Get started with Process Automation Designer (PAD) & Playbooks in Agent Workspace
Since there are more and more questions about the new cool feature of Process Automation Designer and its visual representation as Playbooks in Workspaces, I want to give a short introduction to get started in minutes.
A good introduction to the topic is the community article by @Lisa Holenstein. You can find there links to further ressources but in the moment a simple step-by-step guide is missing.
With the help of the following instructions, for all users who have never worked with the Process Application Designer, a simple process will be created and rendered in a playbook within the agent workspace.
The only thing you need is a few minutes of time and a PDI with a Paris version or higher.
(1) Activate required plugins
Go to System Definition > Plugins and activate the following plugins:
- Process Automation Designer Core (com.glide.pad.core)
- Process Automation Designer for App Engine (com.glide.pad.license)
- Process Automation Designer for ITSM (com.snc.itsm.playbook)
- Playbook Experience (com.glide.playbook_experience.config)
Reload the browser and check that you can find the following modules in application navigator:
(2) Enable Related List "Incident Tasks" for Workspaces
OOTB you won't see a Related List "Incident Tasks" on your Incident records at Agent Workspace and there you have to enable it:
| Open context menuSelect "Configure"Select "Related Lists" | |
|---|---|
| Choose view "Workspace"Click on "Edit this view in ITSM Workspace" | |
| Select "Incident Task -> Incident".Click on right arrow to move the selection to the selected pane.Move the related lists to a favourite position.Click "Save". |
As a result there should be a new tab "Incident Tasks" at Incident's detail view in Agent Workspace:
(3) Create a minimal process
Go to Process Automation > Process Automation Designer. In a new tab a empty process list is loaded:
To create a new process click on the corresponding button in the upper right corner and then proceed with the following steps:
| Enter a process name.Click "Select a trigger". | |
|---|---|
| Choose "Define your own conditions for when your process runs"Click into the bar "Choose the trigger type".Select "Record Create". | |
| Click on "Set your trigger conditions". | |
| Select table "Incident".Optional: Configure suitable conditions.Click on "Go to Designer". |
A process is devided into lanes which represents stages and contain the activities. Proceed with the following steps to create a first activity and publish the process:
| Click on "Add new lane" at the bottom. | |
|---|---|
| Enter a name for the lane.Leave "When to start" with option "Immediately".Click on "Save". | |
| Click on "Add an activity". | |
| Click on "Instruction". | |
| Click on "Configure activity" in the right pane. | |
| In the lower left corner of the dialog click on "Advanced view". | |
| Choose tab "Activity Experience". | |
| Scroll down and enter at field "Title" a headline for instruction card andat field "Description" the instruction itself. Note: To format the description text you can enter HTML code there. | |
| Publish your process by clicking on "Activate" in the upper right corner. | |
| Make sure that status indicator has changed to "Published". |
(4) See the process in action
Now it's time to test the process. Since the process is not kicked off until a new incident ticket is created you have to create one at Agent Workspace.
| A new tab "Playbook" should be offered.For the first activity "Handling new Incident" at stage "Intake" a card with configured headline and description is rendered.To finish the activity click on "Mark as Complete". |
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Congratulations! You have successfully created your first process!
(5) Extend process
Let's now extend the process with a little more interactivity:
| Create a new lane "Remediation"Click on "Add an activity"Choose "Automated Create Record"Click on "Configure acitivity" in the right pane. | |
|---|---|
| In the opened configuration dialog click on related link "Advanced view" and then at tab "Inputs": Select table "Incident Task".Fill the fields as shown or change as needed.With the help of the data picker you can insert fields from Incident record. | |
| At lane "Remediation" add another activity of type "Wait for Condition" and then open configuration dialog by clicking on "Configure activity" in the right pane. | |
| In the opened configuration dialog click on the related link "Advanced view" and then at tab "Inputs": Set the previously created task record by using the data pill.Select table "Incident task" and add the condition "Active = false". | |
| Switch to tab "Activity Experience" and fill in fields "Pending State Title" and "Pending State Description". Click on "Update". Don't forget to "Activate" again the process to create a new published version. | |
| Back at workspace create a new Incident, click "Mark complete" at first stage "Intake" and then see the automatically created Task record. The process can be terminated only when the task is closed. |
An important hint for your further experiments with the Process Application Designer:
Any changes to the process are only visible if it is published again and a new Incident is created afterwards.
https://www.servicenow.com/community/now-platform-articles/get-started-with-process-automation-designer-pad-playbooks-in/ta-p/2320399