Remediate stale CIs using the CMDB Staleness Agent
Use the CMDB Staleness Agent from the Data Foundations advisor dashboard to review and remediate flagged CIs.
Before you begin
Role required: sn_cmdb_editor, plus now_assist_panel_user, to use Ask Otto. A user with fewer roles can use a different action from the same panel; see the following steps.
About this task
The staleness agentic workflow evaluates CIs against the staleness thresholds defined in the CI Class Manager and groups them by recommended action.
The workflow uses activity signals, such as events, incidents, and changes, to determine whether a CI is still in use. This applies even if the CI has not been recently discovered. CIs with recent activity are excluded from retirement recommendations.
This action is separate from the Remediation actions panel reached from the KPI Details page. The Duplicate CIs card on the same dashboard has a separate Ask Otto action for the CMDB Duplicate CIs Agent, which is part of the Feature Preview Program. For more information, see Feature Preview Program.
For more information on why CIs is set to stale, see Stale CI remediation using the staleness agentic workflow.
Procedure
-
Open CMDB success advisor and select View insights for Data Foundations.
The Data Foundations advisor dashboard opens.
-
On the dashboard, locate the Stale CIs card.
-
Select the available action on the card.
- If you hold sn_cmdb_editor and the ServiceNow Otto panel user role, and the agent is available, select Ask Otto [Omitted image "ask-otto-blue.png"] on the card.
- If the required role or the agent isn't available, select Review policies instead.
- If you hold only the CMDB success advisor scope-user role, select Learn more. Selecting Ask Otto opens a new ServiceNow Otto panel conversation with the CMDB Staleness Agent. The other actions open the related record or article instead.
-
Set up a retirement policy for CIs marked as stale.
If applicable, use the Data Manager to define a policy for retiring CIs that the workflow has flagged. This step is required only if a retirement policy is not already configured for the affected CI class.
Result
Continue in the ServiceNow Otto panel conversation to review and apply the agent's recommended remediation. The CMDB data quality score in CMDB success advisor reflects the updated CI state after remediation.
---
title: Remediate stale CIs using the CMDB Staleness Agent
description: Use the CMDB Staleness Agent from the Data Foundations advisor dashboard to review and remediate flagged CIs.
locale: en-US
canonical_url: https://www.servicenow.com/docs/r/servicenow-platform/now-assist-for-configuration-management-database-cmdb/na-cmdb-awf-staleness-t.html
release: brazil
product: Now Assist for Configuration Management Database \(CMDB\)
classification: now-assist-for-configuration-management-database-cmdb
topic_type: task
last_updated: "2026-10-05"
reading_time_minutes: 2
keywords: [stale CI, CMDB staleness, CI rediscovery, CI retirement]
breadcrumb: [Stale CI remediation, Use generative AI skills, ServiceNow Otto for Configuration Management Database \(CMDB\), Configuration Management Database \(CMDB\), Configuration Management, Extend ServiceNow AI Platform capabilities]
---
# Remediate stale CIs using the CMDB Staleness Agent
Use the CMDB Staleness Agent from the Data Foundations advisor dashboard to review and remediate flagged CIs.
## Before you begin
Role required: sn\_cmdb\_editor, plus now\_assist\_panel\_user, to use **Ask Otto**. A user with fewer roles can use a different action from the same panel; see the following steps.
## About this task
The staleness agentic workflow evaluates CIs against the staleness thresholds defined in the CI Class Manager and groups them by recommended action.
The workflow uses activity signals, such as events, incidents, and changes, to determine whether a CI is still in use. This applies even if the CI has not been recently discovered. CIs with recent activity are excluded from retirement recommendations.
This action is separate from the Remediation actions panel reached from the KPI Details page. The Duplicate CIs card on the same dashboard has a separate **Ask Otto** action for the CMDB Duplicate CIs Agent, which is part of the Feature Preview Program. For more information, see [Feature Preview Program](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/r/platform-administration/feature-preview-program.html).
For more information on why CIs is set to stale, see [Stale CI remediation using the staleness agentic workflow](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ServiceNow/ServiceNowDocs/brazil/markdown/servicenow-platform/now-assist-for-configuration-management-database-cmdb/na-cmdb-awf-staleness-c.md).
## Procedure
1. Open CMDB success advisor and select **View insights** for Data Foundations.
The Data Foundations advisor dashboard opens.
2. On the dashboard, locate the **Stale CIs** card.
3. Select the available action on the card.
- If you hold sn\_cmdb\_editor and the ServiceNow Otto panel user role, and the agent is available, select **Ask Otto** \[Omitted image "ask-otto-blue.png"\] on the card.
- If the required role or the agent isn't available, select **Review policies** instead.
- If you hold only the CMDB success advisor scope-user role, select **Learn more**.
Selecting **Ask Otto** opens a new ServiceNow Otto panel conversation with the CMDB Staleness Agent. The other actions open the related record or article instead.
4. Set up a retirement policy for CIs marked as stale.
If applicable, use the Data Manager to define a policy for retiring CIs that the workflow has flagged. This step is required only if a retirement policy is not already configured for the affected CI class.
## Result
Continue in the ServiceNow Otto panel conversation to review and apply the agent's recommended remediation. The CMDB data quality score in CMDB success advisor reflects the updated CI state after remediation.
| title | Remediate stale CIs using the CMDB Staleness Agent |
| description | Use the CMDB Staleness Agent from the Data Foundations advisor dashboard to review and remediate flagged CIs. |
| locale | en-US |
| canonical_url | https://www.servicenow.com/docs/r/servicenow-platform/now-assist-for-configuration-management-database-cmdb/na-cmdb-awf-staleness-t.html |
| release | brazil |
| product | Now Assist for Configuration Management Database \(CMDB\) |
| classification | now-assist-for-configuration-management-database-cmdb |
| topic_type | task |
| last_updated | 2026-10-05 |
| reading_time_minutes | 2 |
| keywords | stale CICMDB stalenessCI rediscoveryCI retirement |
| breadcrumb | Stale CI remediationUse generative AI skillsServiceNow Otto for Configuration Management Database \(CMDB\)Configuration Management Database \(CMDB\)Configuration ManagementExtend ServiceNow AI Platform capabilities |