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now-sdk-explain

Included with Lifetime
$97 forever

Use whenever the user mentions fluent, ServiceNow, or the now-sdk, OR when the user prompts for edits within a fluent application (identified by a now.config.json at the project root). Fetches SDK documentation via now-sdk explain — covers API types, metadata conventions, skills, and project structure. Pass a topic to read it directly, or omit to browse available topics.

Backend & APIs

What this skill does



## Usage

IMPORTANT: _Never_ open a full topic without first viewing the summary via the `--peek` option! This will prevent you from accidentally opening the wrong topic and wasting context space.

To show all available topics with their related tags:
```bash
npx @servicenow/sdk explain --list --format=raw
```

To search for topics, showing the descriptions of all matches:
```bash
npx @servicenow/sdk explain <topic> --list --peek --format=raw
```

To preview topics using the `--peek` option:
```bash
npx @servicenow/sdk explain <topic> --peek --format=raw
```

Once you are certain you want to read the full topic, open it like this:
```bash
npx @servicenow/sdk explain <topic> --format=raw
```

## What to Search for

- **Metadata types** — `BusinessRule`, `Table`, `Acl`, `Flow`, `ScriptInclude`, `ClientScript`
- **Skills** — workflows like `build`, `transform`, `deploy`, `auth`
- **Conventions** — `naming`, `structure`, `scoping`, `file-layout`

## Prerequisite knowledge and guidelines

- The first time this skill is invoked in a session, please familiarize yourself with general fluent development by reading everything under `npx @servicenow/sdk explain quickstart --list --format=raw`. 
- Always use the `npx @servicenow/sdk` cli commands whenever possible to create, build, and deploy fluent projects.
- If the `npx @servicenow/sdk explain` command fails, check the version of the SDK and upgrade if necessary- `explain` is **mandatory** for this skill and only available in versions >= `4.6.0`

## For any task — always start here

- Start by searching for topics using `npx @servicenow/sdk explain <search-term> --list --format=raw`. 
- Continue by reading the relevant topics, always using `npx @servicenow/sdk explain <topic> --peek --format=raw`, to preview the description before committing to read the full topic. 
- Provided the description is relevant, continue to read the full topic using `npx @servicenow/sdk explain <topic> --format=raw`.
- Many items are spread out across multiple topics. As such, it is very important to read all relevant topics before making any changes.

## If a now-sdk command fails

- `No documentation found for "<topic>"` — wrong topic name, try `--list`
- `No match for "<topic>"` — use a different search term

Related in Backend & APIs