Configuring Playbooks for Field Service Management

  • Release version: Australia
  • Updated March 12, 2026
  • 1 minute to read
  • Playbooks provide step-by-step guidance for your field service teams to complete tasks. Use the playbooks feature to create processes to manage the life cycle of field service tasks.

    A playbook breaks a workflow into multiple stages. Each stage includes the following:
    • A list of activities or steps that the agent must perform.
    • Status indicators that display the current state of each activity or step.
    • Check boxes and counters that indicate where an agent is in the workflow.

    Playbooks are created using the Process Automation Designer platform feature.

    Playbooks for the ServiceNow Agent

    Playbooks for the ServiceNow Agent application include stages for completing a work order task. Playbooks can be viewed under a selected work order task on the My work page. Tasks that have an active playbook associated with it display a View Playbooks button.

    Playbooks are organized in stages to provide a guided experience. They direct you to new or existing features of the mobile application and maintain a checklist of completed stages on that work order task. Stages can be marked complete or skipped at your discretion. The stages progress as follows:
    1. Troubleshoot
    2. Parts
    3. Record time
    4. Log incidentals
    5. Verify work completion
    6. Close work order task

    For more information, see Playbooks on ServiceNow Agent.

    Request apps on the Store

    Visit the ServiceNow Store 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.

    Configuration Overview

    The steps for setting up Playbooks for Field Service Management are:

    1. Install Playbooks for Field Service Management

      Install the Playbooks for Field Service Management application (sn_fsm_playbook) if you have the admin role.

    2. Activate Playbooks for Field Service Management

      Activate Workflow Studio Playbooks on your instance so that you can create Playbooks triggered by tables.