This page describes the ways you can execute a robotic task.

To extend automation, robotic tasks can be triggered to execute automatically in multiple ways. The method you use to execute a robotic task depends on its purpose and context. Choose one of the following options that describes your use case:

• Use the Appian RPA connected system in a process model: This integrated method is best for developers to integrate robotic tasks into a business process.
• Use the Appian RPA connected system in an interface: This method is helpful for complex workflows contained in a single interface. For example, you can use this method when a user needs to kick off a robotic task from a dashboard and see the results when it completes.
• Execute manually in the Appian RPA console: This method is best for developers while testing or debugging.

Execute a robotic task in a process model

After you set up the connected system, call an RPA integration using the Execute Robotic Process smart service from your process model to execute synchronously. Synchronous execution is useful if you want to return data from the robotic task execution and use it in subsequent nodes in the same process model.

To execute a robotic task in Appian RPA asynchronously, you can call the integration using the Call Integration smart service. When the robotic task is executed asynchronously, the process model moves to the next node whether or not the robotic task is complete, and the results aren't automatically returned.

Execute a robotic task from an interface

You can adapt the Refresh Data After Executing a Smart Service recipe to execute a robotic task and retrieve results in an interface.

Note that this recipe needs some modification to work for this purpose. After you set up the connected system and integrations, you'll call the integration rules in this recipe. Specifically, for a robotic task to start when a user clicks a button, include that Execute Robotic Task integration rule in the saveInto property. Update the status local variable to reference the Retrieve Execution Results integration rule.

Execute a robotic task manually in the Appian RPA console

You can manually execute a robotic task within the Appian RPA console. Open the robotic task's configuration and click the Execute icon. This option also appears in the Actions column in the List of robotic tasks. The Execute robotic task dialog appears:

Before you click Execute , fill in all required fields.

A warning message appears if the robotic task has any restrictions to keep it from executing, such as new executions are disabled in the console or the maximum number of simultaneous executions has been reached.

If the robotic task requires any input parameters, these appear at the top of the Execution options window. Other execution options appear below:

• Robot: Select a robot for the execution to occur. The options include robots where the robotic task has permissions to execute. By default, the first available robot is selected. The robotic task will run on the first connected robot for which it has permissions to run. This list also shows robots that are Unconnected and Connected but incompatible due to mismatched permission tags.
• Priority: If desired, change the execution priority defined in the robotic task configuration.
• Queue: If the robotic task works with a process queue, assign it manually using this field.
• Trace level: Depending on the trace level selected, information written in the Execution log will be higher or lower.
• Description: Add an optional short description of the process or execution.
• Executions to launch: Specify how many executions to launch.
• Color: If desired, change the default color for the execution, defined in the robotic task configuration.
• Debugging?: Select this checkbox to begin a debugging execution. You can debug in RPA to walk you through the workflow action-by-action and isolate where issues might arise.
• Testing?: Select this checkbox to specify that the execution is a test. This option will highlight this execution on the lists where executions are displayed.
• Capture screenshots?: Select this checkbox to capture images of the robot screen at the beginning and the end of each action.
• Enable video recording?: Select this checkbox to record a video of the execution with additional options.
• Deferred execution?: Select this checkbox to defer the execution to the chosen date and time.

After the execution finishes, see the execution details for more information.