Flow Designer makes automation in ServiceNow faster and cleaner, but its real power comes from the system properties running behind the scenes. These properties help you control performance, debugging, and execution behavior.
Here are five Flow Designer system properties that can significantly boost your productivity.
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1. Enable Flow Debugging
Property: com.glide.hub.flow.debug
This property enables detailed execution logs for flows. It helps you quickly identify where a flow failed, what inputs were passed, and which action caused the issue.
Why it’s useful:
Faster troubleshooting and less guesswork during incidents or testing.
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2. Flow Execution Timeout
Property: com.glide.hub.flow.execution.timeout
Defines how long a flow is allowed to run before ServiceNow stops it.
Why it’s useful:
Prevents stuck or poorly designed flows from impacting instance performance.
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3. Enable Error Handling
Property: com.glide.hub.flow.enable_error_handling
Allows flows to catch and handle errors instead of failing silently.
Why it’s useful:
You can log errors, notify users, or trigger fallback actions automatically.
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4. Subflow Execution Mode
Property: com.glide.hub.flow.subflow.sync.enabled
Controls whether subflows run synchronously or asynchronously.
Why it’s useful:
Improves performance by running non-critical logic in the background.
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5. Flow Execution Cleanup
Property: com.glide.hub.flow.execution.cleanup.enabled
Automatically cleans up old flow execution records.
Why it’s useful:
Keeps the database clean and improves overall system performance.
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Final Thoughts
These system properties may look small, but they play a big role in the performance, reliability, and maintainability of your automations. If you’re working seriously with Flow Designer, tuning these properties is a must, not a nice-to-have.