Content filtering for Playbook

  • Release version: Australia
  • Updated March 12, 2026
  • 2 minutes to read
    • Summarize
    Summarized using AI
    This content was generated using new OpenAI-powered functionality. Results are provided on an as is basis and are not guaranteed to be accurate or complete.

    Summary of Content Filtering for Playbook

    Content filtering in ServiceNow allows you to control user access to specific Workflow Studio playbook content based on their roles. This feature ensures that users only view relevant and necessary content, enhancing security and user experience.

    Show full answer Show less

    Key Features

    • Content Definitions: These specify types of Workflow Studio resources, enabling precise control over what users can access. By default, there is one content definition for playbooks.
    • Content Filtering Rules: These rules determine which roles can access specified content. Default rules allow users with the delegateddeveloper or playbook.activitydefread roles to access all activity definitions.
    • Role-Based Access: You can specify required roles for activity definition access, which can override content filtering rules.
    • Read-Only Playbooks: Users may view playbooks that contain activities they do not have access to, but they will have read-only permissions for those items.

    Key Outcomes

    Implementing content filtering empowers you to streamline the user experience in Workflow Studio by ensuring that each user sees only the content relevant to their role. This prevents unnecessary exposure to sensitive information and simplifies the playbook creation process by displaying only applicable activities. You can start with default definitions and rules or customize them to fit specific organizational needs.

    Specify which content a user can access based on the user's role.

    Display only content that is relevant for a particular user, hiding content that is unnecessary or sensitive. Specify the Workflow Studio playbook content that you want to control access to and the role that a user must have to access it. For example, if a user with the guided_decision_builder role is creating a playbook, show only a relevant set of activities.

    To implement content filtering, you need:
    • Content definitions to specify types of content.
    • Content filtering rules and roles to determine who can access the content.
    There is one content definition for Playbook by default, the Playbooks - All Activity Definitions content definition. The Playbooks - All Activity Definitions content definition has two content filtering rules by default:
    • (Default) Playbook - Users with delegated_developer role can access all activity definitions
    • (Default) Playbook - Users with playbook.activity_def_read role can access all activity definitions
    This means that users with the roles delegated_developer or playbook.activity_def_read role can access all activity definitions. Get started with content filtering by using default definitions and rules, or create your own.

    Content definitions

    Content definitions specify a type of Workflow Studio resource. Resources are key elements of Workflow Studio components, such as activity definitions for playbooks. Create content definitions to include an entire resource, or use a condition builder to refine your definitions. For example, the content definition for playbook activity definitions includes all activity definitions, but you could create a content definition that includes only the activity definitions that contain Guided Decision in the Name or Package.

    You can further refine content definitions through tagging. Add resource tags to items in a resource list, then design your content definition to only include resources with that tag.

    Content filtering rules

    Content filtering rules specify the role that a user must have to access the content in a particular definition. Each rule associates user roles with a single content definition. When a user accesses Playbook in Workflow Studio, content filtering rules determine what activities the user may access based on the user's role.

    Role-based activity definition access

    Manage activity definition access by specifying the Required Roles to access an activity definition. This overrides any content access filtering. To learn more about roles, see Playbooks roles. To learn more about activity definitions, see Activity definitions.


    Required roles field in an activity definition
    Note:
    Both playbook.admin and pd_content_author roles can edit activity definitions, but only the playbook.admin role can edit the Required Roles field.

    Read-only playbooks

    Users have a read-only view of playbooks with:
    • activities they do not have access to,
    • process definitions [sys_pd_process_definition] they don't have write access to.
    Table 1. Access summary
    Resource filtered User has role User does not have role
    Activity Definition
    • The activity definition is visible to select when building a playbook.
    • The activity definition can be copied.
    • The activity definition can be modified.
    • The activity definition is hidden and cannot be selected when building a playbook.
    • Playbooks with the activity definition are read-only.

    Design considerations

    Content definition roles for activity definitions
    Give users access to the subset of activity definitions in a content definition by assigning the playbook.write role, not the pd_author role.