How to Get and Parse ServiceNow Journal Entries as Strings/HTML

I come across this question all the time in the ServiceNow community forums, and in the ServiceNow developer community [**Discord**](https://discord.snc.guru), [**Slack**](https://slack.snc.guru), and [**Telegram**](https://telegram.snc.guru) groups.

[ ](https://handbook.snc.guru)

“How do I get the last N journal entries from a record in ServiceNow, in a script?”
“How do I print the last N journal entries in my notification email or mail script in ServiceNow?”
“How do I parse journal entries for HTML so special characters and line-breaks will show up properly in HTML or an email?”

I’ve helped people create so many one-off solutions to these questions that it felt more efficient to, finally, just create a single function that can do it all!

It’s certainly not the most [monadic](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monad%5F%28functional%5Fprogramming%29) thing I’ve ever written, but it gets the job done. It’s also very well-documented so that if you want to know _how_ it works (which, if you’re using it, **you should**), you can read through the code and comments, and understand exactly what it’s doing!

Scroll down to see the code, information on how to add this free tool to your instance, and instructions for use.

# The code

# Usage

There are examples in the JSDoc above the function, which includes what it should output given a set of arguments, but I’ll reproduce them below so you can see them in-code:

```
//Example 1:

var arrWorkNotes;
var grInc = new GlideRecord('incident');
grInc.setLimit(1);
grInc.query();
if (grInc.next()) {
arrWorkNotes = getJournalEntries(
grInc,
'work_notes',
true,
true,
2
);
gs.info(JSON.stringify(arrWorkNotes, null, 2));
}
/* Output:
['2022-08-16 10:31:11 - Admin (Work notes)\nThis is an example journal entry
\n
\nwith a lot of
\nextraneous
\n
\n
\nline breaks.', '2022-08-16 10:30:58 - Admin (Work notes)\nThis is an example journal entry with
\nline breaks, and <HTML wokkas that> need to be converted to HTML.'];
*/

//Example 2:

function myFilterFunction(strJournalEntry) {
//Filter results: only include entries including this text, or less than 100 chars long
return (
strJournalEntry.includes('Some text to check for') ||
strJournalEntry.length < 100
);
}

var arrCommentsAndWorknotes = getJournalEntries(
current,
'comments_and_work_notes',
false,
false,
-1, //Get ALL journal entries
myFilterFunction
);
```

> “But what if I want the journal entries to show up in a **table** in the notification email/page/whatever?”

Okay sure fine; if you need an HTML table, you can pass the resulting array into this function:

```
function convertToTable(arrJournalEntries) {
var i, strJournalEntry;
var strHTMLTable = '';
var openTrTd = '';

if (!arrWorkNotes || arrWorkNotes.length < 1) {
return '';
var closeTrTd = '';
}

for (i = 0; i < arrJournalEntries.length; i++) {
strJournalEntry = arrJournalEntries[i];
strHTMLTable += openTrTd + strJournalEntry + closeTrTd;
}

strHTMLTable += '';
return strHTMLTable;
}
```

# Installation

You can add this to your instance so that it can be called from any server-side code (such as Mail Scripts or Business Rules) by creating a Script Include called “**getJournalEntries**”, and replacing all of the auto-generated code with [this code](https://gist.github.com/thisnameissoclever/03cb5aa05a12d7cec8fb4e979fc47b35).
Once that’s done, you can simply call getJournalEntries() from anywhere, and pass in the necessary arguments as described at the top of the function. The only _required_ arguments are the GlideRecord object you want to get the journal field values from, and a string with the name of the journal field you want to get the entries from.

Alternatively, you can simply import [**this XML file**](https://snprotips.com/s/retrieve-and-parse-journal-entries-for-html.xml) into your Script Includes table (sys\_script\_include).

---

## Subscribe

First Name Last Name

Email Address Sign Up

We respect your privacy.

Thank you!

---

* [ 2026](https://snprotips.com/blog?year=2026)
* Jan 8, 2026 [Flow Designer vs. Scripting - REST Message Performance](https://snprotips.com/blog/) Jan 8, 2026
* [ 2025](https://snprotips.com/blog?year=2025)
* Sep 29, 2025 [Find Filthy Inefficient Single-Record Queries FAST](https://snprotips.com/blog/) Sep 29, 2025
* Sep 14, 2025 [Communicating Changes to Your Users (& Setting Default User Preferences in ServiceNow)](https://snprotips.com/blog/) Sep 14, 2025
* Mar 24, 2025 [Calculate Distance Between Two Locations in ServiceNow (without an API call!)](https://snprotips.com/blog/) Mar 24, 2025
* Mar 11, 2025 [5 Ways to Check your ServiceNow Instance for DANGEROUS CODE in Less Than 5 minutes](https://snprotips.com/blog/) Mar 11, 2025
* [ 2024](https://snprotips.com/blog?year=2024)
* Mar 28, 2024 [How to Identify Duplicate Records by Multiple Fields in ServiceNow](https://snprotips.com/blog/) Mar 28, 2024
* Mar 7, 2024 [How to Merge Personal & Company ServiceNow Accounts](https://snprotips.com/blog/) Mar 7, 2024
* Feb 12, 2024 [5 Lessons About Programming From Richard Feynman](https://snprotips.com/blog/) Feb 12, 2024
* [ 2023](https://snprotips.com/blog?year=2023)
* Jul 5, 2023 [Managing Instance-Specific System Properties for Dev/Test/Prod in ServiceNow](https://snprotips.com/blog/) Jul 5, 2023
* Apr 28, 2023 [Your ACLs and Business Rules are Broken (Here's How to Fix Them)](https://snprotips.com/blog/) Apr 28, 2023
* [ 2022](https://snprotips.com/blog?year=2022)
* Dec 13, 2022 [ServiceNow Developers: BE THE GUIDE!](https://snprotips.com/blog/) Dec 13, 2022
* Oct 19, 2022 [A Faster, More Efficient Client-side GlideRecord (Free tool!)](https://snprotips.com/blog/) Oct 19, 2022
* Oct 9, 2022 [Animated Loading Message & Collapsible Details on ServiceNow Form or Field (Client-side)](https://snprotips.com/blog/) Oct 9, 2022
* Aug 23, 2022 [Using .addJoinQuery() & How to Query Records with Attachments in ServiceNow](https://snprotips.com/blog/) Aug 23, 2022
* Aug 18, 2022 [Free, Simple URL Shortener for ServiceNow Nerds (snc.guru)](https://snprotips.com/blog/) Aug 18, 2022
* Aug 16, 2022 [How to Get and Parse ServiceNow Journal Entries as Strings/HTML](https://snprotips.com/blog/) Aug 16, 2022
* Aug 14, 2022 [New tool: Get Latest Version of ServiceNow Docs Page](https://snprotips.com/blog/) Aug 14, 2022
* Mar 4, 2022 [How to Set or Change ServiceNow Application's Repository URL, Credentials, or SSH Key](https://snprotips.com/blog/) Mar 4, 2022
* Feb 7, 2022 [How to return a CSV file from a Scripted REST API (SRAPI) in ServiceNow](https://snprotips.com/blog/) Feb 7, 2022
* [ 2021](https://snprotips.com/blog?year=2021)
* May 3, 2021 [Adding a Guided Setup to Your ServiceNow Application](https://snprotips.com/blog/) May 3, 2021
* Apr 27, 2021 [Use Automated Tests to Validate "Guided Setup" Completion & Functionality.](https://snprotips.com/blog/) Apr 27, 2021
* Feb 11, 2021 ["Processors", SRAPIs, and How to Run a Script and Redirect a User From a URL in ServiceNow](https://snprotips.com/blog/) Feb 11, 2021
* [ 2020](https://snprotips.com/blog?year=2020)
* Nov 17, 2020 [SN Guys is now part of Jahnel Group!](https://snprotips.com/blog/) Nov 17, 2020
* Sep 14, 2020 [Better ServiceNow Notifications (& Another FREE Tool!)](https://snprotips.com/blog/) Sep 14, 2020
* Jul 31, 2020 [Debugging Client & Catalog Client Scripts in ServiceNow](https://snprotips.com/blog/) Jul 31, 2020
* Jan 20, 2020 [Getting Help from the ServiceNow Community](https://snprotips.com/blog/) Jan 20, 2020
* [ 2019](https://snprotips.com/blog?year=2019)
* Dec 18, 2019 [Can ServiceNow Script Includes Use the "current" Variable?](https://snprotips.com/blog/) Dec 18, 2019
* Nov 18, 2019 [Handling 'text/plain' and Other Unsupported Content Types in ServiceNow Scripted REST APIs](https://snprotips.com/blog/) Nov 18, 2019
* Apr 21, 2019 [Understanding Attachments in ServiceNow](https://snprotips.com/blog/) Apr 21, 2019
* Apr 10, 2019 [Using Custom Search Engines in Chrome to Quickly Navigate ServiceNow](https://snprotips.com/blog/) Apr 10, 2019
* Apr 4, 2019 [Set Catalog Variables from URL Params (Free tool)](https://snprotips.com/blog/) Apr 4, 2019
* Apr 1, 2019 [Outlook for Android Breaks Email Approvals (+Solution)](https://snprotips.com/blog/) Apr 1, 2019
* Mar 11, 2019 [GlideFilter is Broken - Free Tool: “BetterGlideFilter”](https://snprotips.com/blog/) Mar 11, 2019
* Feb 27, 2019 [Making Update Sets Smarter - Free Tool](https://snprotips.com/blog/) Feb 27, 2019
* [ 2018](https://snprotips.com/blog?year=2018)
* Nov 29, 2018 [How to Learn ServiceNow](https://snprotips.com/blog/) Nov 29, 2018
* Nov 6, 2018 [ServiceNow & ITSM as a Career?](https://snprotips.com/blog/) Nov 6, 2018
* Oct 19, 2018 [Asynchronous onSubmit Catalog/Client Scripts in ServiceNow](https://snprotips.com/blog/) Oct 19, 2018
* Oct 11, 2018 [How to do Massive, Slow Database Operations Efficiently With Event-Driven Recursion](https://snprotips.com/blog/) Oct 11, 2018
* Sep 18, 2018 [Broken Queries & Query Business Rules in ServiceNow](https://snprotips.com/blog/) Sep 18, 2018
* Sep 7, 2018 [JournalRedactor - Easily Redact or Delete Journal Entries in ServiceNow!](https://snprotips.com/blog/) Sep 7, 2018
* Jul 23, 2018 [Admin Duty Separation with a Single Account](https://snprotips.com/blog/) Jul 23, 2018
* Jun 19, 2018 [Improving Performance on Older Instances with Table Rotation](https://snprotips.com/blog/) Jun 19, 2018
* Jun 4, 2018 [New Free Tool: Login Link Generator](https://snprotips.com/blog/) Jun 4, 2018
* May 29, 2018 [Learning ServiceNow: Second Edition!](https://snprotips.com/blog/) May 29, 2018
* Apr 17, 2018 [Upgrading From Express to Enterprise: What's Missing](https://snprotips.com/blog/) Apr 17, 2018
* Apr 12, 2018 [If a Genie Gave Me Three Wishes, I'd Use Them All to "Fix" Scope](https://snprotips.com/blog/) Apr 12, 2018
* Mar 19, 2018 [Service Catalog "Try in Portal" button](https://snprotips.com/blog/) Mar 19, 2018
* Mar 15, 2018 [Video: Custom Output Transition Conditions From a Single Workflow (Script) Activity](https://snprotips.com/blog/) Mar 15, 2018
* Feb 11, 2018 [We have a new book! ](https://snprotips.com/blog/) Feb 11, 2018
* [ 2017](https://snprotips.com/blog?year=2017)
* Nov 6, 2017 [Requiring Attachments (& Other Miracles) in Service Portal](https://snprotips.com/blog/) Nov 6, 2017
* Sep 12, 2017 [Handling TimeZones in ServiceNow (TimeZoneUtil)](https://snprotips.com/blog/) Sep 12, 2017
* Jul 27, 2017 [How to Enable DOM Manipulation in ServiceNow Service Portal Catalog Client Scripts](https://snprotips.com/blog/) Jul 27, 2017
* Jun 25, 2017 [What's New in ServiceNow: Jakarta (Pt. 1)](https://snprotips.com/blog/) Jun 25, 2017
* Jun 4, 2017 [Powerful Scripted Text Search in ServiceNow](https://snprotips.com/blog/) Jun 4, 2017
* May 9, 2017 [Work at Lightspeed: ServiceNow's Plan for World Domination](https://snprotips.com/blog/) May 9, 2017
* Apr 9, 2017 [Avoiding Pass-By-Reference Using getValue() & setValue()](https://snprotips.com/blog/) Apr 9, 2017
* Apr 4, 2017 ["Learning ServiceNow" is Now Available for Purchase!](https://snprotips.com/blog/) Apr 4, 2017
* Mar 12, 2017 [reCAPTCHA in ServiceNow CMS/Service Portal](https://snprotips.com/blog/) Mar 12, 2017
* [ 2016](https://snprotips.com/blog?year=2016)
* Dec 20, 2016 [Pro Tip: Use updateMultiple() for Maximum Efficiency! ](https://snprotips.com/blog/) Dec 20, 2016
* Dec 2, 2016 [We're Writing a Book! ](https://snprotips.com/blog/) Dec 2, 2016
* Nov 10, 2016 [Chrome Extension: Load in ServiceNow Frame](https://snprotips.com/blog/) Nov 10, 2016
* Sep 7, 2016 [Force-Include Any Record Into an Update Set](https://snprotips.com/blog/) Sep 7, 2016
* Sep 1, 2016 [GlideRecord Pagination - Page through your GlideRecord query](https://snprotips.com/blog/) Sep 1, 2016
* Jul 17, 2016 [Granting Temporary Roles/Groups in ServiceNow](https://snprotips.com/blog/) Jul 17, 2016
* Jul 15, 2016 [Scripted REST APIs & Retrieving RITM Variables via SRAPI](https://snprotips.com/blog/) Jul 15, 2016
* May 17, 2016 [What's New in Helsinki?](https://snprotips.com/blog/) May 17, 2016
* Apr 27, 2016 [Customizing UI16 Through CSS and System Properties](https://snprotips.com/blog/) Apr 27, 2016
* Apr 5, 2016 [ServiceNow Versions: Express Vs. Enterprise](https://snprotips.com/blog/) Apr 5, 2016
* Mar 28, 2016 [Update Set Collision Avoidance Tool: V2](https://snprotips.com/blog/) Mar 28, 2016
* Mar 18, 2016 [ServiceNow: What's New in Geneva & UI16 (Pt. 2)](https://snprotips.com/blog/) Mar 18, 2016
* Feb 22, 2016 [Reference Field Auto-Complete Attributes](https://snprotips.com/blog/) Feb 22, 2016
* Feb 6, 2016 [GlideRecord & GlideAjax: Client-Side Vs. Server-Side](https://snprotips.com/blog/) Feb 6, 2016
* Feb 1, 2016 [Make Your Log Entries Easier to Find](https://snprotips.com/blog/) Feb 1, 2016
* Jan 29, 2016 [A Better, One-Click Approval](https://snprotips.com/blog/) Jan 29, 2016
* Jan 25, 2016 [Quickly Move Changes Between Update Sets](https://snprotips.com/blog/) Jan 25, 2016
* Jan 20, 2016 [Customize the Reference Icon Pop-up](https://snprotips.com/blog/) Jan 20, 2016
* Jan 7, 2016 [ServiceNow: Geneva & UI16 - What's new](https://snprotips.com/blog/) Jan 7, 2016
* Jan 4, 2016 [Detect/Prevent Update Set Conflicts Before They Happen](https://snprotips.com/blog/) Jan 4, 2016
* [ 2015](https://snprotips.com/blog?year=2015)
* Dec 28, 2015 [SN101: Boolean logic and ServiceNow's Condition Builder](https://snprotips.com/blog/) Dec 28, 2015
* Dec 17, 2015 [Locate any record in any table, by sys\_id in ServiceNow](https://snprotips.com/blog/) Dec 17, 2015
* Dec 16, 2015 [Detecting Duplicate Records with GlideAggregate](https://snprotips.com/blog/) Dec 16, 2015
* Dec 11, 2015 [Array.indexOf() not working in ServiceNow - Solution! ](https://snprotips.com/blog/) Dec 11, 2015
* Dec 2, 2015 [Understanding Dynamic Filters & Checking a Record Against a Filter Using GlideFilter](https://snprotips.com/blog/) Dec 2, 2015
* Oct 20, 2015 [Bookmarklet: Load the current page in the ServiceNow frame](https://snprotips.com/blog/) Oct 20, 2015
* Aug 27, 2015 [Easily Clone One User's Access to Another User](https://snprotips.com/blog/) Aug 27, 2015