Wait For Condition activity

  • Release version: Australia
  • Updated March 12, 2026
  • 2 minutes to read
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    Summary of Wait For Condition activity

    The Wait For Condition activity pauses the execution of a playbook until specific field values in a record match predefined conditions. This activity is part of common activities available to users with the appropriate roles, such as admin, playbook.admin, or pdauthor.

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    Key Features

    • Inputs: Configure activity properties including:
      • Label: Title displayed on activity and playbook cards.
      • Description: Information about the activity's usage or outcome.
      • Run Condition: Use the Condition Builder to define when the activity or stage should run, leveraging data from prior activities.
      • Start Rule: Choose when the activity starts relative to the playbook or specific stages/activities.
      • Start with Delay: Option to set a delay before running.
      • Record Reference: Reference to the record that determines when to continue the playbook.
      • Table: Specify the table containing the record to update.
      • Conditions Template: Define criteria that must be met for the playbook to proceed.
    • Advanced Inputs: Optional settings that can be configured by selecting "Show additional options," including:
      • Enable Timeout: Option to set a timeout if conditions are not met within a specified duration.
      • Duration: Time to wait before the activity is marked as Skipped.
      • Schedule: Defines the computation of duration values for the timeout.

    Key Outcomes

    By using the Wait For Condition activity, ServiceNow customers can create more dynamic and responsive playbooks that react to changes in data as conditions are met, ultimately improving workflow automation and efficiency.

    Pause the playbook until a record has field values that match a set of conditions.

    Roles and availability

    • This activity is available as a common activity. Users with the admin, playbook.admin, or pd_author can add this activity to a playbook.

    Inputs

    Open the activity properties panel and configure your activity to add values for the following inputs. If the input value varies, use the pill-picker to show where to get the value. To learn more about the pill-picker, see Dot-walking examples.
    Input Type Description
    Label String Title to display as activity and playbook card.
    Description String Information to display about activity usage or outcome.
    Run condition Condition Builder Conditions that must be met to run an activity or stage. You can use data from prior activities to build conditions.
    Note:
    Select Show additional options to see this field.
    Start Rule Choice Under Schedule > Start Rule, select a start rule for when your stage should start running:
    • When process starts: Your stage starts running as soon as the playbook starts.
    • After specific stages: Your stage starts running after specified stage(s) have finished running.
    Under Schedule > Start Rule, select a start rule for when your activity should start running:
    • When stage starts: Your activity starts running as soon as its stage starts running. Your stage starts running when your playbook is triggered.
    • After specific activities: Your activity starts running after specified activities have finished running.
    Start with delay True/False Option to wait for a duration of time before running an activity or stage. When enabled, this input displays the Start with delay input properties.
    Note:
    Select Show additional options to see this field.
    Record Reference Reference to the record that pauses the playbook until conditions match.
    Table Table Name Table containing the record to update.
    Conditions Template Value Criteria that a record must meet for the playbook to continue.

    Advanced inputs

    After configuring the required inputs for your activity, you can also choose to configure additional inputs. In the side panel, select Show additional options to display these advanced inputs. For more information, see Activity experience.
    Input Type Description
    Enable timeout Choice Option to time out the Wait for Condition activity if the conditions aren't met after a specified Duration.
    Duration Date/Time Amount of time to wait before the activity times out and its state is set to Skipped. This input requires setting the Enable timeout input.
    Schedule Choice Schedule used to compute duration values. This input requires setting the Enable timeout input.

    Outputs

    The Wait for Condition activity has no outputs.