Orchestration activity designer

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

    The Orchestration activity designer in ServiceNow enables users with theworkflowadminoractivitycreatorandworkflowcreatorroles to build reusable, custom orchestration activities tailored to organizational business needs. These activities, known as activity elements, provide enhanced functionality and flexibility compared to legacy core activities.

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    Activation of ServiceNow Orchestration is required to access the activity designer. The designer supports creating, testing, versioning, and sharing activities that can be reused across multiple workflows and uploaded or downloaded via the ServiceNow Store.

    Key Features

    • Reusable custom activities: Build activities once and reuse them in multiple workflows.
    • ServiceNow Store integration: Upload and download custom activities to share across instances.
    • Input and output data handling: Parse data from standard input formats, test inputs against target hosts or endpoints, inspect payloads, and automatically map test payload values to output variables.
    • Data sharing and versioning: Share data between activities within workflows and view previous versions of activities.
    • Consistent development approach: Activities use the databus for well-defined inputs and outputs, providing a consistent protocol-agnostic development model.
    • Reduced dependency on scratchpad: Activity elements do not access the scratchpad directly, minimizing issues in complex workflows; scratchpad variables can be passed as inputs if needed.
    • Activity packs: Predefined activity packs address common business needs (e.g., Active Directory, Azure AD, Exchange, Infoblox DDI, PowerShell). Other ServiceNow applications provide their own packs, and customers can create custom ones.
    • Custom activity templates: Use customizable templates within the Workflow Editor to create and manage custom orchestration activities.
    • Activity scoping: Custom activities run in their own scope, independent of the workflow scope.
    • Publishing and copying: Newly created custom activities are visible only to their creators initially but can be copied and reused from the global scope.

    Key Outcomes

    • Enable efficient orchestration by building modular, reusable activities that reduce coding efforts and simplify complex workflows.
    • Improve workflow maintainability and clarity by leveraging activity elements that track data flow and minimize scratchpad usage.
    • Facilitate sharing and collaboration through ServiceNow Store integration and version control of custom activities.
    • Maintain compatibility with legacy workflows while adopting modern, scalable activity design through the new Activity Designer architecture introduced since the Fuji release.
    • Ensure secure and flexible integrations by managing credentials, connections, and aliases systematically within orchestration activities.

    The Orchestration activity designer enables a user with either the workflow_admin or activity_creator and workflow_creator roles to construct reusable activities that suit an organization's business needs.

    Activities created by the activity designer offer the following advantages over core activities offered in previous releases:

    • Reuse custom activities in multiple workflows.
    • Upload and download custom activities from the ServiceNow Store.
    • Parse data from standard input formats.
    • Test input variables against a target host or endpoint and inspect the payload.
    • Automatically map values from a test payload to an activity's output variables.
    • Share data between activities.
    • View previous versions of an activity.

    Access to the activity designer requires activation of ServiceNow Orchestration. For instructions about managing transitions and conditions for all activities, see Workflow activities.

    Orchestration provides numerous pre-defined activities, which are reusable components that can be used in numerous workflows without having to understand the complexities of the underlying system. These activities are grouped into activity packs, which address specific business needs, such as: Active Directory, Azure AD, Exchange, Infoblox DDI, and PowerShell. There are other ServiceNow applications which provide and maintain their own separate activity packs, such as Security Incident Response, Cloud Management, or Release Automation.

    Customers can also build their own activities and activity packs. You can construct custom activities with a specified template through the Orchestration Activity Designer. Custom-built activities built with the Activity Designer are referred to as activity elements. Activity elements provide optimal operations, enable code reuse, and minimize the need to write code. They also enable you to follow the flow of data within a given workflow across orchestration activities. Incorporating activity elements limits the dependency on the scratchpad which reduces problems in complex workflows. Limit the use of core activities, like ‘Run Script’, unless you need direct access the scratchpad, for example, for a counter. Activity elements do not have direct access to the scratchpad. You can, however, pass scratchpad variables as inputs into your activities.

    Orchestration activities created by the activity designer:
    • Can be uploaded and shared in the ServiceNow App Store
    • Use the databus, which allows the activity to have well-defined inputs and outputs
    • Share data across activities within a workflow
    • Use versioning
    • Provide a consistent approach for activity development regardless protocol
    Note:
    Prior to the Fuji release, activities were built with Activity Definitions. In Fuji, a new architecture was introduced using the Activity Designer. Orchestration Core activities, built originally as Activity Definitions, have been converted to use the new template format (Activity Elements) and the databus offered with the activity designer. Workflows in upgraded instances that use legacy activities continue to work normally.

    For instructions on using activities to construct a workflow, see Add an activity to a workflow.