Execute Action
execute_actionExecutes a ServiceNow Flow Designer action by scoped name and returns outputs. Supports synchronous mode for direct results and asynchronous mode for flows with wait steps.
Instructions
Execute a ServiceNow Flow Designer action by scoped name. Actions are the lowest-level building blocks in Flow Designer (e.g., lookup record, create task, send notification).
In foreground mode (default), the call blocks until the action completes and returns outputs directly. Actions typically complete quickly and foreground mode is usually appropriate.
Input Schema
TableJSON Schema
| Name | Required | Description | Default |
|---|---|---|---|
| instance | No | The ServiceNow instance auth alias to use. This is the alias configured via `now-sdk auth --add` (e.g., "myinstance", "prod", "test"). The user will typically refer to this by name when saying things like "on my myinstance instance". If not provided, falls back to the SN_AUTH_ALIAS environment variable. | |
| scoped_name | Yes | Scoped name of the flow/subflow/action to execute (e.g., "global.my_flow", "x_myapp_custom.create_incident_subflow"). | |
| inputs | No | Input name-value pairs to pass to the flow/subflow/action. Keys are the input variable names defined in Flow Designer. | |
| mode | No | Execution mode. "foreground" (default) runs synchronously and returns outputs when complete. "background" returns immediately with a context ID — use get_flow_context_status to poll, then get_flow_outputs or get_flow_error to retrieve results. Use background for flows with approval/wait steps. | |
| timeout | No | Timeout in milliseconds for the execution. Only applies to foreground mode. Default is the ServiceNow server default (~30s). | |
| quick | No | Skip creation of execution detail records for better performance. Default false. Use true in CI/CD or when you don't need step-level detail. | |
| scope | No | Scope context for script execution. Can be a scope name (e.g., "x_myapp_custom") or sys_id. Use when the flow is in a scoped app. |