Create an activity with Now Assist

Create activities from text instructions and preview options by using the Now Assist for RPA Hub application. Activities provide modularity to an automation project in RPA Desktop Design Studio.

시작하기 전에

Set up the RPA Desktop Design Studio application and add the ServiceNow instance details. For more information, see Set up RPA Desktop Design Studio.

To access the Now Assist for RPA Hub feature in RPA Desktop Design Studio, perform the following steps:

• Install the Now Assist for RPA Hub application to add the generative AI capability. For more information, see Configure Now Assist for RPA Hub.
• Turn on the RPA bot generation skill to use the generative AI capability. For more information, see Turn on the RPA bot generation skill.
• After activating the RPA bot generation skill, relaunch the RPA Desktop Design Studio application to apply the modified settings.

If you skip these steps, the Now Assist for RPA Hub feature doesn’t appear in RPA Desktop Design Studio.

Familiarize yourself with the RPA bot generation skill concepts. For more information, see Robotic Process Automation (RPA) bot generation.

Role required: sn_rpa_fdn.rpa_developer or sn_rpa_fdn.rpa_admin

이 태스크 정보

Activities are a reusable set of instructions that are designed for an automation on the Design surface of RPA Desktop Design Studio. Activities are used to segregate the entire automation into smaller chunks for easier comprehension of the automation logic.

You can design automation workflows in an activity on the Design surface by using various components.

Each activity contains two components by default: Start and End. These components can't be deleted because they’re the starting and ending points of the activity.

You can reuse each activity multiple times within the same automation project by dragging the activity to the Design surface. You can also import activities in different automation projects.

To create an activity manually, see Create and use an activity in RPA Desktop Design Studio.

프로시저

1. In the Project Explorer pane of RPA Desktop Design Studio, navigate to Activities.
   The Activities section lists all the activities that are created in each project. By default, a Main activity is created when a new project is initiated. The automation execution starts from the startup activity, in this case, Main activity, as shown in the following example.

   그림 1. Example: Activity in RPA Desktop Design Studio

   

2. In the Project Explorer pane, right-click Activities and select New activity using Now Assist.

   그림 2. Create an activity using Now Assist

   

3. In the New activity window, enter the Now Assist instructions.

   The instruction text is used by the RPA bot generation skill to create your automation. Use short, direct, and clear sentences to describe the expected actions. Be specific and provide detailed descriptions of the automation logic. Avoid jargon and abbreviations.

   The following example shows that the Now Assist instructions are provided to build an automation to trigger a flow designer, retrieve the output, and insert it into an existing Microsoft Word document.

   그림 3. Example: New activity window

   

   주:

   For more information on example instructions and general guidelines for writing Now Assist instructions, see Robotic Process Automation (RPA) bot generation. For more information about the limitations of the RPA bot generation skill, see Limitations of Robotic Process Automation (RPA) bot generation skill.

4. Select Generate preview.
5. 옵션: In the New Activity window, regenerate a preview, clear a workflow, cancel an automation, or add an activity.
   주:

   You can't make any changes In the Activity preview screen because it's read-only. You can maximize it and use scroll options to view the entire generated automation workflow.

   If your instruction generates a workflow with components that aren’t compatible with the current project type, those components show up as unknown in the generated workflow. For example, if your workflow includes a GracefulStop component and if the current project is attended automation, the GracefulStop component appears as unknown because it’s not supported in the attended automations.

   그림 4. Example: New activity options

   

   Option	Procedure
   Regenerate preview	If the generated automation preview doesn’t meet your needs, you can update the Now Assist instructions, and select Regenerate preview. Each time you build or rebuild an automation, the operation counts as an assist tracked by your Now Assist subscription. To track your Now Assist usage, see Monitoring Now Assist usage in Subscription Management.
   Clear	If you want to clear the workflow that was created by the Now Assist instructions, select Clear and then select Yes in the Confirm clear automation window.
   Cancel	If you want to stop creating an automation and return to the design surface, select Cancel. In the Confirm cancel window, select Yes to return to the previous screen. The added content isn’t saved.
   Add activity	If the automation preview looks good, select Add activity. 중요사항: The automation is generated by Now Assist. Be sure to check it for accuracy and make any edits before running. Close the displayed message for a clearer view. 그림 5. Example: Automation workflow on the design surface

결과

The automation flow is added as a New Activity in Activities.

다음에 수행할 작업

For more actions on the activity, see Create and use an activity in RPA Desktop Design Studio.