Managing Manageengine Servicedesk

ManageEngine ServiceDesk Plus Management Skill

Manage and analyze ManageEngine ServiceDesk Plus incidents, assets, and CMDB.

API Conventions

Authentication

All API calls use technician API key — injected as query parameter or header.

Base URL

https://{{server}}/api/v3

Core Helper Function

#!/bin/bash

me_api() {
    local method="$1"
    local endpoint="$2"
    local data="${3:-}"

    if [ -n "$data" ]; then
        curl -s -X "$method" \
            -H "authtoken: $MANAGEENGINE_API_KEY" \
            -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
            "${MANAGEENGINE_URL}/api/v3${endpoint}" \
            -d "$data"
    else
        curl -s -X "$method" \
            -H "authtoken: $MANAGEENGINE_API_KEY" \
            -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
            "${MANAGEENGINE_URL}/api/v3${endpoint}"
    fi
}

Common Operations

Incident Management

#!/bin/bash
echo "=== Open Requests ==="
me_api GET "/requests?list_info={\"row_count\":25,\"sort_field\":\"priority\",\"sort_order\":\"asc\",\"search_criteria\":{\"field\":\"status.name\",\"condition\":\"is not\",\"value\":\"Closed\"}}" \
    | jq -r '.requests[] | "\(.id)\t\(.priority.name)\t\(.status.name)\t\(.subject[0:60])"' \
    | column -t

echo ""
echo "=== Overdue Requests ==="
me_api GET "/requests?list_info={\"row_count\":15,\"search_criteria\":{\"field\":\"is_overdue\",\"condition\":\"is\",\"value\":true}}" \
    | jq -r '.requests[] | "\(.id)\t\(.priority.name)\t\(.due_by_time)\t\(.subject[0:50])"' \
    | column -t

Asset Management

#!/bin/bash
echo "=== Asset Summary ==="
me_api GET "/assets?list_info={\"row_count\":100}" \
    | jq -r '[.assets[].product_type.name] | group_by(.) | map({type: .[0], count: length}) | sort_by(.count) | reverse | .[] | "\(.type): \(.count)"'

echo ""
echo "=== Assets by State ==="
me_api GET "/assets?list_info={\"row_count\":100}" \
    | jq -r '[.assets[].asset_state] | group_by(.) | map({state: .[0], count: length}) | sort_by(.count) | reverse | .[] | "\(.state): \(.count)"'

CMDB Operations

#!/bin/bash
echo "=== CI Types ==="
me_api GET "/cmdb/ci_types" \
    | jq -r '.ci_types[] | "\(.id)\t\(.name)\t\(.ci_count // 0) CIs"' \
    | column -t

echo ""
echo "=== Configuration Items ==="
CI_TYPE_ID="${1:?CI Type ID required}"
me_api GET "/cmdb/ci_types/${CI_TYPE_ID}/cis?list_info={\"row_count\":25}" \
    | jq -r '.cis[] | "\(.id)\t\(.name)\t\(.ci_state // "-")"' \
    | column -t

Output Format

Present results as a structured report:

Managing Manageengine Servicedesk Report
════════════════════════════════════════
Resources discovered: [count]

Resource       Status    Key Metric    Issues
──────────────────────────────────────────────
[name]         [ok/warn] [value]       [findings]

Summary: [total] resources | [ok] healthy | [warn] warnings | [crit] critical
Action Items: [list of prioritized findings]

Target ≤50 lines of output. Use tables for multi-resource comparisons.

Anti-Hallucination Rules

1. NEVER assume resource names — always discover via CLI/API in Phase 1 before referencing in Phase 2.
2. NEVER fabricate metric names or dimensions — verify against the service documentation or --help output.
3. NEVER mix CLI commands between service versions — confirm which version/API you are targeting.
4. ALWAYS use the discovery → verify → analyze chain — every resource referenced must have been discovered first.
5. ALWAYS handle empty results gracefully — an empty response is valid data, not an error to retry.

Counter-Rationalizations

Common Pitfalls

• list_info parameter: Filtering and pagination use JSON-encoded list_info query parameter
• Search criteria: Nested JSON structure with field, condition, value — multiple criteria use logical_operator
• Auth header: Uses authtoken header (not Authorization) — format varies between cloud and on-premise
• Rate limits: Cloud edition enforces rate limits — check documentation for current limits
• API versions: v3 is current — v1 endpoints still work but may lack features
• Date format: Epoch milliseconds in responses — provide human-readable dates in search criteria
• Pagination: Use row_count and start_index in list_info JSON parameter