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Release: Australia · Updated: 2026-03-12 · Official documentation · View source

Run on-demand scans

You can initiate some scan types on-demand to run whenever they are required.

You can initiate the following scan types on-demand.

Scan typeDescription
Application scansScan in-development applications to identify definition findings before publishing to the application repository. Application scans give insight into health scores, the number of findings, and the total impact of findings within your custom applications. Note: View application health scores in the Application Health dashboard by navigating to ALL > Impact > Platform Health > Application Health. Health scores are calculated based on finding severity, count, and policy impact.
Limited definition scans Scan your instance against a single specified definition or definition suite.
Update set scans Scan open update sets for findings to get insights into what you are importing and exporting across your environments. 
Instance scans Scan your ServiceNow instance for findings. These scans return the findings and store them in the Opens Findings table.  Note: Only users with the Scan Engine Admin role can initiate instance scans.

Scheduled instance scans can be executed immediately using the Execute Now action, but they cannot bypass their configured schedule settings. Real-time scans run automatically during record saves and cannot be manually triggered.

Note: The Scan Engine integrates with certain development tools, such as App Engine Studio, ServiceNow Studio, and script editors. It scans business rules, script includes, UI scripts, client scripts, ACLs, record producers, and other script-containing records in real-time as they are saved.

Scans are initiated in different ways. They run using the Scan Engine properties you configured.

For more information, see Configure Scan Engine properties and Configure definition properties.

  • Initiate application scans
    Scan applications to identify definition findings before publishing to the application repository. Application scans give insight into health scores, the number of findings, and the total impact of findings within your custom applications. 
  • Initiate update set scans
    You can scan open update sets for findings to get insights into what you are importing and exporting across your environments. 
  • Initiate instance scans
    You can scan your ServiceNow instance for findings.
  • Initiate limited definition scans
    You can scan individual definitions or suites of definitions on-demand.

Parent Topic:Run your first scan with the Scan Engine

Related topics

Full and delta instance scans

Initiate and manage scans