Visual Task Board (VTB) Spoke

  • Release version: Zurich
  • Updated July 31, 2025
  • 2 minutes to read
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    Summary of Visual Task Board (VTB) Spoke

    The Visual Task Board (VTB) Spoke for ServiceNow, released in the Zurich version, enables flow designers to automate and manage Visual Task Boards through flow designer actions. These actions cover creating and customizing boards, managing lanes, cards, members, and assignees to streamline task tracking and collaboration within your organization.

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    Board Management Actions

    VTB Spoke provides actions to create and manage different types of task boards:

    • Create Freeform VTB: Generates a board with default lanes (Todo, Doing, Done) that can be modified. Inputs include board name, owner, view settings, and appearance options.
    • Create Flexible VTB: Creates a board bound to a specific Task table with default lanes, customizable similarly to Freeform boards. Inputs add task table and filtering options.
    • Create Guided VTB: Builds a data-driven board linked to a Task table with lanes derived from specific fields, providing a structured workflow. Inputs include lane field configuration.
    • Add/Remove VTB Member: Allows addition or removal of users as board members, controlling access and collaboration. Only existing members can modify membership.

    Lane Management Actions

    Lanes represent workflow stages within a board. The VTB Spoke supports managing lanes on Freeform and Flexible boards (Guided boards have fixed lanes):

    • Add VTB Lane: Adds a new lane with a specified name.
    • Rename VTB Lane: Changes the name of an existing lane.
    • Reorder VTB Lane: Adjusts the order of lanes to reflect workflow priorities.
    • Delete VTB Lane: Removes an existing lane from the board.

    Card Management Actions

    Cards represent individual tasks within lanes. Actions enable managing cards and their assignments:

    • Create VTB Card: Adds a task card to a Freeform board lane.
    • Assign VTB Card: Assigns a user to a specific card.
    • Move VTB Card: Moves a card between lanes. For Flexible boards, underlying task state is updated; for Guided boards, the associated task field changes accordingly.
    • Remove Assignee from VTB Card: Removes a user assignment from a card.

    Practical Benefits for ServiceNow Customers

    These VTB Spoke actions empower you to integrate task board management into automated workflows, enhancing visibility and control over task progress. By programmatically creating boards, lanes, and cards, and managing membership and assignments, you can tailor task tracking to your team’s processes, improve collaboration, and reduce manual overhead.

    Provides VTB actions for flow designers to manage the boards, lanes, cards, board members, and assignees.

    Table 1. Board Management Actions
    Action Description Action Inputs Action Outputs
    Create Freeform VTB Action Creates a Freeform VTB for any task type. The default lanes are: Todo, Doing, and Done. These lanes can be modified with actions: Add Lane, Rename Lane, Reorder Lane, and Delete Lane
    • Name
    • Board Owner
    • Default view
    • Label visibility
    • Picker visibility
    • Background color
    		 Board record
    Create Flexible VTB Action Creates a Flexible VTB bound to a single Task table. The default lanes are: Todo, Doing, and Done. These lanes can be modified with actions: Add Lane, Rename Lane, Reorder Lane, and Delete Lane
    • Name
    • Task table
    • Filter
    • Board Owner
    • Default view
    • Label visibility
    • Picker visibility
    • Background color
    		 Board record
    Create Guided VTB Action Creates a data-driven VTB bound to a single Task table along with the fields the lanes are derived.
    • Name
    • Task table
    • Land field
    • Filter
    • Board Owner
    • Default view
    • Label visibility
    • Picker visibility
    • Background color
    		 Board record
    Add VTB Member Action Add a user to a VTB. Only members of the VTB can access the board, Any VTB member can add other members.
    • Board record
    • User record
    		 N/A
    Remove VTB Member Action Remove a user from a VTB. Only members of a VTB can access the board. Any VTB member can remove other members.
    • Board record
    • User record
    		 N/A
    Table 2. Lane Management Actions
    Action Description Action Steps State
    Add VTB lane Add a lane to a Freeform or Flexible VTB. This action does not apply to Guided boards, which are constrained to fixed lanes based on fields configured.
    • Board record
    • Lane name
    		 VTB lane record
    Rename VTB Lane Rename an existing lane on a Freeform or Flexible VTB.
    • Lane record
    • New lane name
    		 N/A
    Reorder VTB Lane Reorder lanes on any VTB.
    • Lane record
    • New lane name
    		 N/A
    Delete VTB Lane Delete an existing lane from a Freeform or Flexible VTB. Lane record N/A
    Table 3. Card Management Actions
    Flow/Action Description Action Steps State
    Create VTB Card Create a VTB card on a Freeform board for a task.
    • Lane record
    • Task record
    		 Card record
    Assign VTB Card Assign a user to a VTB card.
    • Card record
    • User record
    		 N/A
    Move VTB Card Move a VTB card from one lane to another lane.
    Note:
    For Flexible boards, use the Update Record action to change the state of the underlying task. For Guided boards, this action changes the field on the task associated with that card.
    • Card record
    • Lane record
    		 N/A
    Remove Assignee from VTB Card Remove an assignee from a card. Card record N/A