Flow Designer release notes
Summarize
Summary of Flow Designer Release Notes Washington DC
The ServiceNow® Flow Designer application has been enhanced in the Washington DC release, allowing process analysts to automate tasks without coding and to create multi-step flows using reusable components. Key updates focus on improving user experience and functionality.
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Key Features
- Generative AI Integration: Create multi-step flows using generative AI and configure flow outlines with input values and data references.
- Annotations in Diagramming View: Users can add and edit annotations to enhance flow clarity.
- Content Filtering: Restrict access to sensitive information in flow execution details through content filtering rules.
- Flow Logic Enhancements: New options for exiting or skipping iterations within flow logic loops.
- Proactive Analytics Trigger: Start flows based on Performance Analytics conditions and KPI scores.
- Undo/Redo Functionality: Easily revert changes made during flow editing.
- Read-Only State for Flows: Flows open in a read-only state to prevent accidental modifications.
- Workflow Studio Integration: Flow Designer is accessible from within Workflow Studio, streamlining application updates.
Key Outcomes
With the Washington DC release, ServiceNow customers can expect enhanced automation capabilities, improved flow management, and better visibility into flow execution. The integration of AI and advanced flow logic features allows for more efficient workflow design and execution, ultimately leading to improved productivity and process optimization within their organizations.
The ServiceNow® Flow Designer application enables process analysts to automate work without having to code and to build multi-step flows from reusable components. Flow Designer was enhanced and updated in the Washington DC release.
Flow Designer highlights for the Washington DC release
- Create multi-step flows with generative AI.
- Open Flow Designer from within Workflow Studio.
- Preview and rebuild flow outlines with Now Assist
- Save flows automatically as you work on them.
- Start a flow when Performance Analytics conditions are met.
- Undo changes that you've made while editing a flow.
- Use the flow diagramming view to add annotations and Try flow logic.
See Flow Designer for more information.
New in the Washington DC release
- Annotations support in diagramming view
- Add and edit annotations in the diagramming view.
- Content filtering for flow execution details
- Restrict access to the sensitive content within the flow execution details with a content filtering rule.
- Create an action input from a step input
- Create an action input based on the data type of a step input. Map the step input value to the new action input.
- Exit Loop flow logic
- Exit from a flow logic loop when the conditions of an If flow logic are met. Continue running the flow from the next step after the flow logic loop. This flow logic is also known as break.
- FDIH Dashboard
- View the average and maximum run times of flows during the last 14 days. Use the trend data to identify the flows that are running unexpectedly.
- Flow generation
- Create multi-step flow outlines with generative AI. Flow outlines require configuration to add input values and data references.
- Generate flow execution details for all iterations of a loop.
- Create an execution settings record to generate flow execution details for all iterations of a loop rather than just the first and last iterations of a loop.
- Go back to flow logic
- Return to a prior step in the flow to repeat a sequence of actions.
- Preview and rebuild flow outlines when creating a flow with Now Assist
- See a diagram preview of the flow outline when creating a flow with Now Assist. If the generated flow preview does not meet your needs, update the text directions, and rebuild the flow outline.
- Proactive Analytics trigger
- Use Performance Analytics indicators to start a flow. Define the flow start conditions as a set of Proactive Analytics KPI scores and KPI threshold values.
- Show approver names in stage field
- Show the list of approvers assigned to a stage from a stage field. Control whether to show approvers and the maximum number of approvers to show with separate system properties.
- Skip Iteration flow logic
- Skip the current iteration of a flow logic loop when the conditions of an If flow logic are met. Continue running the flow logic loop with the next item in the list. This flow logic is also known as continue.
- Support for Retrieval Augmented Generation (RAG) with flow generation
- Generate flows from directions that refer to custom actions and subflows or content from installed spokes. Include the names of commonly used and recently published actions and subflows available on your instance in your flow generation requests.
- Try support in diagramming view
- Add and configure Try flow logic in the diagramming view.
- Undo and redo support
- Undo changes that you've made while editing a flow. Redo the changes that you’ve undone. Flow Designer only tracks changes while you're editing a flow.
- User preference for default Flow Designer view
- Set the flow diagramming view as the default Flow Designer view.
UI changes
- Flows open in a read-only state
- Flows open in a read-only state to protect them from accidental changes. Flow authors can use the Edit option when they want to change a flow.
- Highlight mandatory inputs
- Flow Designer highlights actions that have empty mandatory inputs.
- Save flow option moved
- The Save button has been removed from the Flow Designer canvas. When you’re done working on a flow, you can close the browser or flow tab.
- Undo and redo options
- Added Undo and Redo options to the Flow Designer canvas while editing a flow.
- Update Workflow Studio to update application dependencies
- As of Washington DC Patch 3, updating Workflow Studio automatically updates all of its application dependencies such as Flow Designer, Playbook, and Decision Builder. You can no longer see or update the individual application dependencies of Workflow Studio from the ServiceNow Store or the list of plugins.
- Workflow Studio support
- Flow Designer opens within Workflow Studio.
Changed in this release
- Flow execution details only record the first and last iterations of loops
- Flow execution details only record the first and last iterations of a loop. This setting reduces the amount of execution details that the instance has to generate and store. You can change this setting on a flow-by-flow basis by creating a flow execution settings record.
Deprecations
Deprecated the system property com.snc.process_flow.reporting.iteration.lastn that specifies the number of loop iterations that a flow generates execution details for. This property only applies to flows created prior to the Washington DC release. New flows only generate execution details for the first and last iterations of a loop. To report on all iterations of a loop, create a flow execution settings record for the flow instead. For more information about flow execution settings, see Flow execution settings.
Activation information
Flow Designer is a ServiceNow AI Platform feature that is active by default.