Neurons Bots editor

Once you have selected the Neurons Bots trigger type on the Create Bot page, the Neurons Bots editor page displays. Use the editor to create the bot by building up the stages. Stages can be a combination of queries, with filters and actions, for the query outcomes. Learn more about Neurons Bots Stages.

How to build a bot

  1. The bot will always start with the trigger that you selected on the Neurons Bots creation page.
    You can update the Trigger settings when you set the bot from Inactive (default) to Active. You can do this now or once you have built the bot. You can also change the Trigger type from within the Trigger settings.
  2. To build the bot, add stages to the work area. You can look for stages using the search, or by expanding the Stage category to see what is available. Learn more about Stage categories.
  3. Click and drag the required stage on to the work area. Once the stage is on the work area, the following functionality is available:
    • information icon Click to display the view Stage Information panel. This panel provides a description of the stage and a list of all properties it will return, for example device name, device model, event Id, event date.
    • connector icon Click to connect the stage to another stage. This is how you connect the stages to build up the bot. Stages can have multiple connections to multiple other stages, depending on how complex you want the bot to be. Once a connector is drawn, click on the connector line to open the Connection settings.
    • cut icon Click to disconnect the stage from another stage.
    • Delete stage icon Click to delete the stage from the bot.

    You can copy (CTRL+C) any part of the workflow and paste (CTRL+V) in the work area, or between browser tabs (Chrome only).

  1. Click on a Stage to see the Stage settings. Complete the stage properties to customize the bot. Any mandatory properties are indicated by a red asterisk.
  2. Click and drag the connector icon connector icon to connect one stage to another.
  3. Once you have completed the bot by connecting all required stages, filters and actions. Select Save and publish.

    4. You can save the bot as a draft at any time, click Save draft. If you exit the editor without saving, a confirmation dialog displays. You can select to save a draft, or discard any changes you have made.
    When you save a draft, the bot name displays with my draft next to it, to indicate the draft status.

Trigger settings

A Trigger stage is the type of bot, i.e. Schedule or Custom action. It is always the first stage in the bot editor.

To edit Trigger settings, click on the Trigger stage in the work area to open the Trigger settings panel. You can edit Trigger settings only if the Trigger status is Active.

The available settings depend on the trigger type:

  • Target group(s): Select the target groups to run the bot against.
  • Target scope: Select a percentage, in 10 unit intervals, between 10% to 100%. The scope randomly selects a number of devices within the target group, it does not detect whether the devices are online or offline.

A minimum of one device will always be selected, regardless of the percentage threshold.

  • Device run behavior: There are two options to choose from:
    • Run for online devices - Choose this option to run the scheduled bot only on devices that are currently online.
    • Run for online devices and queue offline devices to run when next online - Choose this option to run the scheduled bot on online devices. For offline devices, the tasks are queued and will run when they come online.
      If you choose this option, then specify the Days to wait before timeout. Enter the number of days to wait for the device to come online. If the device does not come online within the specified time period, the run request times out. The Maximum waiting period is 28 days.
    • Click Run to start the action.

  • Toggle the Schedule mode to select between basic and advanced schedule functionality.

    Basic settings keep scheduling simple. The schedule is recurring and offers the options of Daily or Weekly. The repeat interval can be specified in minutes, hours, or weeks.

  • Repeat: Select whether the schedule is to repeat; daily or weekly.
  • Frequency: Select the schedule frequency unit; minutes or hours.
  • Interval: Select the interval from 30 to 55, in 5 unit intervals.
  • Start: Select the start date and time of the first scheduled run.
  • End: Select the end date and time of the last scheduled run.

    Advanced settings provide additional options such as specific days to include and a monthly schedule, to give more control over the schedule. This schedule will run until the schedule trigger is set to inactive. To start with advanced mode, select the Advanced schedule settings and the Schedule settings section appears.

  • Repeat: Select whether the schedule is to repeat daily, weekly, or monthly. The following options are dependent on the selection of daily/weekly/monthly options.

    For Daily:

  • Days of the week: You can select every day of the week, Monday to Friday, Saturday to Sunday, or a user defined.

  • Days: If you select the user-defined option in the previous field, then you must select the days for this bot to run.

  • Every: Select the hours so that bots can run. By default, it is set to 3 hours.

    For Weekly:

  • Every: You can select any number of days in a week.

    For Monthly:

  • Frequency: Select the schedule frequency options: day of the month, week of the month, or monthly occurrence. The following options are dependent on the selection of frequency options.

    • Day of the month: You can select any date of the month to run the bot.

    • Week of the month: You can select the first, second, third, fourth, or last week of the month.

    • Day of the week: Once you select the week of the month, you need to select the day of the week to run the bot.

    • Monthly interval: You can select every month, every 3 months, or every 6 months as the monthly interval. Or if you select User defined option, then you get to select any month or multiple months in the Months field.

    • Starting in month: If you chose every 3 months or every 6 months as a monthly interval, then you need to select a starting month from January to December.

  • In the Overview you can see your settings overview; it gives you an estimation of how the bots will run.

  • Click OK to activate the advanced schedule settings.

For basic settings, the bot will automatically run once you save and publish the bot, but for advanced settings, this does not occur.

Bot inputs: If any bot inputs have been defined for this bot they will appear here for you to set.

Device view published options

Single device: Toggle On to enable the custom action for a single device in Devices. Once enabled, the bot can be run on a single selected device in Devices. This is the default setting.

When the bot is queued, it runs only against the devices that have been selected.

To use the device run behavior option on a single device:

  1. Go to Main menu > Devices.
    The Devices page appears.

  2. Click the desired device.
    The device Overview tab appears

  3. In the Actions panel, click the run for the Device run behavior option.
    The Device run behavior dialog appears. There are two options to choose from:

    • Run for online devices - Choose this option to run the custom actions only on devices that are currently online.
    • Run for online devices and queue offline devices to run when next online - Choose this option to run the custom actions immediately on online devices. For offline devices, the tasks are queued and will run when they come online.
      If you choose this option, then specify the Days to wait before timeout. Enter the number of days to wait for the device to come online. If the device does not come online within the specified time period, the run request times out. The Maximum waiting period is 28 days.

  4. Click Run to start the action.

Multiple devices: Toggle On to enable the custom action for multiple devices in Devices. Once enabled the bots can be run on multiple selected devices in Devices.

To use the device run behavior option on multiple devices:

  1. Go to Main menu > Devices.
    The Devices page appears.

  2. Select the desired devices. You must choose at least two devices to get the Custom Action button.

  3. Click the Custom Actions button.
    The Custom Action window appears.

  4. Click the run for the Device run behavior option.
    The Device run behavior dialog appears. There are two options to choose from:

    • Run for online devices - Choose this option to run the custom actions only on devices that are currently online.
    • Run for online devices and queue offline devices to run when next online - Choose this option to run the custom actions immediately on online devices. For offline devices, the tasks are queued and will run when they come online.
      If you choose this option, then specify the Days to wait before timeout. Enter the number of days to wait for the device to come online. If the device does not come online within the specified time period, the run request times out. The Maximum waiting period is 28 days.

  5. Click Run to start the action.

Users who want to start custom actions at Devices must have a role with the Perform Custom Actions permission and/or the Perform Custom Actions on Multiple Devices permission. For more information about Roles and Permissions, see Access Control.

One of the published options must be enabled, otherwise the bot will not be published as a custom action in Devices.

Device view user access

Select access scope:

  • Everyone: Select Everyone to allow all the users with Perform Custom Actions permission and/or the Perform Custom Actions on Multiple Devices permission to view and run the bot from Devices.

  • Roles: Select one or more roles that have Perform Custom Actions permission and/or the Perform Custom Actions on Multiple Devices permission to view and run the bot from Devices.

  • Users: Select Users to allow only the list of selected users to view and run the bot from devices.
    The selected users must have the Perform Custom Actions permission and/or the Perform Custom Actions on Multiple Devices permission.

To Limit user access:

  1. In the Trigger settings, set the Trigger status toggle to Active.
  2. Select Limit user access.
    The User access page displays.
  3. On the User access page, select Add user.
    The Add users panel displays.
  4. On the Add users panel, select all of the users that you want to allow access to the bot as a Custom action in Devices. This restricts all other users from accessing the bot.
  5. Select OK to confirm your selection and close the panel.
  6. The users you selected are listed on the User access page. Select Apply and close to save the changes and return to the Trigger settings.

The Custom action stage on the work area, displays Visible to which is the number of users that have access, or displays All users if no users have been specified.

Custom action name and description

  • Custom action display name: Enter a display name for the custom action. This displays in Ivanti Neurons Devices > Actions.
  • Description (optional): Enter some descriptive text for the action.

To run the custom action on Device Groups

  1. Go to Main menu > Devices > Groups > Public Groups. Select the required group.
  2. Click on the required device group from the filtered list.
  3. On the Actions panel, navigate to Custom Actions, click the play button of the required custom action.
    A dialog appears.
  4. Click Run to start the custom action against the selected device.
    The following message is displayed:
    "The bot is now running. This dialog can be dismissed, and you can continue working. You will receive a notification once the action is completed."
  5. Click Close upon receiving a completion message.

To view the results:

  1. Click the icon on the top left and click View Results.
    The Trigger History page appears.
  2. Click the value under Target count to view the detailed status of the device.

Alternatively, you can run the custom action on the device:

  1. Go to Main menu > Devices and select the devices to run the custom action.
    You must select more than one device to get the Custom Actions button.
  2. Click the Custom Actions button.
    The Custom Actions panel appears.
  3. Click the play button for the custom action that you want to run.
    The Custom Action panel lists only the custom actions that are enabled for multiple devices.

See steps 3-6 above to continue.

To run the custom action on people

  1. Go to Main menu > People. The People page appears with a list.
  2. Click on the name of the desired user. Alternatively, search for the user.
    The user page appears.
  3. Click Actions to open the Actions panel.
  4. On the Actions panel, navigate to Custom Actions, click the play button of the required custom action.
    The Bot inputs dialog appears.
  5. Enter the input and click Run to start the custom action against the selected user.
    The following message displays:
    "The bot is now running. This dialog can be dismissed, and you can continue working. You will receive a notification in the Ivanti Neurons tray when the action has been completed."
  6. Click Close upon receiving the completion message.

Alternatively, you can run the custom action on multiple users:

  1. Go to Main menu > People. Select the users to run the custom action.
    You must select more than one user to use the Custom Actions button.
  2. Click the Custom Actions button.
    The Custom Actions panel appears.
  3. On the Actions panel, click the play button for the custom action that you want to run.
    The Bot inputs dialog appears.

The Custom Action panel lists only the custom actions that are enabled for multiple users.

See steps 4-5 above to continue.

Connection settings

Click on a connector line to open the Connection panel.

Condition

A connector line condition can help to filter endpoints as they progress through the stages. For multiple type stages the connector condition does not remove result elements, so no data is modified.

  • Link enabled: Select to allow downstream stages to run and to optionally specify conditions, appearance, and labels for the connection. Disabling the toggle deactivates the connection regardless of any condition specified, and downstream stages will not execute. The visual appearance of the connection in the workflow updates according to this setting. This circuit-breaker functionality may be useful while designing or troubleshooting a bot.

    When a link is disabled, all the current conditions, labels, and line styles of the connection automatically persisted. Enabling the toggle on a connection at any time automatically restores all those settings to the connection, even if you have saved, exited, and later reopened a bot.

  • Has condition: Select to use a condition to determine what endpoints continue to the next bot stage.
    • Has automatic description: Select to display the condition parameters on the connector line. Displays in the language as configured in the Ivanti Neurons logged in profile.
    • How many must be true?: Select All (and), or, One (or). Only applicable if you Add more than one condition.
    • Pick value: Select the condition value.
    • Results match: Select All or One. Only applicable if connected to a multiple type stage.
    • Select operator: Select the condition operator. Dependent on the selected value.
    • Custom value: Select the custom value for the selected operator. Dependent on the selected operator.

Appearance

You can customize the connector line type, style, line thickness, link style, and color.

Labels

Labels can be added to the connector lines. Select Add Label to create a new label. You can customize the label by position, fill, outline, and text color. Select Remove Label to delete the label from the connector line.

Bot inputs

Bot inputs are created in the bot editor for use in a bot if you have a choice of action that can be taken. So you could have a general bot, but allow the analyst to select what action to take at time of running.

For example, on a Disk Clean Action you could have reclaim disk space field with options such as; delete temp files and make onedrive content cloud only, or, delete temp files and perform cleanmgr, or, do both.

You can configure the name, type, and default value of the input field, and whether it is optional or mandatory.

The bot inputs can be used when you select to manually run the custom action from the devices view or through Run Now. The inputs can also be used for a schedule bot, in this case, any bot inputs that have been created will display in the Trigger settings

  1. In the Neurons Bots editor page, select Define inputs to open the Define inputs panel.
  1. Select Add input to display the fields to create a new input.
  1. Name: The display name of the input field.
  1. Type: The type of input required for the field. Select from:
    • Text/String: Select to create a free text field.
    • Number: Select to create a numeric value field.
    • True/False: Select to create a True or False selection field.
    • Date: Select to create a Date field, uses the date picker.
    • Text Options: Select to create Option fields. If selected, you need to define what the choices are, enter a Choice Name and Choice Value, the name is the friendly display name and the value is the string passed through the bot. You can add multiple choices.
  1. Optional: Select whether the field is to be optional or not.
  1. Default Value: Set the default value for the input. The options you have in the default value are dependent on the Type of input you selected.

Define variables

Define a variable at bot level. This variable is then updated when using the Set Variable, Common stage.

Learn more about Set Variable stage and Stage Variables

  1. In the Neurons Bots editor page, select Define variables.
  1. Select Add variable to display the variable fields.
  1. Name: Enter a name for the variable. When using the Set variable stage this is the name listed in the Pick variable drop-down.
  1. Type: You can select a different set of variables for Devices and People.
    • Devices: Select the type of variable from the following:
      • Text/String
      • Number
      • True/False
      • Date
      • Text Options
    • People: Select the type of variable from the following:
      • Person's Job Title
      • Person's Location
      • Person's Manager
      • Person's Department
      • Person's Email
      • Person's Name

      You can run a bot against the static people group(s) available from the list.

  2. Initial Value: Set the initial value for the variable. The entry will be dependent on the Type of variable you selected.

Running a section of a bot

You must select at least two stages to enter in test mode. You can either Shift+Click+drag or hold Ctrl and double-click to select the stages. Once you have selected the stages, on the right-hand side, the Run stages against a device section appears.

It allows users to selectively execute a specific part of a bot’s workflow for efficient debugging, testing, and issue analysis without running the entire bot. It allows users to inspect real-time logs, variable states, and intermediate outputs, helping isolate errors and validate fixes quickly. With replay capabilities, it ensures stability while optimizing development and troubleshooting.

In the “Run stages against a device” section, you must select the device where you want to run the test in the Pick device field and fill out any other inputs that are required by the stages.

Once you fill in all the inputs, click Run, which creates a new workflow. It grays out the unselected workflow, and it runs only on those stages that you've selected.

Related topics

Neurons Bots Stages

Neurons Bots Results