Find the most recent attachment

When working with attachments, you often don’t need every attachment—you need the latest log, screenshot, export, or document. This task shows you how to list attachments for a specific record, sort them by creation time, and select the most recent one.

This is a foundational workflow that pairs with downloading, processing, or deleting attachments.

When to use this pattern

Use this pattern when you need to:

• Retrieve the newest log file for debugging
• Identify the latest user‑submitted document
• Prepare for a follow‑up action (download, delete, archive)
• Build automation workflows that react to new attachments

Required values

Value	Description
Instance	the Service-Now instance

Example

package main

import (
    "context"
    "fmt"
    "log"

    servicenow "github.com/michaeldcanady/servicenow-sdk-go"
    attachmentapi "github.com/michaeldcanady/servicenow-sdk-go/attachment-api"
    "github.com/michaeldcanady/servicenow-sdk-go/credentials"
)

func main() {
    // Step 1: Authenticate with your ServiceNow instance
    cred := credentials.NewBasicAuthenticationProvider("{username}", "{password}")

    clientOpts := []servicenow.ServiceNowServiceClientOption{
        servicenow.WithAuthenticationProvider(cred),
        servicenow.WithInstance("{instance}"),
    }

    // Step 2: Initialize the ServiceNow client
    client, err := servicenow.NewServiceNowServiceClient(clientOpts...)
    if err != nil {
        log.Fatalf("failed to initialize client: %v", err)
    }

    // Step 3: List attachments (filter using query params as needed)
    config := &attachmentapi.AttachmentRequestBuilder2GetRequestConfiguration{
        QueryParameters: &attachmentapi.AttachmentRequestBuilder2GetQueryParameters{
            SysparmLimit: 1,
            SysparmQuery: "ORDERBYDESCsys_created_on",
        },
    }

    resp, err := client.Now2().Attachment2().Get(
        context.Background(),
        config,
    )
    if err != nil {
        log.Fatalf("unable to send/receive request: %v", err)
    }

    // Step 4: Retrieve the attachment results
    attachments, err := resp.GetResult()
    if err != nil {
        log.Fatalf("unable to retrieve result(s): %v", err)
    }

    if len(attachments) == 0 {
        log.Println("No attachments found.")
        return
    }

    // Step 5: Select the most recent attachment (already sorted by ORDERBYDESC)
    latest := attachments[0]

    fileName, err := latest.GetFileName()
    if err != nil {
        log.Fatalf("unable to retrieve attachment's name: %v", err)
    }

    sysID, err := latest.GetSysID()
    if err != nil {
        log.Fatalf("unable to retrieve attachment's sys_id: %v", err)
    }

    fmt.Printf("Most recent attachment: %s (sys_id: %s)\n", *fileName, *sysID)
}

Tips

• Use ORDERBYDESCsys_created_on to make sure the newest attachment appears first.
• Limit your query (sysparm_limit) to reduce response size and improve performance.
• Filter by table and sys_id when you only care about attachments for a specific record.
• Always check for empty results—not all records have attachments.