> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://cortex-docs.paloaltonetworks.com/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://cortex-docs.paloaltonetworks.com/cortex-agentix/configure-cortex-agentix/automations/playbooks.md).

# Playbooks

Playbooks are a series of tasks that run in a predefined flow. They save time and improve investigation and response outcomes. They automate security processes, including investigations and ticket management. For example, a task can parse an issue or a PDF attachment. Playbooks also standardize incident response workflows.

{% hint style="warning" %}

### Prerequisite

To work with playbooks, an administrator must configure their user role with specific RBAC permissions.

* Permissions must be enabled in the following order:

1. **Scripts**: Under **Investigation & Response** → **Automations**, set this component to **Enabled** first. It is required for all automation. Without it, you cannot configure **Playbooks** or **Cases and Issues**. Role permissions control script creation and edits to **Public** scripts.
2. **Playbooks**: Under **Investigation & Response** → **Automations**, set this component to **Enabled**. Role permissions control playbook creation and edits to **Public** playbooks. Object-level permissions control access to individual custom playbooks and scripts. See [Access to playbooks](/cortex-agentix/configure-cortex-agentix/automations/playbooks/access-to-playbooks.md).
3. **Cases and Issues**: After enabling **Scripts** and **Playbooks**, set this permission under **Cases & Issues** to **View** or **View/Edit**. This permission is required to view playbook results within a case.

* **Credentials**: While not required to open the Playbook Editor, a minimum of **View** permissions for **Credentials** is required to select or reference stored secrets within playbook tasks. If your role has the **Credentials** permission set to **None**, you will be unable to select credentials from dropdown menus. Furthermore, any task that attempts to retrieve a credential to authenticate an integration command will fail during execution because the system cannot fetch the secret under your role's restricted context.
* **Restricting playbook access**: To completely restrict playbook access, first set the **Cases and Issues** RBAC permission to **None** and then set the **Playbooks** permission to **Disabled**.
  {% endhint %}

### Automation Engineer agent for playbook development (preview)

Use the AI-powered Automation Engineer agent to simplify playbook creation and management through an intuitive, interactive experience. It enables you to generate, modify, and query playbooks with the Cortex Agentic Assistant natural language chat prompt. For example, within the chat, you can ask the agent to "Add a step to block the domain in Okta" or ask it to explain how a specific conditional branch operates.

For more details about using the Automation Engineer agent, see [Accelerate playbook development using the Automation Engineer agent (preview)](/cortex-agentix/configure-cortex-agentix/automations/playbooks/accelerate-playbook-development-using-the-automation-engineer-agent-preview.md).


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# Agent Instructions
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## Querying This Documentation
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```

`ask` is the immediate question: it should be specific, self-contained, and written in natural language.
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