Flows, subflows, and actions in Workflow Studio release notes
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Summary of Flows, subflows, and actions in Workflow Studio release notes
The ServiceNow® Workflow Studio application empowers process analysts to automate workflows without coding by building multi-step flows from reusable components. The Yokohama release introduces significant enhancements to Workflow Studio, focusing on improved flow creation, debugging, conversational compatibility, and integration with Now Assist AI capabilities. Workflow Studio is available via the ServiceNow Store and is active by default as part of the ServiceNow AI Platform.
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Key Features
- Flow Creation Enhancements:
- Create flows or subflows directly from process images using Now Assist, enabling quick generation from visual process diagrams.
- Add or edit flows within Now Assist during application generation or enhancement.
- Save reusable flow triggers that can be applied across multiple flows, improving efficiency and consistency.
- Debugging Improvements:
- Debug flows and subflows within a dedicated Workflow Studio debugging tab, allowing breakpoint setting and step-through analysis of runtime values.
- Conversational Compatibility and AI Integration:
- Run published Now Assist skills from Workflow Studio actions, with configurable inputs and outputs.
- Check actions and subflows for conversational compatibility, including support for Dynamic Choice and Array of Objects input types.
- Generate natural language descriptions for data used by actions and logic blocks, aiding understanding without opening configurations.
- Use generative AI to create skill and input descriptions for conversational actions and subflows.
- Set and hide default input values for conversational actions and subflows to control user interaction during conversations.
- Summarize flows or subflows using generative AI for quick understanding of their purpose.
- Flow Control Enhancements:
- Pause flows until they receive specific messages via the Flow API, optionally with timeout settings, enabling event-driven automation.
- Send messages to paused flows using the Flow API to resume execution with specified payloads.
- Create recommended automation types based on automation needs, with suggestions for playbooks, flows, subflows, actions, or data streams.
- Accessibility and UI Improvements:
- Enhanced ARIA labels and keyboard navigation for improved screen reader support and accessibility.
- Support for zooming canvas headers and footers up to 400% without losing content or functionality, aiding users with low vision.
Activation and Related Applications
Workflow Studio is installed and updated through the ServiceNow Store to access the latest features. It integrates with related ServiceNow capabilities such as Integration Hub (for automating integration tasks), MID Server (for secure communication with external systems), and Robotic Process Automation (RPA) Hub (for end-to-end automation using UI and API interactions).
What This Enables for ServiceNow Customers
With these enhancements, ServiceNow customers can:
- Quickly create and modify automated workflows using visual inputs and AI assistance without coding.
- Debug workflows efficiently to ensure accurate and reliable automation.
- Leverage conversational AI to create smarter, interactive automation components compatible with conversational interfaces.
- Reuse triggers and components to streamline automation development across applications.
- Control flow execution dynamically through message-based pausing and resuming.
- Improve accessibility and usability of Workflow Studio for diverse user needs.
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.