Generate a playbook

  • Release version: Yokohama
  • Updated March 12, 2026
  • 4 minutes to read

    • Generate a playbook with Now Assist by providing text directions or image.

    Before you begin

    Learn how to write prompts to generate better playbooks. For more information, see Writing prompts and reviewing playbook outlines.

    Role required:
    • admin, playbook.admin, pd_author, or a delegated developer permission

    Procedure

    1. Navigate to All > Workflow Studio.
    2. From the New drop-down menu, select Playbook.
    3. On the Build with Now Assist tab, fill in the following fields.
      Build a new playbook with Now Assist.
      Field Description
      Type Type of the playbook you want to create.

      Select Standard playbook for most day to day processes.
      Playbook name Unique, user-facing name for your playbook. This name also appears to agents and fulfillers during runtime.
      Application Application scope that you want your playbook to run in. Selecting Global lets your playbook run in any application scope. For more information, see Application scope.
      Important:
      You can't change the application scope of a playbook after you've generated a preview for it.
      Describe the playbook using these inputs Directions for the playbook that you want to create.
      Instructions only
      Provide only text instructions to generate the playbook.

      • Describe each stage and activity in as much detail as you can.

      • Specify the order that stages and activities run in.

      • Specify if any stages or activities run at the same time.

      Image
      Attach a high quality, clear image of the process. You can compliment the image with text instructions as well. For example, if you attach an image of a flow chart, you can add additional information about the process as text directions.
      Execution type The type of playbook you want to create.
      Record driven
      The playbook is tied to a record. It is triggered on demands, or automatically based on the record operations. Any data that comes from the playbook will also be stored on that record.
      Standalone
      Single session playbook that don't store data to a record. These must be manually triggered or called from another playbook.
      Parent table In case of a record driven playbook, the table where the record resides. This option is not relevant for a standalone playbook.
      Additional properties Option to allow the playbook to be publicly accessible. Once embedded it is set to available to unauthenticated users, as long as there aren’t additional restrictions preventing the user from accessing the playbook.
      Note:
      Playbooks must be tied to a public parent table for unauthenticated users to see it in runtime.
    4. Select Generate playbook preview.
      Based on your instructions, Now Assist generates a preview of the playbook with all the elements and displays the preview in the diagramming view. Now Assist adds a placeholder activity wherever it's unable to find a relevant activity.
    5. Review the generated playbook preview for accuracy.
      If the generated playbook doesn’t meet your requirements, try rephrasing your prompt according to Writing prompts and reviewing playbook outlines, and select Regenerate preview.
    6. If you're ready to generate your playbook, select Save and edit playbook.
    7. Configure your trigger.
      For more information about triggers, see Configure your trigger.
    8. Configure placeholder activities by manually selecting the placeholder activity.
      Tip:
      To generate recommendations for activity definitions from Now Assist instead, see Generate playbook recommendations.
      1. Select a placeholder activity that you want to configure ( Placeholder activity icon.).
        You can also hover over the placeholder activity and select the replace activity icon (Icon for replacing an activity in the mini-picker to directly open the activity picker.
      2. Optional: Update the Label and Description, if needed.
      3. Under the Activity definition field, select the edit button (Edit icon in the playbook builder.).
        The activity picker is displayed.
      4. In the activity picker, search for the activity, subflow, or action to add.
        Note:
        Select the application first, and then the activity from the resulting list. For more information about subflows or actions, see subflow, or action.
      5. Configure the activity inputs.
        For more information about common activities and their inputs, see Playbooks reference.
    9. If you don't see the activity that you want to add in the activity picker, create an activity definition.
      For more information, see create an activity definition.
    10. After you configure all your stages and activities, test the playbook.
    11. Select Activate in the header.
      Activating your playbook publishes it so that it runs when triggered.
      Note:
      When you change your playbook after activating it, the system saves your changes but deactivates your playbook.

      To publish any new changes to your playbook, you must activate the playbook again. For more information, see Playbook statuses and activation states.

    Result

    When your playbook's trigger conditions are met, your playbook runs. As a result, the system creates a Process Execution record and renders user-facing configurations for Playbook Experience. For an example of how to digitize a manual business process that renders as a playbook, see Design an automated process.

    What to do next

    Design the Playbook Experience for your agents and fulfillers in UI Builder. To learn how to design and customize the runtime playbook experience in UI Builder, see Customize the Playbook Experience.