Flows, subflows, and actions in Workflow Studio release notes
Release version: Yokohama
Updated April 21, 2025
5 minutes to read
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Summary of Flows, Subflows, and Actions in Workflow Studio Release Notes
The ServiceNow® Workflow Studio application enables process analysts to automate work without coding by creating multi-step flows from reusable components. The Yokohama release introduces significant enhancements to Workflow Studio, focusing on improving automation design efficiency, debugging, and conversational compatibility. Workflow Studio is available through the ServiceNow Store, with new features accessible via app updates.
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Key Features
- Flow and Subflow Creation from Images: Use Now Assist to generate flows or subflows by attaching process images, which Workflow Studio converts into editable flow previews.
- Enhanced Debugging: Debug flows and subflows via a dedicated tab, allowing breakpoints, step-through execution, and runtime value inspection.
- Flow Pausing and Messaging: Pause flows until a specific message is received via the Flow API, with optional timeouts to resume automatically.
- Reusable Flow Triggers: Save and reuse sets of flow trigger definitions across multiple flows, with configurable visibility and condition options for flow authors.
- Now Assist Skill Integration: Run published Now Assist skills directly from actions, configuring inputs and outputs seamlessly within flows.
- Conversational Compatibility Checks: Verify if actions and subflows are compatible with conversational interfaces by reviewing input data types and generating conversational skill/input descriptions using generative AI.
- Default Values and Input Management: Set default values for conversational action and subflow inputs and hide inputs to restrict user modifications during conversations.
- Support for Complex Input Types: Enable conversational actions and subflows to accept Dynamic Choice and Array of Objects data types.
- Automation Type Recommendations: Workflow Studio recommends whether to create a playbook, flow, subflow, action, or data stream based on user responses to automation-related questions.
- Accessibility and UI Improvements: Enhanced ARIA labels for screen readers, improved keyboard navigation, and canvas reflow support for up to 400% zoom to aid users with low vision.
- Natural Language Data Descriptions: View text descriptions of data used by flow triggers, actions, and logic to understand data flow without inspecting configurations.
Activation and Integration
Workflow Studio is enabled by default as part of the ServiceNow AI Platform and is updated through the ServiceNow Store. It integrates with several related ServiceNow applications:
- Integration Hub: Facilitates integration automation with prebuilt spokes and custom integrations (requires separate subscription).
- MID Server: Supports communication between ServiceNow instances and external systems.
- Robotic Process Automation (RPA) Hub: Enables end-to-end automation combining UI interactions and APIs to reduce manual tasks.
Practical Benefits for ServiceNow Customers
- Accelerate automation design by generating flows from images and using reusable components.
- Improve flow reliability and troubleshooting with advanced debugging tools.
- Enhance conversational experiences by ensuring actions and subflows are compatible and properly described for conversational interfaces.
- Increase automation reuse and governance through saved triggers and controlled input defaults.
- Support accessibility needs with improved UI and navigation features.
- Leverage AI-generated descriptions to quickly understand data usage within flows.
The ServiceNow® Workflow Studio application enables process analysts to automate work without having to code and to build multi-step flows from reusable components. Workflow Studio was enhanced and updated in the Yokohama release.
Workflow Studio highlights for the Yokohama release
- Create a flow or a subflow from an image by using Now Assist.
- Debug flows and subflows from a dedicated debugging tab.
- Pause a flow until it receives a specific message from the flow API.
- Run a published Now Assist skill from an action.
- Save flow triggers for reuse in other flows.
See Exploring flows for more information.
Important:
Workflow Studio is available in the ServiceNow Store. For details, see the "Activation information" section of these release notes.
New in the Yokohama release
- Yokohama Patch 3
- Add and edit flows in Now Assist for app generation
- Create a flow when creating an application in Now Assist for app generation. Enhance an existing application by adding a flow.
- Call a Now Assist skill from an action
- Run a published Now Assist skill from an action. Configure the Now Assist skill inputs and skill outputs from the step inputs and step outputs.
- Check for conversational compatible actions
- Run a compatibility check on new or all actions to determine if they are conversational compatible. Review the inputs of an action to determine if their data types are compatible.
- Check for conversational compatible subflows
- Run a compatibility check on new or all subflows to determine if they are conversation compatible. Review the inputs of a subflow to determine if their data types are compatible.
- Create a flow or subflow from an image
- Create a flow or a subflow from an image by using Now Assist. Capture the detailed process in an image and attach the image to Workflow Studio. Now Assist generates a preview of the flow that you can modify and regenerate.
- Display text descriptions of the data used by actions and flow logic
- See a natural language description of the data each component of a flow uses. Understand what data flow triggers, actions, and flow logic blocks use without having to open their configuration details.
- Generate skill and input descriptions for conversational actions
- Configure conversational settings for conversational actions by generating skill and input descriptions with generative AI.
- Generate skill and input descriptions for conversational subflows
- Configure conversational settings for conversational subflows by generating skill and input descriptions with generative AI.
- Set default values for action inputs
- Set a default value for a conversational action input. Hide action inputs that have a default value if you don't want users to change the input value in a conversation.
- Set default values for subflow inputs
- Set a default value for a conversational subflow input. Hide subflow inputs that have a default value if you don't want users to change the input value in a conversation.
- Summarize a flow or subflow
- Summarize what a flow or subflow does by using generative AI.
- Support additional input data types for conversational actions
- Support conversational actions that have Dynamic Choice and Array of Objects input types.
- Support additional input data types for conversational subflows
- Support conversational subflows that have Dynamic Choice and Array of Objects input types.
- Create the recommended automation type
- Answer a few questions about your automation and Workflow Studio displays recommendations on whether you should create a playbook, flow, subflow, action, or a data stream.
- Yokohama Patch 1
- Configure conversational settings
- View the subflows and actions that are conversational compatible. Configure conversational settings to make a subflow or action available to conversational interfaces.
- Yokohama Early Availability
- Debug flows and subflows
- Debug flows and subflows from a dedicated Workflow Studio tab. Set breakpoints and step through a paused flow to review configuration and runtime values.
- Save a flow trigger for reuse in other flows
- Save a set of trigger definitions as a reusable trigger. Enable flow authors to select the saved trigger from some or all application flows. Specify whether flow authors can see the trigger details or add conditions to the trigger.
- Use the Flow API to send a message to a paused flow
- Send a specific message and payload response to a flow that is paused and waiting for a message.
- Wait for a specific message from the Flow API
- Pause a flow until it receives a specific message from the flow API. Specify the string message that resumes running the flow, and optionally provide a time out value to resume the flow if no message is received after a specific amount of time.
UI changes
- Yokohama Patch 3
- Display text descriptions of data changes
- See a natural language description of the data each component of a flow uses. Understand what data flow triggers, actions, and flow logic blocks use without having to open their configuration details.
Activation information
Workflow Studio is a ServiceNow AI Platform feature that is active by default.
Get the latest Workflow Studio features by updating the app from the ServiceNow Store. Visit the ServiceNow Store website to view all the available apps and for information about submitting requests to the store. For cumulative release notes information for all released apps, see the ServiceNow Store version history release notes.
Accessibility information
- ARIA label improvements
- Added and updated ARIA labels to support screen readers.
- Keyboard navigation improvements
- Improved keyboard navigation with working with actions, flows, and subflows in Workflow Studio.
- Reflow improvements of canvas headers and footers
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Added support for the reflow of canvas headers and footer content in Workflow Studio actions, flows, and subflows. These components can be zoomed up to 400% through your browser settings without loss of content or functionality.
This enhancement helps users with low vision or who have trouble seeing web content in a browser due to monitor size, device type, poor lighting, or other situations.