ServiceNow Flow Designer
1. Introduction
Overview of Flow Designer
ServiceNow Flow Designer is a modern, low-code tool used for building and
automating workflows across the platform. It enables users to design process
flows without requiring extensive scripting, making it accessible to both
technical and non-technical users.
Understanding ServiceNow Flow Designer
Key Benefits
• Low-code Development: Reduces reliance on scripting and speeds up
process automation.
• Reusability: Allows the creation of reusable components such as subflows
and actions.
• Improved Maintainability: Provides a visual interface to manage complex
workflows easily.
• Seamless Integration: Supports integration with external applications via
ServiceNow Spokes.
Low-code Development Benefits
2. Core Concepts
Flows
Flows are automated processes in Flow Designer consisting of triggers,
actions, and logic to perform business automation.
Actions
Actions are predefined or custom steps within a flow, such as creating a
record, sending notifications, or integrating with third-party systems.
Triggers
Triggers determine when a flow starts. Examples include:
• Record-based triggers: When a record is created, updated, or deleted.
• Scheduled triggers: Running flows at specific intervals.
• Application events: Triggered by system events.
Conditions
Conditions define logic to control the execution path within a flow, such as if-
else decisions or switch cases.
Subflows
Reusable smaller workflows that can be called within other flows to
standardize processes and reduce redundancy.
Flow Automation Structure
3. Building a Flow
Creating a New Flow
1. Navigate to Flow Designer in ServiceNow.
2. Click Create New Flow.
3. Provide a Name and Description.
4. Select the Trigger Type.
5. Click Submit to start designing the flow.
Defining Triggers
• Select Record-based triggers to initiate flows based on table changes.
• Use Scheduled triggers to run periodic processes.
• Employ Application events for event-driven automation.
Adding Actions
• Use built-in Core Actions such as record creation and approvals.
• Utilize Spokes to integrate with external applications.
• Implement Custom Actions for tailored automation.
Using Flow Variables
• Define Input Variables to pass data into a flow.
• Configure Output Variables to return data after execution.
Creating and Configuring a Flow in ServiceNow
4. Subflows
When to Use Subflows
• To standardize repetitive tasks.
• To reduce complexity in large flows.
Creating and Configuring Subflows
1. Go to Flow Designer.
2. Click Create New Subflow.
3. Define Inputs and Outputs.
4. Add necessary actions.
5. Save and publish.
Calling a Subflow from a Flow
1. In a flow, add an Action.
2. Select Subflow.
3. Choose the desired subflow and configure parameters.
Subflow Management in Flow Designer
5. Action Designer (Custom Actions)
Introduction to Action Designer
Custom actions allow developers to extend Flow Designer by creating
reusable, scripted actions.
Input/Output Variables
• Define Input Parameters to receive external data.
• Use Output Parameters to return values after processing.
Scripted Actions
To create a scripted action in Flow Designer:
Creating Scripted Actions in Flow Designer
(function execute(inputs, outputs) {
var gr = new GlideRecord('incident');
gr.initialize();
gr.short_description = inputs.short_description;
gr.urgency = inputs.urgency;
gr.insert();
outputs.record_sys_id = gr.sys_id;
})(inputs, outputs);
1. Open Action Designer.
2. Click Create New Action.
3. Define input and output variables.
4. Write Script Steps for execution.
5. Test and save the action.
6. Flow Execution & Troubleshooting
Testing and Debugging Flows
• Use Test Flow to validate functionality.
• Enable Flow Logs to track execution steps.
Flow Execution Order
Flows execute in the order defined by their trigger and action sequences.
Handling Errors and Logging
• Implement Try-Catch Blocks in scripts.
• Use Error Handling Actions to redirect failed executions.
Flow Management Process
Example of error handling:
try {
var gr = new GlideRecord('incident');
gr.get('sys_id', inputs.sys_id);
outputs.short_description = gr.short_description;
} catch (error) {
gs.error('Error fetching incident: ' + error.message);
Monitoring Flow Performance
• Utilize Flow Designer Analytics to track execution times.
• Optimize flows by reducing unnecessary actions.
7. Best Practices
Naming Conventions
• Use descriptive names for flows and actions.
• Follow consistent prefixes (e.g., "HR - Onboarding Flow").
Efficient Flow Design
• Minimize conditional branches to improve performance.
• Reuse subflows to reduce redundancy.
Reusability and Maintainability
• Use Global Variables for shared data.
• Store reusable logic in Custom Actions.
Naming and Design Guidelines
8. Use Cases & Examples
Automating Approvals
• Trigger approval processes for HR, finance, or IT service requests.
Integrating with External Systems
• Use REST API Spokes to interact with third-party services.
Example of a REST API call in Flow Designer:
var request = new sn_ws.RESTMessageV2('ExampleAPI', 'GET');
var response = request.execute();
var responseBody = response.getBody();
outputs.api_response = responseBody;
Creating Notifications and Task Assignments
• Automatically send email and mobile notifications based on flow conditions.
9. Advanced Topics
Scripting in Flow Designer
• Use Script Actions for custom logic.
• Implement Data Transforms using JavaScript.
Using Data Pills Effectively
• Extract and manipulate data from previous steps.
• Reference records dynamically in flows.
Integration with ServiceNow Spokes
• Connect with JIRA, Slack, Microsoft Teams, and other platforms.
Performance Optimization
• Use Batch Actions where possible
10. Security & Governance
Flow Designer Permissions
• Restrict flow editing to specific user roles.
• Use Scoped Applications for better control.
Restricting Access to Sensitive Data
• Implement Access Control Rules (ACLs).
• Use Data Policies to enforce restrictions.
Managing Flow Executions at Scale
• Use Instance Management Tools to monitor execution limits.
• Optimize Flow Design for large-scale automation.
