Workflow Automation CoE > Flows > Getting Started with Saved Triggers
What are Saved Triggers?
In the evolving landscape of Workflow Automation, Saved Triggers offer a powerful way to streamline and standardize how flows are initiated across the ServiceNow platform. These reusable trigger configurations allow developers, admins, and citizen creators to define once and deploy many times. This enables consistent automation logic across multiple flows while reducing setup time and maintenance overhead. Whether you're scheduling recurring tasks, responding to external events via webhooks, or building complex enterprise workflows, Saved Triggers provide the flexibility to customize conditions, control visibility, and enforce governance, all while accelerating development and improving reliability.
Who can use Saved Triggers?
Saved Triggers can be created and published by admins, developers, or anyone building reusable automation across tables and conditions. They need one of these roles assigned in order to see the Triggers tab and New button in ServiceNow Studio:
trigger_designer, flow_designer, or admin.Saved Triggers can then be reused across multiple flows, with the option to detach it from the trigger definitions so that future changes made to the saved trigger will not apply to this usage.
While creating Saved Triggers, you can select whether you want the users to be able to view the conditions or add more conditions to the trigger when they use the trigger in a flow. The same applies for the advanced settings (where and when to run the trigger), the trigger developer can decide whether these can be changed when this trigger is added to a flow.
How do I get started with Saved Triggers?
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Step 1: Documentation
Release Highlights
Zurich
Yokohama
Initial release of Saved Triggers
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.
Step 2: Training
ServiceNow University Learning Paths and Courses
Start by completing the training on ServiceNow University (formerly known as NowLearning):
Knowledge
CreatorCon is a special program of sessions and training that runs every year during our Knowledge conference. Every year, we get access to great new presentations and courses about our Workflow Automation Products.
Developer Program
Step 3: Guidance & Best Practices
Whether you're a first-time user or an experienced developer, if you're just beginning to work with Workflow Automation products or looking to migrate from your legacy tech stack, the following tips will help you understand how to best build reusable triggers:
- Repetitive Conditions Across Flows: Create a set of predefined triggers as saved triggers, and add additional conditions as needed for customized flows.
- Delegated Development: Citizen developers who prefer not to handle complex trigger configurations can rely on admins to define pre-approved saved triggers. Others can then safely use these triggers without modifying the underlying logic.
- Governance and Easy Maintenance: When teams need to ensure consistent conditions across multiple automations (such as compliance workflows), updating a saved trigger will automatically apply the changes wherever it is used.
Step 4: Further Resources
Developer Program
Creator Toolbox: Playbook Triggers & Permissions, Recurrence Triggers and Flow Debugger Enhancements (Yokohama)
