Activity definitions

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  • Updated March 12, 2026
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    Summary of Activity definitions

    Activity definitions in ServiceNow describe how activities within your playbook acquire the necessary data when the playbook runs. They provide default configurations and values to ensure the activities function correctly upon playbook execution. Each activity definition includes basic configuration details, an automation plan, and an optional activity experience to control the user interface presentation within Playbooks.

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    These definitions are managed in the Activity Definition [syspdactivitydefinition] table and accessed via Process Automation Administration in Workflow Studio.

    Key Features

    • Basic Fields: Include label, table (usually Task or Global), application scope, accessibility options, description, and required user roles to control activity usage.
    • Automation Plan: Defines the Workflow Studio flow or action that drives the activity's automation and specifies the inputs required for the activity to run. Visibility of inputs can be customized for different user roles and playbook authors.
    • Activity Experience: Optional configuration that specifies how the activity is presented in the playbook user interface. This includes the experience type (e.g., Record, Knowledge), associated dynamic records, and the specific data rendered in the playbook card using data pills for dynamic content mapping.
    • Playbook Card Actions: You can assign Playbook actions to appear as buttons on the activity card, enabling server scripts, client actions, or UI components to run directly from the card.

    Design Considerations

    • Avoid using triggered Workflow Studio flows directly in automation plans to prevent unintended executions outside of Playbooks; prefer subflows or actions instead.
    • Predefine default input values in activity definitions to simplify and speed up playbook creation for playbook owners.

    Practical Application for ServiceNow Customers

    ServiceNow customers leveraging playbooks can use activity definitions to standardize and configure how activities run and interact with data. By setting up automation plans and controlling input visibility, customers can tailor playbook activities to their organizational roles and processes. The activity experience configuration allows customers to enhance end-user interaction by customizing how activities appear in playbook cards, improving usability and clarity during playbook execution.

    Furthermore, assigning Playbook actions to activity cards enhances operational efficiency by enabling users to trigger related tasks directly from the playbook interface.

    For customers building or customizing playbooks, creating well-defined activity definitions with thoughtful automation plans and user experiences is essential for robust, maintainable, and user-friendly process automation.

    Activity definitions describe how the activities in your playbook get the data that they need when your playbook runs.

    Activity definitions provide default configurations and values for your activities so that they can run properly when your playbook is triggered. Each activity definition contains some basic configuration details, as well as an automation plan and activity experience.

    The Activity Definition [sys_pd_activity_definition] table lists the definitions for the activities that you can add to a playbook in Workflow Studio. To access these activity definitions, navigate to Process Automation > Process Automation Administration > Activity Definitions.

    Fields

    Each activity definition record has these basic fields:
    Field Description
    Label Name of the activity to display to users in Workflow Studio.
    Table Name of the table whose records the activity can access as inputs. Typically, this table is either the Task [task] or Global [global] table.
    Application Application scope that the activity can run in.
    Accessible From Options include:
    • All application scopes - Users can access this activity from any application scope.
    • This application scope only - Users can access this activity from the application scope that you specify in the Application field only.
    Description Optional description for the activity.
    Required Roles A list of user roles that are allowed to access activities that use this activity definition.

    Automation plan

    Each activity definition has an automation plan. The automation plan for an activity definition specifies:
    • The Workflow Studio flow or action, which drives the activity's automation
    • The activity's inputs, which are the data that the activity needs to run your playbook

    Activity designers can configure the visibility of each activity input.

    Always show
    Displays the input in the properties panel.
    Show as additional property
    Displays the input in the properties panel only when playbook authors select Show additional options.
    Show as additional property for Playbook admins only
    Displays the input in the properties panel when users with the playbook.admin role select Show additional option. The input is hidden for any other users.

    Activity experience

    Each activity also has an optional activity experience. The activity experience specifies an experience type, associated record, and details for what data to render in the activity's associated playbook card. Activity experience configurations only apply to activities that you add to a playbook which has an associated Playbook user experience.
    Experience type
    An experience type defines the data, or properties, that describe how the activity renders as a playbook card at runtime. For example, a Record experience type tells the system that the activity can display a title, tagline, description, footer, and service level agreement (SLA) information in the Playbook card when your activated playbook runs. For more information, see UI Layouts.
    Associated record
    The associated record defines the record whose data can render within a Playbook card at runtime. The associated record is dynamic, which means that it changes frequently as the playbook progresses. Because of this dynamic nature, you may want to use the data pill picker (Data pill picker) to map the associated record to output record data within the underlying subflow or action specified in the automation plan.
    Data to render in the Playbook card
    You can specify the data to render in the Playbook card in the sections under the Associated Record section. To add dynamic data to fields that render in this user-facing view, use the data pill picker Data pill picker next to a data field and navigate, or dot-walk, to the appropriate data pill. The data pill should point to data within the subflow or action specified in the activity definition's automation plan.
    Note:
    An activity experience contains many sections where you can specify the data to appear within the Playbook card. These sections vary depending on the experience type that you select. For example, a Record experience type has Details, Form, Attachments, and Features sections, while a Knowledge experience type has Knowledge, Details, and Features sections. For more information, see UI Layouts.
    Actions to render in the Playbook card

    You can specify the Playbook actions that you want to render in an activity's Playbook card using the Playbook Experience Action Assignment Map related list. A Playbook action displays as a button in the Playbook card's footer. Playbook actions can run server scripts, dispatch client actions, or render UI components. For more information.

    To add a Playbook action to your activity definition, select New in the Playbook Experience Action Assignment Map related list. Then, choose a Playbook action from the Action Assignment list. Next, choose a Playbook user experience that you want the Playbook action to appear in from the Playbook Experience list, and then click Submit.

    Design considerations

    Refer to these design considerations when working with activity definitions:
    Avoid calling triggered Workflow Studio flows in an activity's automation plan
    To prevent unintentionally running a flow outside of Playbooks, you can use only subflows or actions in activity automation plans. Alternatively, you can set the flow's trigger to only run if not already running. For more information, see Workflow Studio flow trigger types.
    Specify default input values in your activity definitions
    Preconfiguring default input values for your activity definitions reduces the time and complexity needed for a playbook owner to create a playbook.