REST API Series · Post 1
The Account API is a stripped-down Table API for CSM accounts. Different defaults, copy-pasted error messages, and a plugin dependency that trips up teams silently.
What it does
GET /api/now/account — retrieves CSM account records from customer_account with pagination and query support. GET /api/now/account/{id} — retrieves one account by sys_id. Two read-only endpoints. No POST, PUT, or DELETE.
Minimum viable example
curl "https://YOUR_INSTANCE.service-now.com/api/now/account\
?sysparm_limit=5\
&sysparm_query=customer=true" \
--request GET \
--header "Accept:application/json" \
--user 'admin':'password'Returns up to five customer accounts. The response includes a hasMore boolean — when true, increment sysparm_offset by sysparm_limit and repeat.
Five gotchas
Default limit is 10, not 100. The Table API defaults sysparm_limit based on glide.rest.max_result_count. The Account API hardcodes the default to 10. Skip setting it explicitly and your integration silently returns partial data.
Read-only. No create, update, or delete. Need to write account records? Use the Table API against customer_account directly.
The 404 says “case” not “account.” The docs for GET /api/now/account/{id} state the 404 means “Requested case doesn’t exist.” Copy-paste from the Case API. The endpoint works — the message is wrong.
Both customer and partner default to false. A new account with no flags set is neither customer nor partner. Filter logic that assumes one or the other will miss these records.
No plugin, no endpoint. Requires com.sn_customerservice and the csm_ws_integration role. Without CSM, the endpoint returns a 404 with no useful error. Verify the plugin is active before building against this API, especially across multi-instance setups.
When to use it
Read-only CSM integrations — portals, dashboards, BI tools pulling account metadata. Cleaner response shape than raw Table API on customer_account.
When not to use it
When you need writes, when CSM isn’t installed, or when you need dot-walked fields from related tables in one call.
Next in the series: ActivitySubscriptions API — the notification system most teams don’t know exists.
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