Look Up Records activity

---
title: Look Up Records activity
description: Find system records that match a set of conditions.
locale: en-US
canonical_url: https://www.servicenow.com/docs/r/australia/build-workflows/workflow-studio/look-up-records-activity.html
release: australia
product: Workflow Studio
classification: workflow-studio
topic_type: reference
last_updated: "2026-09-10"
reading_time_minutes: 2
breadcrumb: [Non-Interactive activities, Playbooks reference, Playbooks, Workflow Studio, Build workflows]
---

# Look Up Records activity

Find system records that match a set of conditions.

## Roles and availability

-   This activity is available as a common activity. Users with the admin, playbook.admin, or pd\_author can add this activity to a playbook.

## Inputs

Open the activity properties panel and configure your activity to add values for the following inputs. If the input value varies, use the pill-picker to show where to get the value. To learn more about the pill-picker, see .

<table id="table_ajt_sr3_plb"><thead><tr><th>

Input

</th><th>

Type

</th><th>

Description

</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>

Label

</td><td>

String

</td><td>

Title to display as activity and playbook card.

</td></tr><tr><td>

Description

</td><td>

String

</td><td>

Information to display about activity usage or outcome.

</td></tr><tr><td>

Run condition

</td><td>

Condition Builder

</td><td>

Conditions that must be met to run an activity or stage. You can use data from prior activities to build conditions.**Note:** Select **Show additional options** to see this field.

</td></tr><tr><td>

Start Rule

</td><td>

Choice

</td><td>

Under **Schedule** &gt; **Start Rule**, select a start rule for when your stage should start running:-   **When process starts**: Your stage starts running as soon as the playbook starts.
-   **After specific stages**: Your stage starts running after specified stage\(s\) have finished running.

Under Schedule &gt; Start Rule, select a start rule for when your activity should start running:-   **When stage starts**: Your activity starts running as soon as its stage starts running. Your stage starts running when your playbook is triggered.
-   **After specific activities**: Your activity starts running after specified activities have finished running.

</td></tr><tr><td>

Start with delay

</td><td>

True/False

</td><td>

Option to wait for a duration of time before running an activity or stage. When enabled, this input displays the [Start with delay input properties](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ServiceNow/ServiceNowDocs/australia/markdown/australia/build-workflows/workflow-studio/start-with-delay-properties.md).**Note:** Select **Show additional options** to see this field.

</td></tr><tr><td>

Table

</td><td>

Table Name

</td><td>

Table whose records you want to look up.

</td></tr><tr><td>

Conditions

</td><td>

Condition Builder

</td><td>

Criteria that you want your list of records to meet.

</td></tr></tbody>
</table>## Advanced inputs

After configuring the required inputs for your activity, you can also choose to configure additional inputs. In the side panel, select **Show additional options** to display these advanced inputs. For more information, see [Activity experience](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ServiceNow/ServiceNowDocs/australia/markdown/australia/build-workflows/workflow-studio/activity-definitions.md).

|Input|Type|Description|
|-----|----|-----------|
|Order by|String|Field you want to use to sort a list of records.|
|Sort Type|Choice|Option to sort records alphabetically or reverse alphabetically.|
|Max Results|Integer|Maximum number of results to display to end users.|

## Outputs

These outputs can provide data to other activities in your playbook. You can access this data as activity inputs when you configure your activity:

|Output|Type|Description|
|------|----|-----------|
|Records|Records|References to the records that meet your specified conditions|
|Count|Integer|Number of records found|