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original_url: "https://jace.pro/blog/how-to-work-with-out-of-box-things/"
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How to work with Out of Box things# How to work with Out of Box things

April 17, 2018 [servicenow](/tags/servicenow/)

  Enable AI AnimationThis is something I’ve been told differently how to manage out of the box records. I go over the pros and cons of them here.

# [Ways to work with Out of Box things in ServiceNow](#ways-to-work-with-out-of-box-things-in-servicenow)

## [Jakarta and later](#jakarta-and-later)

You should always add comments why you are changing and out of box (oob) script and change as little as possible so when upgrading its clear what you changed and why its different.

With an update in Jakarta, the recommended approach is to update the OOB record with comments of why you’ve changed what you changed, so when you are comparing the upgraded version and the customized version its easy to see what you did and why you did it.

## [Pre-Jakara](#pre-jakara)

Knowing *why* things were updated in the past might help understand more.

### [Comment OOB and add comments](#comment-oob-and-add-comments)

Comment out code, and adding notes stating why you change it. This had the following pros/cons

ProsConsLeast amount of workUpgrade would show any changesNo referencing newly created scripts as new code is in oob record### [Inactive and make new](#inactive-and-make-new)

Inactivate if possible, then, Copy. This is hard to see if anything has been added to the OOB because deactivating doesn’t trigger a customer update.

ProsConsWould never get accidentally upgradedUpgrade will not show this as needing updatingMay require many updates to the newly created thing if its referenced all over.### [Comment OOB, add comments, inactive and make new](#comment-oob-add-comments-inactive-and-make-new)

Add Comment stating you are making a copy, inactivate it. Copy it. This will ensure the OOB thing comes up in a skipped update.

ProsConsWould never get accidentally upgradedYou still have to make a new thingUpdate difference still shows up so you can compareMay require lots of updates to the newly created thing if its referenced all over.## [Further Reading and Thanks](#further-reading-and-thanks)

[Resolving a skipped update](https://docs.servicenow.com/bundle/jakarta-platform-administration/page/customer-support/task/t_ResolveASkippedUpdate.html)

Thanks Andrew Barnes for the helpful input on this!

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[View this page on GitHub](https://github.com/jacebenson/jace.pro/tree/main/./src/posts/2018/2018-04-16-how-to-work-with-out-of-box-things.md).

[How to work with Out of Box things](https://jace.pro/blog/how-to-work-with-out-of-box-things/) [Jace Benson](https://jace.pro) ![Jace Benson](https://jace.pro/icon-512x512.png)

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*This content is from Jace Benson's ServiceNow and tech blog at jace.pro*
*Original post: https://jace.pro/blog/how-to-work-with-out-of-box-things/*