Playbook terminology

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  • Updated March 12, 2026
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    Summary of Playbook Terminology

    A playbook is a structured workflow that guides users through business processes by visualizing tasks and providing step-by-step guidance. It consists of multiple stages, activities, and triggers that are configured in Workflow Studio.

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    Key Features

    • Trigger: Initiates playbook execution based on specific conditions, such as record creation or updates. Configured in Workflow Studio.
    • Stage: Groups related tasks within a playbook, allowing for logical sequencing of activities. Stages can contain manual and automated tasks, added in Workflow Studio.
    • Activity: Represents individual steps within the playbook that users complete, which can be manual or automated. Activities are organized within stages.

    Playbook UI Components

    Customer service agents use various UI components in the CSM Configurable Workspace to interact with playbooks:

    • Playbook Picker: Allows users to select from multiple playbooks associated with a record.
    • Stage Picker: Displays all stages in the playbook, showing the user's current progress.
    • Horizontal Stage Picker: Shows stages at the top of the page, highlighting the current stage and its activities.
    • Vertical Stage Picker: Lists stages and activities on the side, expanding the current stage for visibility.
    • Activity Picker: Displays activities within the current stage, indicating their status.
    • Activity Viewer: Shows details for the current activity where users perform tasks.
    • Activity Card: Provides a detailed view of the current activity for users to complete their work.

    Key Outcomes

    By understanding playbook terminology and structure, ServiceNow customers can effectively utilize playbooks to streamline workflows, enhance task management, and improve the overall efficiency of business processes.

    Use the following list of terms to gain an understanding of playbook structure, tools, and configuration.

    A playbook is an end-to-end workflow that includes the steps, strategies, and guidance to lead users through a business process. A playbook:
    • VISUALIZES a workflow in a task-oriented view and guides users through sequences of tasks.
    • INCLUDES a series of steps that a user must complete to achieve a particular goal.
    • PROVIDES guidance for completing those steps.

    Playbook structure

    A playbook contains one or more stages, or groups of tasks, and sequences of activities within each stage. A playbook also includes a trigger. The structure of a playbook is created in Workflow Studio.
    Table 1. Playbook structure
    Term Definition
    Trigger A trigger determines when a playbook starts running. Each trigger has a type and conditions that, when met, start running an activated playbook.

    The trigger type represent a record operation, such as when a record is created or updated.

    Trigger conditions determine when and how a trigger is fired.

    Triggers are created in Workflow Studio.
    Stage A stage is a sequence of activities in a playbook that are grouped in a logical way. A playbook can contain one or more stages and each stage includes one or more activities for a user to complete. Stages can also include automated activities.

    Stages are added to a playbook in Workflow Studio.
    Activity An activity is one step in the overall business process represented in a playbook. Activities are the tasks, steps, or actions that a user takes to complete a playbook. Activities are grouped in stages and are sequenced in a logical order. Users can complete or skip manual activities. Activities can also be completed automatically.

    Activities are added to playbook stages in Workflow Studio.

    Playbook UI components

    Customer service agents interact with playbooks in CSM Configurable Workspace. The record pages that display playbooks in a workspace are created or customized in UI Builder. Different components make up the playbook record pages.
    Table 2. Playbook UI components
    Term Definition
    Playbook picker A playbook picker can be used to select a playbook in the user interface. A playbook picker is available if there are multiple playbooks on a record.
    Stage picker A stage picker displays the stages in a playbook. It gives the user a complete view of the playbook and where they are within the playbook. A stage picker can be oriented horizontally or vertically and includes icons that indicate the stage status.
    Horizontal stage picker A horizontal stage picker displays the playbook stages horizontally at the top of the record page and highlights the current stage. It displays activities within the current stage in the activity picker.

    playbook horizontal stage picker with four stages: Intake, Investigate, Work in progress, Resolve
    Vertical stage picker A vertical stage picker displays the playbook stages and activities vertically on the side of the record page. It highlights and expands the current stage to display the activities within that stage.

    playbook vertical stage picker with four stages: Intake, Investigate, Work in progress, Resolve
    Activity picker The activity picker displays the activities in the current stage. It includes indicators that show the activity state.

    Activity viewer expanded to show the list of activities for the current stage. The current activity is highlighted.
    Activity viewer

    The activity viewer displays the details of the current activity. This is where a user performs the work necessary to complete the current activity.
    Activity card

    An activity card displays the details of the current activity. Users use the cards to complete the work for each activity.