Show Knowledge Article activity

  • Release version: Yokohama
  • Updated January 30, 2025
  • 2 minutes to read
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    Summary of Show Knowledge Article activity

    The Show Knowledge Article activity in ServiceNow enables you to display a knowledge article to end users within a playbook. This activity is available as a common activity and can be added by users withadmin,playbook.admin, orpdauthorroles. It is designed to facilitate sharing relevant knowledge content directly during workflows or processes to support decision-making or task completion.

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    Configuration Inputs

    When adding this activity to a playbook, you configure several key inputs through the activity properties panel:

    • Label and Description: Set a title and descriptive information that appear on the activity and playbook card for clarity.
    • Run Condition: Define conditions under which the activity runs, which can depend on data from prior activities.
    • Start Rule: Choose when the activity or stage should start, either immediately when the process or stage starts or after specific activities or stages complete. You can also specify a delay before starting.
    • Title: The title shown to end users when displaying the knowledge article.
    • Knowledge Article: Select the knowledge article to display using a reference to the knowledge base ([kbknowledge]).
    • Wait for User Input: Optionally pause the playbook until the end user completes or skips the activity, ensuring user engagement before moving forward. Editing this requires the playbook.admin role.

    Advanced Inputs

    Additional optional inputs include:

    • Assignment Group: Specify the group responsible for completing the task associated with the activity.
    • Assigned To: Specify the individual user responsible for the task.

    Outputs

    The activity produces outputs that can be used by subsequent activities within the playbook. Notably, it provides a reference to the task record associated with the activity, which allows chaining and coordination across activities.

    Practical Benefits for ServiceNow Customers

    This activity streamlines knowledge dissemination within workflows, helping end users access critical information exactly when needed. It supports dynamic playbook orchestration by controlling when and how knowledge articles appear, ensuring relevant content drives user actions. By configuring run conditions, start rules, and user input wait options, customers can tailor the user experience to their process requirements, improving engagement and outcomes.

    Display a knowledge article to end users.

    Roles and availability

    This activity is available as a common activity. Users with the admin, playbook.admin, or pd_author can add this activity to a playbook.

    Inputs

    Open the activity properties panel and configure your activity to add values for the following inputs. If the input value varies, use the pill-picker to show where to get the value. To learn more about the pill-picker, see Dot-walking examples.
    Input Type Description
    Label String Title to display as activity and playbook card.
    Description String Information to display about activity usage or outcome.
    Run condition Condition Builder Conditions that must be met to run an activity or stage. You can use data from prior activities to build conditions.
    Note:
    Show additional options to see this field.
    Start Rule Choice Under Schedule > Start Rule, select a start rule for when your stage should start running:
    • When process starts: Your stage starts running as soon as the playbook starts.
    • After specific stages: Your stage starts running after specified stage(s) have finished running.
    Under Schedule > Start Rule, select a start rule for when your activity should start running:
    • When stage starts: Your activity starts running as soon as its stage starts running. Your stage starts running when your playbook is triggered.
    • After specific activities: Your activity starts running after specified activities have finished running.
    Start with delay True/False Option to wait for a duration of time before running an activity or stage. When enabled, this input displays the Start with delay input properties.
    Note:
    Show additional options to see this field.
    Title String Title displayed to end users.
    Knowledge Article Reference.Knowledge [kb_knowledge] Knowledge article displayed to end users.
    Wait for user input Choice Option to pause the playbook until the end user manually completes or skips the activity. Only users with the playbook.admin role can edit this field. By default, the activity waits for user action or data before it completes.

    Advanced inputs

    After configuring the required inputs for your activity, you can also choose to configure additional inputs. In the side panel, select Show additional options to display these advanced inputs. For more information, see Activity experience.
    Input Type Description
    Assignment Group Reference.Group [sys_user_group] Group responsible for completing the task associated with the activity.
    Note:
    Show additional options to see this field.
    Assigned To Reference.User [sys_user] User responsible for completing the task associated with the activity.
    Note:
    Show additional options to see this field.

    Outputs

    These outputs can provide data to other activities in your playbook. You can access this data as activity inputs when you configure your activity:
    Output Type Description
    Record Reference.Task[task] Reference to the record associated with the activity.