Restart

  • Release version: Xanadu
  • Updated August 1, 2024
  • 2 minutes to read
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    Summary of Restart

    The Restart feature in Workflow Studio's Playbooks builder allows Playbooks administrators to enable agents and fulfillers to restart a playbook, stage, or activity either from the beginning or from specific points during runtime. Administrators also control the behavior of each activity and stage upon restart, providing flexibility in managing playbook execution.

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    Key Features

    • Restart Enablement: Playbooks admins activate restart functionality for playbooks in Workflow Studio.
    • Activity and Stage Restart Rules: Admins define how activities and stages behave on restart with three options:
      • Skip on restart: Runs only during the initial playbook execution; skipped on restart to avoid duplicating tasks or records.
      • Run always: Runs during both initial and restarted executions.
      • Skip on first run: Activated only on restart; does not run during the initial playbook run.
    • Runtime Restart Capabilities: Agents and fulfillers can restart playbooks that are in active states (Queued, Pending, Cancel, In Progress) but cannot restart those in terminal states (Complete, Error, Cancelled).
    • Activity and Stage Restart Constraints: Only completed activities and stages can be restarted, ensuring process integrity.

    Design Considerations

    • Last Stages and Activities: Avoid setting the last stage or activity to "Skip on first run" unless there are parallel stages or activities; otherwise, it may never execute upon restart.
    • Stages Grouping: Do not group all "Skip on first run" activities in a single stage; this causes the stage to be hidden during the first run and only visible after a restart.

    Practical Benefits for ServiceNow Customers

    Enabling restart enhances playbook flexibility, allowing agents and fulfillers to correct or revisit processes without starting entirely from scratch or duplicating work. Carefully configuring restart behavior ensures that tasks and records remain consistent and relevant, which supports accurate workflow management and improves operational efficiency.

    Next Steps

    • Enable and configure restart settings in your playbooks via Workflow Studio.
    • Test playbooks to verify restart behavior aligns with your operational needs.
    • Consider related tasks such as creating, testing, or duplicating playbooks to optimize your workflows.

    Give agents and fulfillers the ability to restart a playbook, stage, or activity.

    Overview

    In the Workflow Studio Playbooks builder, Playbooks administrators enable restart for Playbook Experience agents and fulfillers. Playbooks can be restarted from the beginning, or from certain activities or stages during runtime. Playbooks administrators also define what each activity and stage does when an agent restarts.

    Workflow Studio

    In Workflow Studio, Playbooks admins enable restart for playbooks, and define the rules for what an activity or stage does during restart:
    • Skip on restart: The stage or activity only runs during a playbook's initial run. It does not run on restart.
      Note:
      This setting is helpful if you don't want new tasks or records to be created during a restarted run, because the original execution and resulting record is still relevant.
    • Run always: The stage or activity always runs, whether during an initial or restarted run.
    • Skip on first run: The stage or activity runs only on restart. It never runs during an initial run.

    Playbook Experience

    During runtime, agents and fulfillers can restart playbooks from the beginning, or from certain stages or activities.
    Note:
    Playbooks in an active state can be restarted:
    • Queued
    • Pending Cancel
    • In Progress
    Playbooks in a terminal state cannot be restarted:
    • Complete
    • Error
    • Cancelled

    Restarting a playbook during runtime

    The opposite is true for activities and stages. Activities and stages must be complete before they can be restarted.


    Restarting a stage during runtime

    Design considerations

    Follow these design considerations when configuring restart for your playbook, stages, and activities.
    Last stages and activities
    Avoid setting the last stage or activity of a playbook to Skip on first run if there are no parallel stages or activities. If the playbook is restarted before the last stage or activity can run, the last stage or activity never runs.
    Stages
    Avoid grouping all activities that are configured to Skip on first run in one (1) stage. If you do so, the stage is completely hidden the first time that it runs. The stage must run twice to become visible.