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Release: Australia · Updated: 2026-03-12 · Official documentation · View source

Create a flow in Workflow Studio

Run a sequence of actions and flow logic when the trigger conditions occur.

[Omitted video] Description: Create a flow with Workflow Studio

Before you begin

  • Create or select an application to store your Workflow Studio content.
  • Role required: flow_designer or admin

About this task

Users with the flow_designer or admin role should know the application table structure and be aware of any existing business logic associated with the target tables of a flow or subflow. Be sure to disable any conflicting business rules or workflows before creating a flow or subflow.

Creating a custom application to contain your Workflow Studio content enables you to deploy the application using the application repository or the ServiceNow Store.

Procedure

  1. Navigate to All > Process Automation > Workflow Studio.

  2. From the Workflow Studio home page, select New > Flow.

  3. Select whether to build the flow with Now Assist or to build the flow from scratch.

    To build a flow with Now Assist, see Create a flow with Now Assist.

    To build a flow from scratch, continue to the next step.

  4. Select the Build from scratch tab.

  5. On the Flow Properties screen, fill in the fields.

    FieldDescription
    Flow nameName to uniquely identify your flow. The system converts the flow name into an internal name by replacing space characters with underscore characters.
    DescriptionDescription of your flow.
    ApplicationApplication scope to create your flow in. Global is the default. The application scope determines what data your flow can access and what data it can share.
    DomainDomain scope of the flow. For more information about domain separation, see Domain separation explained.
FieldDescription
ProtectionSelection to specify if the flow is read-only. You can only select a value when you create the flow in an application scope that you own.
Run as

Option to specify the user that runs the flow. You can select the system user or the user who initiates the session. Select the user who initiates the session option when updates should come from the user who triggered the flow. For example, use this option when you want the incident record comments to come from the user who started the flow. Settings for the Run as option in a flow don't apply to child subflows.

Note: By default, flows run as the user who initiates the session.

To create a flow that can run with a personal OAuth token, select the user who initiates the session option. If the user who is running the flow has a personal OAuth token, the flow runs with that token. For more information about creating a personal OAuth token, see OAuth 2.0 credentials.

When flows run as the user who initiates the session, the system limits flow actions by user ACL restrictions. Ensure that security restrictions don't prevent users who trigger the flow from performing flow actions. Flows run by the initiating user also respect user-specific settings such as date/time formats.

Note: Inbound email flows ignore this setting and always run as the user who initiates the session. To test access controls for an inbound email flow, impersonate a typical inbound email user and manually trigger the flow.

Run with rolesRoles that the flow runs with. This option is only available when Run as is set to user who initiates the session.
Flow Priority DefaultPriority level at which you want the system to run this flow by default. Options include: - Low - Medium \(Default\) - High To learn about flow priority levels, see Flow priority.

  1. Select Submit.

    Note: If this is your first time in Workflow Studio, a welcome screen appears. You can choose to either take the welcome tour or skip the tour for now.

    The system displays the Workflow Studio design environment.

  2. Create a trigger for the flow.

    Tip: You can either create a trigger for the flow or use a saved trigger. To use a saved trigger, proceed to the next step.To learn more about saved triggers, see Building triggers

    1. Under the TRIGGER section, select Add a trigger.

    2. From the Trigger list, select a trigger that will start running your flow.

      For more information on trigger types, see Workflow Studio flow trigger types.

      The system displays a set of fields depending on the type of trigger that you've selected.

    3. Set up your trigger by filling in the fields.

      For a record-based trigger, for example, select a table and set field conditions that, when met, will start running your flow.

    4. Click Done.

  3. Select a saved trigger for the flow.

    Skip this step if you have already created a trigger in the previous step.

    1. Under the TRIGGER section, select Add a trigger.

    2. From the Trigger list, under INSTALLED SPOKES, select the application under which the trigger was created.

      For example, Global.

      Workflow Studio displays a list of triggers that are in the selected application.

    3. Select the trigger.

      Depending on how the trigger is configured, you may be able to view the trigger properties or add additional conditions to the trigger.

    4. Select Done.

  4. To add actions, flows, subflows, or flow logic, select Add an Action, Flow Logic, or Subflow.

    1. Select an option.
OptionDescription
Action

Select the desired action. Workflow Studio includes Workflow Studio actions that are available to flows and subflows. Alternatively, a user with the action_designer role can create additional actions to add to flows. The and Spokes plugins install additional actions.

To add draft actions from the More Actions menu, set Show draft actions to true.

To view spokes that are available in the ServiceNow Store, set Show store spokes to true from the More Actions menu.

Note: Under Not Installed Spokes, the system displays spokes that are available in the ServiceNow Store based on compatibility with the ServiceNow version and application dependency on Workflow Studio.

Flow LogicSelect an option to specify conditional or repeated operations.
SubflowSelect a published subflow and define the input values. In addition to adding a subflow as a flow action, you can enable the Show triggered flows option from the More Actions menu to select an activated flow and define the required inputs. Running a triggered flow ignores its trigger conditions and runs all actions.
    To change the order of an action in a flow, drag the handle on the left side of the action to the desired location.

    The system displays a set of fields depending on the option that you selected.

2.  To configure the action, flow logic, or subflow, fill in the fields.

3.  Select **Done**.

4.  Repeat adding actions until complete.

  1. Select Save.

    Workflow Studio saves a draft of the flow, trigger, and actions.

What to do next

  • Test your flow until you're ready to activate it.

    Note: The system only triggers activated flows.

  • Deploy or transfer your flow to another instance.

    • Deploy your flow from the application repository when your application is complete and ready for release.
    • Transfer your flow from an update set XML file when you want to test the flow on another instance. When you save a flow, Workflow Studio generates a single update set file containing its subflows and actions.

  • Create a flow with Now Assist
    Use generative AI to create a flow from text directionsand images.

  • Create a flow with an inbound email trigger
    Start a flow when your instance receives an email.
  • Create a flow with a Kafka Message trigger
    Build a flow that processes events from a Kafka stream. Start the flow when an event is available in the specified topic.
  • Create a flow with a MetricBase trigger
    Start a flow when a MetricBase trigger is met. MetricBase triggers track time series data and can monitor when a threshold is reached, when a trend is detected, or when a system stops reporting data.
  • Create a flow with a 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.
  • Create a flow with a Service Catalog trigger
    Start a flow when a Service Catalog item is requested to automate the fulfillment process.
  • Create a flow with an SLA Task trigger
    Configure your Service Level Agreement (SLA) definition to run a flow as the action plan.
  • Create a flow with an external trigger
    Set up a flow with a base system external trigger definition. The flow responds to an event-driven external trigger from a third-party system. For example, run a flow when an issue is created in a third-party issue-tracking system.
  • Create a flow with roles
    Create a flow or subflow that runs with assigned roles. Assigning roles enables you to create a user-initiated flow that runs with its own roles rather than the user's roles.
  • Create flow Service Catalog variables
    Create Service Catalog variables that are only available to a specific Service Catalog flow. Flow-specific variables are available to catalog tasks and actions in the flow.
  • Create a decision table in a flow
    Create the structure for a decision table while you author your flow in Workflow Studio. Use data from the flow to create inputs, conditions, and results for the decision table, all in a convenient modal. For example: You can store the logic for incident assignments in a Decision Table, and then use that Decision Table within a flow.
  • Copy a flow
    Copy a flow to give it a new name and move it to another application scope.
  • Duplicate an action or subflow
    Duplicate an action or subflow within a flow.
  • Test a flow
    Before activating a flow so other users can access it, test to make certain it works the way you expect.
  • Activate a flow
    Activate a flow to make it available to run.
  • Change a flow or action's default title
    Change the default title for a flow, subflow, or action by adding styled and dynamic text.
  • Edit a flow
    Edit an existing flow.
  • Delete a flow
    Delete a flow that you no longer need.
  • View activated flows for a table
    View flows with record-based triggers that run on a specific table.

Parent Topic:Building flows