This skill should be used when the user asks to "create flow", "Flow Designer", "workflow automation", "subflow", "action", "flow trigger", "scheduled flow", or any ServiceNow Flow Designer development.
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name: flow-designer description: This skill should be used when the user asks to "create flow", "Flow Designer", "workflow automation", "subflow", "action", "flow trigger", "scheduled flow", or any ServiceNow Flow Designer development. license: Apache-2.0 compatibility: Designed for Snow-Code and ServiceNow development metadata: author: groeimetai version: "1.0.0" category: servicenow tools:
- snow_query_table
- snow_find_artifact
- snow_execute_script_with_output
Flow Designer Patterns for ServiceNow
Flow Designer is the modern automation engine in ServiceNow, replacing legacy Workflows for new development.
Flow Designer Components
| Component | Purpose | Reusable |
|---|---|---|
| Flow | Main automation process | No |
| Subflow | Reusable flow logic | Yes |
| Action | Single operation (Script, REST, etc.) | Yes |
| Spoke | Collection of related actions | Yes |
Flow Triggers
Record-Based Triggers
Trigger: Created
Table: incident
Condition: Priority = 1
Trigger: Updated
Table: incident
Condition: State changes to Resolved
Trigger: Created or Updated
Table: change_request
Condition: Risk = High
Schedule Triggers
Trigger: Daily
Time: 02:00 AM
Timezone: America/New_York
Trigger: Weekly
Day: Monday
Time: 08:00 AM
Service Catalog Triggers
Trigger: Service Catalog
Catalog Item: Request New Laptop
Flow Best Practices
1. Use Subflows for Reusability
Main Flow: Incident P1 Handler
βββ Trigger: Incident Created (Priority = 1)
βββ Action: Log Event
βββ Subflow: Notify On-Call Team β Reusable!
βββ Subflow: Create Major Incident β Reusable!
βββ Action: Update Incident
2. Error Handling
Flow: Process Integration
βββ Try
β βββ Action: Call REST API
β βββ Action: Parse Response
β βββ Action: Update Record
βββ Catch (all errors)
β βββ Action: Log Error Details
β βββ Action: Create Error Task
β βββ Action: Send Alert
βββ Always
βββ Action: Cleanup Temp Data
3. Flow Variables
// Input Variables (from trigger)
var incidentSysId = fd_data.trigger.current.sys_id;
var priority = fd_data.trigger.current.priority;
// Scratch Variables (within flow)
fd_data.scratch.approval_required = priority == '1';
fd_data.scratch.notification_sent = false;
// Output Variables (to calling flow/subflow)
fd_data.output.success = true;
fd_data.output.message = 'Processed successfully';
4. Conditions and Branches
If: Priority = Critical
Then:
- Notify VP
- Create Major Incident
- Page On-Call
Else If: Priority = High
- Notify Manager
- Escalate in 4 hours
Else:
- Standard Processing
Custom Actions (Scripts)
Basic Script Action
(function execute(inputs, outputs) {
// Inputs defined in Action Designer
var incidentId = inputs.incident_sys_id;
var newState = inputs.target_state;
// Process
var gr = new GlideRecord('incident');
if (gr.get(incidentId)) {
gr.setValue('state', newState);
gr.update();
// Set outputs
outputs.success = true;
outputs.incident_number = gr.getValue('number');
} else {
outputs.success = false;
outputs.error_message = 'Incident not found';
}
})(inputs, outputs);
Script Action with Error Handling
(function execute(inputs, outputs) {
try {
var gr = new GlideRecord(inputs.table_name);
gr.addEncodedQuery(inputs.query);
gr.query();
var records = [];
while (gr.next()) {
records.push({
sys_id: gr.getUniqueValue(),
display_value: gr.getDisplayValue()
});
}
outputs.records = JSON.stringify(records);
outputs.count = records.length;
outputs.success = true;
} catch (e) {
outputs.success = false;
outputs.error_message = e.message;
// Flow Designer will catch this and route to error handler
throw new Error('Query failed: ' + e.message);
}
})(inputs, outputs);
REST Action Example
Configuration
Action: Call External API
Connection: My REST Connection Alias
HTTP Method: POST
Endpoint: /api/v1/tickets
Headers:
Content-Type: application/json
Authorization: Bearer ${connection.credential.token}
Request Body:
{
"title": "${inputs.short_description}",
"priority": "${inputs.priority}",
"reporter": "${inputs.caller_email}"
}
Parse Response: JSON
Response Handling
// In a Script step after REST call
var response = fd_data.action_outputs.rest_response;
if (response.status_code == 201) {
outputs.external_id = response.body.id;
outputs.success = true;
} else {
outputs.success = false;
outputs.error = response.body.error || 'Unknown error';
}
Subflow Patterns
Notification Subflow
Subflow: Send Notification
Inputs:
- recipient_email (String)
- subject (String)
- body (String)
- priority (String, default: "normal")
Actions:
1. Look Up: User by email
2. If: User found
- Send Email notification
- Output: success = true
3. Else:
- Log Warning
- Output: success = false
Approval Subflow
Subflow: Request Approval
Inputs:
- record_sys_id (Reference)
- approver (Reference: sys_user)
- approval_message (String)
Actions:
1. Create: Approval record
2. Wait: For approval state change
3. If: Approved
- Output: approved = true
4. Else:
- Output: approved = false
- Output: rejection_reason = comments
Flow Designer vs Workflow
| Feature | Flow Designer | Workflow |
|---|---|---|
| Interface | Modern, visual | Legacy |
| Reusability | Subflows, Actions | Limited |
| Testing | Built-in testing | Manual |
| Version Control | Yes | Limited |
| Integration Hub | Yes | No |
| Performance | Better | Slower |
| Recommendation | Use for new development | Maintain existing only |
Debugging Flows
Flow Context Logs
// In Script Action
fd_log.info('Processing incident: ' + inputs.incident_number);
fd_log.debug('Input data: ' + JSON.stringify(inputs));
fd_log.warn('Retry attempt: ' + inputs.retry_count);
fd_log.error('Failed to process: ' + error.message);
Flow Execution History
Navigate: Flow Designer > Executions
Filter by: Flow name, Status, Date range
View: Step-by-step execution details
Common Patterns
Pattern 1: SLA Escalation Flow
Trigger: SLA breached (Task SLA)
Actions:
1. Get: Task details
2. Get: Assignment group manager
3. Send: Escalation email
4. Update: Task priority
5. Create: Escalation task
Pattern 2: Approval Routing
Trigger: Request Item created
Actions:
1. If: Amount < $1000
- Auto-approve
2. Else If: Amount < $10000
- Request: Manager approval
3. Else:
- Request: VP approval
- Wait: 3 business days
- If timeout: Escalate to CFO
Pattern 3: Integration Sync
Trigger: Scheduled (every 15 minutes)
Actions:
1. Call: External API (get changes)
2. For Each: Changed record
a. Look Up: Matching local record
b. If exists: Update
c. Else: Create
3. Log: Sync summary
Performance Tips
- Use conditions early - Filter before expensive operations
- Limit loops - Set max iterations on For Each
- Async where possible - Don't block on slow operations
- Cache lookups - Store repeated queries in scratch variables
- Batch operations - Group similar updates together
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