RPA Hub actions and subflow
Summarize
Summary of RPA Hub actions and subflow
This feature enables seamless two-way integration between ServiceNow Workflow Studio and RPA Hub to streamline robot execution through actions and subflows. It allows invoking, managing, and monitoring RPA processes and work items directly within workflows, providing flexibility to automate tasks via RPA Desktop Design Studio, unattended robots, or attended robots.
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Flows and subflows are built within Workflow Studio, and can be triggered from client scripts by enabling the client callable option, enhancing interactivity and automation control.
RPA Hub Actions
RPA Hub actions provide extensive capabilities to manage work items, robot assignments, process lifecycle, execution status, and more. Each action has defined inputs and outputs to integrate smoothly with workflows.
- Add WorkItem to Queue: Adds a work item to a specified queue with encrypted sensitive data support, returning its ID and status.
- Assign/Unassign User to Attended Robot or Automation Process: Manage user assignments to attended robots or automation processes with status feedback.
- Change Life Cycle Stage Status of Bot Process: Transition bot processes through lifecycle stages like Build, Published, and In Maintenance based on user roles.
- Fetch Created Jobs and Execution Status: Retrieve details of process jobs and their execution states for monitoring purposes.
- Fetch Work Item Status: Asynchronously check the status of specific work queue items, including metadata and content.
- Start and Stop Process: Trigger or stop bot processes with options for graceful stopping and handling of robot pools, including reporting on failed robots.
- Update Process Parameter and WorkItem: Modify process parameters or update details of work queue items, supporting encrypted sensitive fields and character limits.
- Verify HashCode of Package Version: Validate the integrity of manually uploaded automation zip files by verifying their hash codes against package version records.
RPA Hub Subflows
Subflows provide reusable automation sequences to simplify common RPA Hub tasks:
- Import Package Version Attachment: Automates migration of package version attachments (automation zip files) between environments, with optional email notifications on success or failure.
- Start Process Subflow: Initiates a bot process in RPA Hub and returns comprehensive job and robot status details, treating non-running jobs as failures.
- Stop Process Subflow: Stops a bot process, optionally using graceful stop, and provides detailed status information about robots and process jobs.
Practical Benefits for ServiceNow Customers
- Enable tight integration of RPA workflows within ServiceNow for improved automation efficiency and control.
- Manage robot execution lifecycle and user assignments dynamically within workflows.
- Monitor and control work items and process jobs with detailed status and error reporting.
- Securely handle sensitive data in work items with encryption support.
- Automate deployment and migration of RPA package versions across environments with email alerts.
- Simplify bot process start/stop operations with subflows that integrate smoothly into existing workflows.
Two-way integration of actions and subflows in Workflow Studio and RPA Hub for a seamless robot execution.
Flows and actions overview
The flows and actions are built using ServiceNow Workflow Studio, so make sure you’re familiar with the Building actions in Workflow Studio and Building subflows in Workflow Studio basics.
Invoke flows or subflow
Invoke the flow or subflow via RPA Desktop Design Studio, Unattended Robot, or Attended Robot. For more information, see the topics listed in Flow Designer components.
Enable the client callable option for a flow or subflow
Enable a client script to trigger an RPA Hub flow or subflow. For more information, see Enable the client callable option on an RPA Hub flow or subflow.
RPA Hub actions
The following table shows the detailed descriptions, action inputs, and action outputs of RPA Hub actions.
| Action | Description | Action inputs | Action outputs |
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| Add WorkItem to Queue Action | Adds WorkItem in a specified queue in the RPA Hub application and returns the WorkItem ID. |
The maximum limit for Content field (Request Content and Response Content) is 8000 characters. If the Is Work Item Name Sensitive check box on the associated work queue form is selected, the data in the Request Content field is encrypted. Sensitive data with encryption is stored in the work item, so that it can be passed to the RPA Desktop Design Studio or robots. |
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| Assign User to Attended Automation Process Action | Assigns a user to the attended automation process. |
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| Assign User to Attended Robot Action | Assigns a user to the attended robot. | Username: Record |
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| Change Life Cycle Stage Status of a Bot Process Action | Changes the life cycle stage status of a bot process that is not retired. If a bot process is in Build life cycle stage status, if you have the required role, you can update it to Published state, but you cannot update it to In Maintenance. If a bot process is in Published life cycle stage status, if you have the required role, you can update it to In Maintenance state, and vice versa. |
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| Fetch Created Jobs Action | Fetches the process jobs in RPA Hub. |
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| Fetch Execution Status Action | Fetches the execution status of a specific process job in RPA Hub. | Process Job Number: String |
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| Fetch Work Item Status Action | Fetches the status of specific work queue items, asynchronously. | Work Queue Item ID: GUID |
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| Start Process Action | Triggers a specific bot process in RPA Hub and returns the status. |
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| Stop Process Action | Stops a bot process. If Graceful Stop is enabled, this action gracefully stops the bot process. |
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| Unassign User from Attended Automation Process Action | Unassigns the user from the attended automation process. |
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| Unassign User from Attended Robot Action | Unassigns the user from the attended robot and retires the attended robot. | Username: Record |
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| Update Process Parameter Action | Updates the Value field for the process parameter. |
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| Update WorkItem Action | Updates work queue items. |
The maximum limit for Request Content and Response Content fields is 8000 characters. If the Is Work Item Name Sensitive check box on the associated work queue form is selected, the data in the Request Content field is encrypted. Sensitive data with encryption is stored in the work item, so that it can be passed to the RPA Desktop Design Studio or robots. |
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| Verify HashCode of a Package Version | Verifies the HashCode of a package version in RPA Hub to validate the HashCode of the manually uploaded automation zip file with the associated package version record. For more information about verifying the HashCode of a package version, see Verify the HashCode of a package version in RPA Hub. |
Package Version: Record |
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RPA Hub subflow
The following table shows the detailed description, action input, and action output of RPA Hub subflow.
| Subflow | Description | Subflow inputs | Subflow outputs |
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| Import Package Version Attachment Subflow | Imports the package version attachments automatically for a package version. To automatically migrate the package attachment (automation zip file) from a lower (non-production) to a higher (production)
environment. For more information about importing a package version attachment in RPA Hub, see Import a package version attachment in RPA Hub. |
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After the attachment is uploaded successfully or if an error occurs while uploading the attachment, an email notification (if email is provided as an input) is sent to the user who performs this import attachment action. |
| Start Process Subflow | Triggers a specific bot process in RPA Hub. Returns process job details. |
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| Stop Process Subflow | Triggers a specific bot process to stop in RPA Hub. Returns robots details and process job status. If Graceful Stop is enabled, this subflow gracefully stops the bot process. |
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