Extract obligations from contract documents including deadlines, deliverables, payment terms, SLA commitments, and termination conditions with compliance tracking
Extract obligations from contract documents including deadlines, deliverables, payment terms, SLA commitments, and termination conditions with compliance tracking
This skill provides a structured approach to extracting and tracking contractual obligations in ServiceNow Legal Service Delivery. It helps you:
Parse contract documents from ast_contract and linked sys_attachment records to identify all binding obligations
Categorize obligations by type: deliverables, payment terms, SLA commitments, reporting requirements, termination conditions, and compliance mandates
Extract specific deadlines, milestones, and recurring obligation schedules
Create trackable legal tasks in sn_legal_task for each obligation with due dates and owners
Build an obligation register for portfolio-wide compliance monitoring
Monitor obligation compliance status and generate variance reports
When to use: After contract execution to set up obligation tracking, during contract audits to verify compliance, when onboarding a new vendor relationship, or when preparing for contract renewal negotiations.
Plugin required:com.sn_legal_service_delivery
Prerequisites
Roles:sn_legal_case_user, sn_legal_case_manager, contract_manager, or sn_legal_admin
Access: Read/write access to ast_contract, sn_legal_task, sn_legal_case, and sys_attachment tables
Knowledge: Understanding of contract structures, obligation types, and your organization's compliance tracking requirements
Plugin: Legal Service Delivery (com.sn_legal_service_delivery) must be activated
Procedure
Step 1: Retrieve the Contract Record and Documents
Fetch the contract metadata and associated document attachments.
# Get contract record
GET /api/now/table/ast_contract/[contract_sys_id]?sysparm_fields=sys_id,number,short_description,contract_type,vendor,starts,ends,renewal_date,payment_amount,payment_terms,total_cost,state,terms_and_conditions,auto_renew,notice_period,assigned_to,department&sysparm_display_value=true# Get attachments
GET /api/now/table/sys_attachment?sysparm_query=table_name=ast_contract^table_sys_id=[contract_sys_id]&sysparm_fields=sys_id,file_name,content_type,size_bytes,sys_created_on&sysparm_limit=20
# Download contract document
GET /api/now/attachment/[attachment_sys_id]/file
Step 2: Retrieve Existing Terms and Conditions
If Contract Lifecycle Management is active, query linked terms.
GET /api/now/table/clm_m2m_contract_and_terms?sysparm_query=contract=[contract_sys_id]&sysparm_fields=sys_id,contract,terms_and_conditions,state&sysparm_limit=50
GET /api/now/table/clm_terms_and_conditions?sysparm_query=sys_idIN[terms_sys_ids]&sysparm_fields=sys_id,name,description,category,obligation_type,obligation_owner,due_date,frequency,status&sysparm_limit=50&sysparm_display_value=true
Step 3: Extract Obligations by Category
Parse the contract text and categorize each obligation:
3a. Payment Obligations
Field
What to Extract
Example
Amount
Dollar value per payment
$25,000/month
Frequency
Payment schedule
Monthly, quarterly, annual
Net Terms
Days until payment due
Net 30, Net 45, Net 60
Late Fees
Penalty for late payment
1.5% per month on overdue
Escalation
Annual price increase
3% annual escalation
True-up
Usage reconciliation
Quarterly true-up for overages
Milestone Payments
Deliverable-triggered
30% at kickoff, 40% at UAT, 30% at go-live
3b. Deliverable Obligations
Field
What to Extract
Example
Deliverable
What must be provided
Monthly security audit report
Owner
Party responsible
Vendor / Client
Due Date
When due
15th of each month
Acceptance Criteria
How measured
Per Exhibit B specifications
Cure Period
Time to fix deficiencies
10 business days
3c. SLA Commitments
Field
What to Extract
Example
Metric
SLA measurement
System uptime
Target
Required level
99.95% monthly
Measurement Period
Window
Calendar month
Credit
Remedy for miss
5% credit per 0.1% below target
Exclusions
What is excluded
Scheduled maintenance windows
Chronic Failure
Repeated misses
3 consecutive misses = termination right
3d. Compliance and Reporting
Field
What to Extract
Example
Report
Required reporting
SOC 2 Type II audit report
Frequency
How often
Annually
Deadline
When due
Within 90 days of audit period end
Certification
Required certs
ISO 27001, SOC 2, HITRUST
Data Handling
Privacy requirements
GDPR DPA, data residency in EU
Breach Notification
Incident reporting
Within 72 hours of discovery
3e. Termination Conditions
Field
What to Extract
Example
For Cause
Triggers
Material breach uncured after 30 days
For Convenience
Notice required
90 days written notice
Wind-down
Transition period
6-month transition assistance
Data Return
Post-termination
Return all data within 30 days
Survival
Surviving clauses
Sections 7, 8, 12, 15 survive
Step 4: Create an Obligation Register
Build a consolidated obligation register by creating legal tasks for each extracted obligation.
Using MCP:
Tool: SN-Create-Record
Parameters:
table_name: sn_legal_task
fields:
short_description: "Payment obligation - Monthly license fee $25,000"
description: |
Contract: [contract_number]
Vendor: [vendor_name]
Obligation Type: Payment
Amount: $25,000
Frequency: Monthly
Due: 1st of each month
Net Terms: Net 30
Late Fee: 1.5% per month
Contract Reference: Section 4.1
legal_case: [case_sys_id]
priority: 3
task_type: obligation_tracking
assigned_to: [finance_contact_sys_id]
due_date: [next_payment_date]
state: 1
Repeat for each obligation category. Example for SLA tracking:
GET /api/now/table/sn_legal_task?sysparm_query=legal_case.legal_matter=[matter_sys_id]^task_type=obligation_tracking^ORDERBYdue_date&sysparm_fields=sys_id,number,short_description,state,due_date,assigned_to,priority,work_notes&sysparm_limit=100&sysparm_display_value=true
Document the full obligation register and compliance status.
Using MCP:
Tool: SN-Add-Work-Notes
Parameters:
table_name: sn_legal_case
sys_id: [case_sys_id]
work_notes: |
=== OBLIGATION EXTRACTION REPORT ===
Contract: [contract_number] - [short_description]
Vendor: [vendor_name]
Effective: [start_date] to [end_date]
Analyst: AI Obligation Analyst
Date: [current_date]
OBLIGATION SUMMARY:
Total Obligations Extracted: [total_count]
- Payment: [payment_count]
- Deliverables: [deliverable_count]
- SLA Commitments: [sla_count]
- Compliance/Reporting: [compliance_count]
- Termination Conditions: [termination_count]
PAYMENT OBLIGATIONS:
1. Monthly license fee: $25,000 due 1st of month (Net 30)
2. Annual support fee: $50,000 due January 15
3. Quarterly true-up: Variable, due 15th after quarter end
Total Annual Financial Commitment: $350,000 + overages
DELIVERABLE OBLIGATIONS:
1. Monthly security report: Due 15th of each month (Vendor)
2. Quarterly business review: Due within 30 days of quarter end (Mutual)
3. Annual SOC 2 report: Due within 90 days of audit period (Vendor)
SLA COMMITMENTS:
1. System uptime: 99.95% monthly (5% credit per 0.1% miss)
2. Support response: P1 within 1 hour, P2 within 4 hours
3. Data backup: Daily with 4-hour RPO
KEY DEADLINES:
| Date | Obligation | Owner | Task # |
|------|-----------|-------|--------|
| Monthly 1st | License payment | Client | LT0012345 |
| Monthly 15th | Security report | Vendor | LT0012346 |
| Quarterly | Business review | Mutual | LT0012347 |
| 2026-12-01 | Renewal notice deadline | Client | LT0012348 |
COMPLIANCE STATUS:
- On Track: [on_track_count] obligations
- At Risk: [at_risk_count] obligations
- Overdue: [overdue_count] obligations
RECOMMENDED ACTIONS:
1. Configure automated reminders for payment due dates
2. Assign SLA monitoring to service delivery team
3. Calendar renewal notice deadline 90 days before expiration
4. Schedule quarterly obligation compliance review
Step 7: Update Contract with Obligation Metadata
Record obligation extraction results on the contract record.
Using MCP:
Tool: SN-Update-Record
Parameters:
table_name: ast_contract
sys_id: [contract_sys_id]
data:
work_notes: "Obligation extraction completed. [total_count] obligations identified and tracked. See legal case [case_number] for full register. Next review: [next_review_date]."
Using REST API:
PATCH /api/now/table/ast_contract/[contract_sys_id]
Content-Type: application/json
{
"work_notes": "Obligation extraction completed. 14 obligations identified and tracked across 5 categories."
}
Tool Usage
MCP Tools Reference
Tool
When to Use
SN-NL-Search
Find contracts by vendor, type, or obligation keywords
SN-Query-Table
Query contracts, tasks, terms, and attachments
SN-Read-Record
Retrieve a specific contract record
SN-Create-Record
Create obligation tracking tasks
SN-Update-Record
Update contract metadata and task status
SN-Add-Work-Notes
Document the obligation register and compliance reports
REST API Reference
Endpoint
Method
Purpose
/api/now/table/ast_contract
GET
Query contract records
/api/now/table/ast_contract/{sys_id}
GET/PATCH
Read or update a contract
/api/now/table/sn_legal_task
GET/POST
Query or create obligation tasks
/api/now/table/sn_legal_case
GET
Query associated legal cases
/api/now/table/sys_attachment
GET
Retrieve contract attachments
/api/now/attachment/{sys_id}/file
GET
Download contract documents
/api/now/table/clm_terms_and_conditions
GET
Query CLM terms records
Best Practices
Be exhaustive: Extract every obligation, not just the obvious ones; minor reporting obligations often cause compliance failures
Assign owners: Every obligation must have a named responsible party, not just a department
Lead time: Set task due dates with sufficient lead time before the actual contractual deadline (e.g., 5 business days before)
Recurring obligations: For monthly or quarterly obligations, create a master task and use ServiceNow scheduled jobs to generate recurring child tasks
Two-way obligations: Track obligations that bind your organization separately from those that bind the vendor
Version awareness: Re-extract obligations whenever a contract amendment or change order is executed
Link to source: Always reference the specific contract section number in the obligation description for traceability
Financial impact: Tag each obligation with its financial impact to support budgeting and accruals
Troubleshooting
"Cannot find obligation-related fields on ast_contract"
Cause: Standard ast_contract may not have obligation-specific fields; these may be in CLM extension tables
Solution: Check clm_terms_and_conditions and clm_m2m_contract_and_terms for structured obligation data. Query sys_dictionary with nameLIKEclm^elementLIKEobligation to find relevant fields.
"Duplicate obligations detected"
Cause: The same obligation may appear in multiple contract sections or amendments
Solution: Before creating a new obligation task, query existing tasks: sn_legal_task with legal_case=[case_sys_id]^short_descriptionLIKE[obligation_keyword] to check for duplicates.
"Recurring obligation tasks not generating"
Cause: Scheduled job for recurring task creation is not configured
Solution: Create a scheduled script execution on sn_legal_task that clones recurring obligation tasks based on frequency field. Check sysauto_script for existing obligation-related jobs.
"Unable to parse contract attachment"
Cause: Contract document is in a scanned PDF or image format without OCR
Solution: Use ServiceNow Document Intelligence (com.sn_doc_intelligence) to perform OCR extraction. See the document/document-extraction skill for configuration steps.
