Playbooks

  • Release version: Yokohama
  • Updated January 30, 2025
  • 2 minutes to read
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    Summary of Playbooks

    Playbooks in ServiceNow are a key component of Workflow Studio, providing a streamlined environment to author, configure, and monitor playbooks, flows, subflows, actions, and decision tables. Workflow Studio serves as a centralized landing page where users can access and manage these automation elements efficiently.

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    Playbooks Builder

    The Playbooks builder interface consists of three main parts:

    • Main header: Displays the current playbook’s status and activation state, allows toggling between Diagram and Board views, supports undo/redo actions, error navigation, toggling Optional activities, and testing or activating the playbook. It also provides options to deactivate, duplicate, and edit playbook properties such as name, description, trigger behavior, and restart settings.
    • Design space: Enables building playbooks using Diagram or Board views (with some feature limitations in each), organizing activities into stages. Activities represent individual steps automating business operations via the ServiceNow AI Platform, like record creation, updates, information display, or background actions.
    • Side panel: Used to configure stages and activities by editing names, descriptions, start rules, restart behavior, inputs, and runtime display properties.

    Practical Benefits for ServiceNow Customers

    • Centralized and user-friendly environment to design and manage complex workflows and automation processes.
    • Flexibility to visualize playbooks in two views, aiding different design preferences and requirements.
    • Ability to organize processes into logical stages and activities, improving clarity and maintainability.
    • Comprehensive configuration options to tailor playbook behavior, inputs, and runtime experience.
    • Integrated testing and activation features to ensure playbooks run as intended before deployment.

    Playbooks are a component in Workflow Studio. Workflow Studio gives you a streamlined way to author, configure, and monitor playbooks, flows, subflows, actions, and decision tables in one place.

    Workflow Studio landing page

    You can view the Workflow Studio landing page by navigating to Process Automation > Workflow Studio. The landing page opens to Playbooks by default, but you can easily navigate to flows, subflows, actions, and decision tables. For more information on Workflow Studio, see Workflow Studio.

    Playbooks builder

    The builder for Playbooks consists of the main header, design space, and side panel.

    Main header
    The main header displays information about the playbook that you're currently designing. In the main header, you can:
    • See the status and activation state of your playbook.
    • Toggle between Diagram and Board view.
    • Undo or redo your actions.
    • See and navigate to your errors via the error tray.
    • Turn Optional activities on or off.
    • Test and activate your playbook so that it runs as expected when triggered. You can also preview the Playbook Experience during testing. For more information, see Playbook statuses and activation states.
    • In the More actions menu, you can also deactivate or duplicate your playbook.
    • Also in the More actions menu, access the properties of your playbook. You can add or edit the name or description for your playbook, enable playbooks to restart, and edit the behavior of your trigger. For more information, see Process definition properties.
    Design space
    Build your playbooks in either Diagram or Board view. You can perform most of the same functions in either view.
    Note:
    Decision activities are not available in Board view, and Optional activities are not available in Diagram view.
    Organize activities into stages to design your playbook.
    • An activity represents one step within your overall business process. An activity can automate operations on the ServiceNow AI Platform, such as creating or updating records, displaying record information, and running automated actions in the background.
    • Organize a set of activities into stages within your business process.
    For more information, see Stages and activities.
    Side panel
    The side panel lets you configure your activities, and stages. In the side panel, you can:
    • Add or edit the name and description for your stage or activity.
    • Define the start rule for your stage or activity.
    • Define what your activity or stage does when restarted.
    • Add or edit the inputs for your activity.
    • Define additional properties for how your activity renders during runtime.

    For more information on creating a playbook, see Getting started with Playbooks.