The Cymph platform offers the ability to run playbooks without the need to defer to ticketing systems or task boards. Playbooks that contain only human-in-the loop steps (manual commands) can be submitted for execution and be tracked. Each step of the playbook can be assigned to a user. When a manual playbook is executed, a workbook is created to track progress through each step. Operators acknowledge completion of each step individually, with each action recorded along with a timestamp and the identity of the operator who performed it. Steps can be marked as completed, skipped, or failed, with an optional reason captured where relevant as well as accompanying attachments. The resulting workbook serves as an immutable audit record of the execution, preserving the full sequence of actions taken.

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Eligible playbooks

Playbooks that meet the following criteria can be submitted for execution:

• They contain only action steps that have manual commands or parallel steps
• They do not have an validation errors
• They are not revoked

Only steps that are reachable are calculated against the eligibility criteria. Steps that are isolated (not incoming connections) are ignored.

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Execution editor

Execution editor is the central place where all major actions for an execution happen. It is split into three major areas:

1. Global status and actions panel: this panel resides on the left side and contains information about the execution, allows you to view and add global notes and attachments and see an overview of the assignees
2. The top action bar which contains options to view and ad global notes, view and add global attachments, see an overview of the assignees, the status and duration of the execution, see the source playbook and finally see the action log.
3. The workflow panel. This is the panel where the steps of the execution are visualised. From here, you can change the status of each step as long as it is assigned to you or change the assignee for a non-completed step as long as you are the execution owner

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Initial assignees

When submitting a playbook for execution, the assignees of each step in the source playbook will be respected. If no user is assigned in the source playbook or the assigned user is not found, the execution owner will be assigned to that step.

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Changing step status

In order to change status of a step you must be assigned to it. Changing status can be done in two ways:

1. Via the status dropdown menu of the status node

1. Click on a node to show the details panel and change the status from the dropdown menu there

The following statuses are available for a step:

• Not Started
• Planned
• In Progress
• In Review
• Skipped
• Failed
• Completed

Marking a step as skipped requires a mandatory reason. Once you select one of these statuses, a dialog will appear Marking a step as failed also requires a mandatory reason. However, a failed step also leads to a failed execution: It stops the timer and locks the status of all steps. Steps not started or waiting for other steps will be aborted

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Allowed status transitions

The table below summarised the allowed transitions among statuses.

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Changing step assignee

If you are the execution owner, you can change assignees of a step as long the step has not finished (skipped, completed, failed, canceled) You can change a step assignee in two ways:

1. By clicking on the avatar icon of the current assignee in the step node and selecting a new one

2. By clicking on a node and change the assignees from the Assignees tab of the step details panel

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Adding notes to a step

1. Click on a step and its details panel will appear
2. Navigate to the Notes tab
3. Enter your note text and click on Add Note to add it

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Deleting a step note

If you are the author of a note, you will be able to delete it.

1. Click on the step in order for its details panel to appear
2. Navigate to the Notes tab
3. Click on the delete icon of the note you want to delete
4. Select Remove on the confirmation dialog that appears

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Editing a step note

1. Click on the step in order for its details panel to appear
2. Navigate to the Notes tab
3. Click on the edit icon of the note you want to edit
4. Edit the note contents and click on Save to save your changes

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Managing step attachments

If you want to add an attachment:

1. Click on the step in order for its details panel to appear
2. Navigate to the Attachments tab
3. Click on Add Attachment and select a file to add

If you want to download an attachment, you can click on the Download button next to the entry in the attachment list. If you own an attachment, you can also delete it by clicking on the Remove icon

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Managing global notes

Adding, editing and deleting global notes (notes for the entire execution) is similar to managing step notes. By clicking on the Notes button either from the global action panel on the left or from the top action bar, the Execution Notes drawer will open.

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Managing global attachments

Adding, editing and deleting global attachments (attachments for the entire execution) is similar to managing step notes. By clicking on the Attachments button either from the global action panel on the left or from the top action bar, the Attachments drawer will open.

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Canceling an execution

If you own an execution and if the execution is in progress, you can cancel it anytime. In order to cancel an execution:

1. Click on the More Actions button from the top action bar

2. From the dropdown menu that appears click on Cancel Execution
3. Provide a reason for cancellation in the dialog box that appears
4. Click on Mark Execution as Canceled to cancel the execution

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Executions Overview

1. Navigate to the Playbook Executions page
   • Click on Playbooks from the left menu
   • Select Playbook Executions from the navigation sidebar

From that page, you can see the list of all executions run by you as well as the ones you are participating in. By default, all executions are shown ungrouped. You can group them by status so it is easier to spot what is in progress and what is completed/failed:

1. Click on Group By Status button
2. Executions are grouped by status

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Tasks Overview

1. Navigate to the Execution Tasks page
   • Click on Playbooks from the left menu
   • Select Execution Tasks from the navigation sidebar

From that page you will be able to see:

• Overview: in this view, you will be able to see at a quick glance your tasks, their status and the recently assigned tasks to you

• My tasks: this view is a list of tasks assigned to you. You can also group by status to see the tasks grouped
• Assigned By Me: this view is a list of tasks that you assigned to either you or other users. You can also group by status to see the tasks grouped

Clicking on a task in any of the lists opens a drawer that contains the task details. This is a read-only view of the step information, notes, attachments and assignee. You can click on the Open Task in Execution button at the bottom of the panel to be redirected to the execution.