Policy components in ServiceNow Arc

concept australia Updated Sep 29, 2026 1 min read policy-components-cowork.md

A ServiceNow Arc policy has seven components, each controlling a different part of what the agent can do.

Each component is a separate record that you link to a policy from its tab on the policy record.

Default policy components

Every instance includes the Default Policy. It's active, applies to all users, and has values for all seven components.

Component	Tab	Table	What it controls
Tool gates	Policy Tool Gates	sn_app_cowork_tool_gate	Sets each tool to Allow, Deny, HITL, or Auto.
Approval patterns	Policy Patterns	sn_app_cowork_approval_pattern	Defines which commands need a human decision, and whether the decision can be remembered (soft gate) or must be made every time (hard gate).
Network rules	Policy Network Rules	sn_app_cowork_network_rule	Lists the hosts and ports the sandbox can reach. Anything not on the allowlist is unreachable.
Sandbox rules	Policy Sandbox Rules	sn_app_cowork_sandbox_rule	Sets the sandbox filesystem boundary and network permissions for individual binaries. Rules can restrict access further but can't loosen the built in protection of credential paths and system directories.
File type rules	Policy File Type Rules	sn_app_cowork_file_type_rule	Sets read, write, or deny access for each file extension.
Connector scopes	Policy Connector Scopes	sn_app_cowork_connector_scope	Turns OAuth scopes on or off for each connector. Microsoft 365 is supported. By default, read scopes are on and send and write scopes are off. To require user approval before the action runs, select Approval gate on the linked scope. New write scopes require approval by default.
Capabilities	Capability Overrides	sn_app_cowork_capability, sn_app_cowork_capability_override	Feature switches and numeric limits, such as subagents, auto approval, the feedback URL, and MCP override. Overrides change a capability's value for the users a policy covers.

For how each tool gate setting handles an action, see Action approval flow in ServiceNow Arc.

Parent Topic:Policy management and governance in ServiceNow Arc

Keywords policy componentstool gatesapproval patternsnetwork rulessandbox rulesfile type rulesconnector scopescapabilities

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---
title: Policy components in ServiceNow Arc
description: A ServiceNow Arc policy has seven components, each controlling a different part of what the agent can do.
locale: en-US
canonical_url: https://www.servicenow.com/docs/r/australia/application-development/policy-components-cowork.html
release: australia
topic_type: concept
last_updated: "2026-09-29"
reading_time_minutes: 1
keywords: [policy components, tool gates, approval patterns, network rules, sandbox rules, file type rules, connector scopes, capabilities]
breadcrumb: [Policy management and governance in ServiceNow Arc, Explore, ServiceNow Arc, Extend, AI Workflow Factory Prime, Agentic app development, Building applications]
---

# Policy components in ServiceNow Arc

A ServiceNow Arc policy has seven components, each controlling a different part of what the agent can do.

Each component is a separate record that you link to a policy from its tab on the policy record.

## Default policy components

Every instance includes the **Default Policy**. It's active, applies to all users, and has values for all seven components.

|Component|Tab|Table|What it controls|
|---------|---|-----|----------------|
|Tool gates|**Policy Tool Gates**|sn\_app\_cowork\_tool\_gate|Sets each tool to **Allow**, **Deny**, **HITL**, or **Auto**.|
|Approval patterns|**Policy Patterns**|sn\_app\_cowork\_approval\_pattern|Defines which commands need a human decision, and whether the decision can be remembered \(soft gate\) or must be made every time \(hard gate\).|
|Network rules|**Policy Network Rules**|sn\_app\_cowork\_network\_rule|Lists the hosts and ports the sandbox can reach. Anything not on the allowlist is unreachable.|
|Sandbox rules|**Policy Sandbox Rules**|sn\_app\_cowork\_sandbox\_rule|Sets the sandbox filesystem boundary and network permissions for individual binaries. Rules can restrict access further but can't loosen the built in protection of credential paths and system directories.|
|File type rules|**Policy File Type Rules**|sn\_app\_cowork\_file\_type\_rule|Sets read, write, or deny access for each file extension.|
|Connector scopes|**Policy Connector Scopes**|sn\_app\_cowork\_connector\_scope|Turns OAuth scopes on or off for each connector. Microsoft 365 is supported. By default, read scopes are on and send and write scopes are off. To require user approval before the action runs, select **Approval gate** on the linked scope. New write scopes require approval by default.|
|Capabilities|**Capability Overrides**|sn\_app\_cowork\_capability, sn\_app\_cowork\_capability\_override|Feature switches and numeric limits, such as subagents, auto approval, the feedback URL, and MCP override. Overrides change a capability's value for the users a policy covers.|

For how each tool gate setting handles an action, see [Action approval flow in ServiceNow Arc](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ServiceNow/ServiceNowDocs/australia/markdown/australia/application-development/action-approval-flow-cowork.md).

**Parent Topic:**[Policy management and governance in ServiceNow Arc](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ServiceNow/ServiceNowDocs/australia/markdown/australia/application-development/policy-management-cowork.md)