If you’ve worked with ServiceNow for a while, you’ve probably heard about Integration Hub — or maybe you’ve even used it to connect ServiceNow with other systems. Whether you’re a developer, an admin, or just diving into ServiceNow, Integration Hub can feel like a bit of a black box at first. Let’s break it down and make sense of what it is, what it does, and why it’s such a powerful tool in the ServiceNow ecosystem.

What is Integration Hub?

At its core, ServiceNow Integration Hub is a framework designed to help you quickly and easily integrate ServiceNow with external systems — no custom code required. It’s built on top of Flow Designer, ServiceNow’s low-code automation platform, and it lets you plug in external services with prebuilt components called spokes.You can think of Integration Hub as the bridge between ServiceNow and the rest of your IT ecosystem — whether you’re talking to Slack, Microsoft Teams, Azure AD, AWS, or even a custom in-house API.

Understanding the Building Blocks

Spokes

A spoke is essentially a collection of reusable actions and data streams related to a specific application or system. For example, the Slack spoke includes actions like “Send Message,” “Create Channel,” and “Add User to Channel.”

Spokes are what make Integration Hub so approachable. Instead of building API calls from scratch, you just drag-and-drop prebuilt actions into your flow. Spokes are available out of the box from ServiceNow (and can also be custom-built), and they cover a wide range of popular platforms.

Flow Designer

This is the canvas where the magic happens. Flow Designer is ServiceNow’s no-code/low-code interface that lets you build workflows using a series of steps or “actions.” You can create flows that react to certain triggers — like a record being updated or a condition being met — and then execute a sequence of integration actions.Flow Designer is tightly integrated with Integration Hub, so you can include spoke actions right inside your workflows.

Actions

Actions are the individual building blocks within spokes. Each action performs a specific task — like making an API call or transforming data. Actions can be prebuilt (from spokes), or you can build your own custom actions to meet unique integration requirements.

Connections & Credentials

To connect with external systems, Integration Hub uses connection and credential aliases. These define the authentication details and endpoints for each system you’re integrating with. You can configure different types of authentication like OAuth 2.0, Basic Auth, or API keys depending on what the external system supports.

Integration Hub ETL (Enterprise)

If you’re working with large datasets, Integration Hub also includes ETL (Extract, Transform, Load) tools to help with data ingestion and transformation at scale. This is particularly useful for integrations with data-heavy systems like CMDB imports or HR platforms.

When Should You Use Integration Hub?

Integration Hub shines when you need to automate business processes that cross system boundaries. Some real-world use cases include:

Creating a Jira ticket when a ServiceNow incident is escalated

Notifying a user via Microsoft Teams when their access request is approved

Updating a CMDB with asset data from AWS or Azure

Automatically provisioning accounts in Active Directory or Okta

You can also extend the platform by creating custom spokes, which opens the door to integrating just about anything with an API.

Final Thoughts

ServiceNow’s Integration Hub isn’t just a toolkit for developers — it’s a game-changer for anyone looking to streamline processes and eliminate manual tasks. With its library of spokes, user-friendly Flow Designer interface, and scalable architecture, it makes complex integrations not just possible, but actually manageable.

Whether you’re connecting to cloud platforms, messaging tools, or legacy systems, Integration Hub gives you a solid foundation to automate intelligently and build a more connected enterprise.

Want to see it in action?

Demo: Slack integration with ServiceNow.

Step 1 – Install a spoke

Go to System Applications > All Available Applications > All

2. Search for “Slack Spoke”

3. Click Install and wait for the installation pto complete

Note: You can install other spokes similarly for Microsoft Teams, Jira, Azure, etc.

Step 2 – Configure Connection & Credentials

1. Navigate to IntegrationHub > Connections & Credentials > Connections

2. Click New to create a connection for Slack

3. Select Slack as the connection type

4. Enter the required details (like client ID, client secret, OAuth token) from your Slack App configuration

5. Save the connection

Now your ServiceNow instance can talk securely to Slack’s API.

Step 3- Build a Flow in Flow Designer

Let’s create a simple flow that posts a message to a Slack channel when a new incident is created in ServiceNow.

1. Navigate to Flow Designer (search “Flow Designer” in the application navigator)

2. Click New to create a new flow and name it “Notify Slack on Incident Creation”

3. Set the trigger:

Choose Table trigger

Select Incident table

Choose Record created event

4. Add an Action: Click + Add Action. Search for Slack actions (from the Slack spoke you installed)Select Post Message

Configure the action: Choose the Slack connection you created earlier. Specify the Slack channel ID or name where you want the message posted. Set the message text, e.g., “New incident created: ${incident.number} – ${incident.short_description}”6. Save the flow and Activate it

Step 4 – Test Your Flow

Check your Slack channel — you should see a message about the new incident appear automatically

Go to the Incident module and create a new incident record

Step 5 – Troubleshooting Tips

Use Flow Designer’s Test feature to simulate triggers and check outputs

Look at the Execution Details tab after a flow runs to see if any steps failed

Check connection credentials and ensure tokens/API keys haven’t expired

Use System Logs > Integration Logs to debug API call issues