---
title: Create a PaCE policy
description: Create a PaCE policy to determine if changes to a software service or application comply with a set of pre-defined rules.
locale: en-US
canonical_url: https://www.servicenow.com/docs/r/australia/servicenow-platform/policy-as-code-engine-pace/pace-create-policy.html
release: australia
product: Policy as Code Engine \(PaCE\)
classification: policy-as-code-engine-pace
topic_type: task
last_updated: "2026-03-12"
reading_time_minutes: 4
breadcrumb: [Manage PaCE policies, Administer PaCE policies, Policy as Code Engine \(PaCE\), Extend ServiceNow AI Platform capabilities]
---

# Create a PaCE policy

Create a PaCE policy to determine if changes to a software service or application comply with a set of pre-defined rules.

## Before you begin

Role required: sn\_pace.policy\_editor

## About this task

After you create a PaCE policy, a decision is then made about these changes, and if they are compliant, non-compliant, or compliant-exception according to these pre-defined rules. The policy must be mapped correctly to the relevant object \(table and document ID\) to invoke the policy when any changes are made to the object.

**Note:** Policies are only used if they have active mapping records, and if there was a request to validate an object \(tables and document IDs\) mapped to the policy. For further information, see [Map PaCE policies](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ServiceNow/ServiceNowDocs/australia/markdown/australia/servicenow-platform/policy-as-code-engine-pace/pace-mapping-inputs.md).

## Procedure

1.  Navigate to **All** > **Policies** > **My Policies**.

    **Note:** To view all policies generated by admin/other users, navigate to **Policies** > **All Policies**.

2.  Click **New**.

    The New policy page appears.

3.  Select the New blank policy tile or an existing policy template, then **Create**.

    Templates can be filtered by most used, alphabetically, state, and type. By default, inactive templates are hidden.

4.  In the Create New Policy form, fill in the fields.

<table id="table_mc2_q1m_zwb"><thead><tr><th>

Field

</th><th>

Description

</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>

Policy name

</td><td>

The policy name.**Note:** The policy name must be unique, and is used as the identifier of the policy.

</td></tr><tr><td>

Document type

</td><td>

Select a document type for the table of items for the policy to be applied to.

</td></tr><tr><td>

Category

</td><td>

Categories enable you to group and manage policies more efficiently. See [Managing categories in PaCE](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ServiceNow/ServiceNowDocs/australia/markdown/australia/servicenow-platform/policy-as-code-engine-pace/pace-categories.md) for details.

</td></tr><tr><td>

Calling service

</td><td>

The name of the calling service the policy was created in.

</td></tr><tr><td>

Description

</td><td>

Additional details for this policy.

</td></tr><tr><td>

Comments

</td><td>

Comments about the policy.

</td></tr></tbody>
</table>    **Note:** You can add additional comments in the Compose text box, that will show up in the Activity stream.

5.  Click **Save**.

    The form is refreshed to display the newly created policy.\[Omitted image "pace-new-policy-manage-3.jpg"\] Alt text: Details page.

6.  Add tags by selecting the tag icon \[Omitted image "pace-tag-icon-1.jpg"\] Alt text: Tag icon. alongside the policy name to add tags.

    For more information about defining tags, [Add tags to PaCE policies](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ServiceNow/ServiceNowDocs/australia/markdown/australia/servicenow-platform/policy-as-code-engine-pace/pace-add-tags-policies.md).


## Result

The newly created policy contains the following tabs.

<table id="table_yck_b1m_zwb"><thead><tr><th>

Tab name

</th><th>

Description

</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>

Details

</td><td>

The details of the policy including the policy name, category, date on which it was created, and a description is displayed.

</td></tr><tr><td>

Policy builder

</td><td>

When you create a policy, by default a draft policy version is created. Each policy version contains version meta-data, a policy script, and variable input definitions, which you can modify according to your requirements. Click the **Policy builder** tab to view the Policy builder page. You can:-   Edit a policy version.

**Note:** You can edit a policy version only if it is a Draft state.

-   View version details
-   Create a new version
-   Switch from low-code to the code editor
-   Save the policy as a template
-   Compare versions
-   Duplicate policy versions

For more details, see [Manage PaCE policy versions](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ServiceNow/ServiceNowDocs/australia/markdown/australia/servicenow-platform/policy-as-code-engine-pace/pace-policy-versions.md).**Note:** You must publish the \(See [Publish a PaCE policy version](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ServiceNow/ServiceNowDocs/australia/markdown/australia/servicenow-platform/policy-as-code-engine-pace/pace-publish-policy-version.md)\) policy version to make it **Current** before it can be used.

</td></tr><tr><td>

Version management

</td><td>

The Version management tab lists out the previous versions of the policy. You can also create a new version of the policy.

</td></tr><tr><td>

Mappings

</td><td>

The Mappings tab enables you to define the object \(table and document ID\) to which the policy is to be mapped. For more information, see [Map PaCE policies](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ServiceNow/ServiceNowDocs/australia/markdown/australia/servicenow-platform/policy-as-code-engine-pace/pace-mapping-inputs.md).

</td></tr><tr><td>

Executions

</td><td>

The Executions tab enables you to review the execution activity for the policy.

</td></tr></tbody>
</table>## What to do next

You can perform the following actions:

-   Delete a policy that is in an inactive state. See [Delete a PaCE policy](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ServiceNow/ServiceNowDocs/australia/markdown/australia/servicenow-platform/policy-as-code-engine-pace/pace-delete-policy.md).
-   Duplicate or create a copy of an existing policy.
-   Write and test custom PaCE policies. See [How to write and test custom PaCE policies](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ServiceNow/ServiceNowDocs/australia/markdown/australia/servicenow-platform/policy-as-code-engine-pace/pace-write-test-policies.md).