component should be configured to trigger the notification?

Easy

Frequently asked questions

What does the Core Application Development domain cover on the SNOW-CAD exam?
Core Application Development questions test whether you can apply the concept in context, not just recognise a definition.
How many questions are in this domain?
This page lists all 68 Core Application Development questions in the SNOW-CAD question bank. The actual exam draws from this domain proportionally to its weighting in the official exam blueprint.
What is the best way to practise this domain?
Start with a short focused session (10 questions) to identify gaps, then work through explanations. Repeat with a longer session once the weak areas feel solid.
Can I practise only Core Application Development questions?
Yes — the session launcher on this page filters questions to this domain only. Choose any session length for inline explanations and scoring.
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