Over the years, I’ve noticed many developers in the ServiceNow Community asking why gs.getProperty() doesn’t work when used inside a client‑callable Script Include, especially when that Script Include is triggered from a Report Filter Condition. 🤔

I faced the same issue a while back and was equally surprised by this limitation — so here’s a clear explanation and the workaround that saved the day! 💡

❗ The Challenge

When a Script Include is client‑callable and is invoked through a report filter condition, the script actually executes on the client side.

This means:

👉 gs.getProperty() ❌ does NOT work in this context

👉 Because gs = server-side GlideSystem

👉 And a client-callable Script Include runs partially on the client, causing gs methods to fail

✅ The Workaround That Works

Instead of using gs.getProperty(), you can:

🔍 Use GlideRecord to query the sys_properties table

Retrieve the property value like this:

var propValue = ""; var grProp = new GlideRecord("sys_properties"); grProp.addQuery("name", ""); grProp.query(); if (grProp.next()) { propValue = grProp.value.toString(); } // use this propValue now

This runs perfectly even when executed via a reporting filter condition. ✔️

📊 My Results

❌ Before

Using gs.getProperty() → No result returned

✅ After

Querying via GlideRecord → Property value returned successfully

🎉 Final Thoughts

This is a simple but important detail that can save you hours of debugging.

If you're working with reports + client-callable script includes, avoid gs.getProperty() and go with a GlideRecord lookup instead. 💪