Look Up Records activity

  • Release version: Zurich
  • Updated July 31, 2025
  • 2 minutes to read
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    Summary of Look Up Records activity

    The Look Up Records activity enables ServiceNow customers to find system records that match specific conditions within a playbook. This activity helps automate the retrieval of relevant records based on criteria you define, streamlining workflows and decision-making processes.

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    This activity is available to users with the admin, playbook.admin, or pdauthor roles and can be added as a common activity in any playbook.

    Key Features

    • Inputs Configuration: Customize the activity by setting inputs including:
      • Label: A descriptive title shown on the activity and playbook card.
      • Description: Information about how the activity is used or what outcome it produces.
      • Run condition: Define conditions using previous activity data to control when the activity runs.
      • Start Rule: Choose when the activity or its stage should start, either immediately or after specified stages or activities.
      • Start with delay: Optionally delay execution by a set duration.
      • Table: Select the system table to search for records.
      • Conditions: Specify criteria that records must meet to be returned.
    • Advanced Inputs: Additional optional settings include:
      • Order by: Field to sort the returned records.
      • Sort Type: Sort records alphabetically or in reverse alphabetical order.
      • Max Results: Limit the number of records returned.

    Key Outcomes

    • The activity outputs references to the records that meet your conditions, enabling subsequent activities in the playbook to utilize this data.
    • It also provides the count of records found, allowing for conditional logic based on how many records were returned.

    By using the Look Up Records activity, ServiceNow customers can efficiently query and manipulate data within playbooks, improving automation, accuracy, and responsiveness in their workflows.

    Find system records 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.
    Table Table Name Table whose records you want to look up.
    Conditions Condition Builder Criteria that you want your list of records to meet.

    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
    Order by String Field you want to use to sort a list of records.
    Sort Type Choice Option to sort records alphabetically or reverse alphabetically.
    Max Results Integer Maximum number of results to display to end users.

    Outputs

    These outputs can provide data to other activities in your playbook. You can access this data as activity inputs when you configure your activity:
    Output Type Description
    Records Records References to the records that meet your specified conditions
    Count Integer Number of records found