Application scope is a foundational concept in ServiceNow application development. ServiceNow documentation describes application scoping as a protection mechanism that identifies and restricts access to an application’s files and data. In practice, scope defines an isolation boundary around an application’s artifacts, such as tables, scripts, UI components, and other resources. This boundary helps prevent unintended interference between applications and reduces the risk of naming collisions or cross-application impacts. The scope model also works together with Application Access settings, which allow administrators to specify what parts of an application are accessible to other applications. By default, scoped applications are designed to keep resources private unless explicitly shared through access settings or cross-scope privileges. Because of this, the primary purpose of scope is not backups or UI design control, and it is explicitly not meant to enable unrestricted updates across applications. Instead, scope exists to define and enforce boundaries so that an application’s resources remain isolated and protected unless intentionally exposed.