> 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/playbook-design-guide/playbook-design-guide/readme/what-are-playbooks.md). # What Are Playbooks? Cortex XSOAR 6x playbooks enable you to structure and automate many of your security processes. Parse incident information, interact with users, and remediate. Playbooks are a series of tasks, conditions, automations, conditions, commands, and loops that run in a predefined flow to save time and improve efficiency and results of the investigation and response process. They are at the heart of the Cortex XSOAR system, because they enable you to automate many security processes, including handling investigations and managing tickets. You can also structure and automate security responses that were previously handled manually. For example, a playbook task can parse the information in an incident, whether it is an email or a PDF attachment. Playbooks have different task types for each of the actions you want to take. For example: * Use manual tasks when an analyst needs to confirm information or escalate an incident. * Use conditional tasks to validate conditions based on values or parameters and take appropriate direction in the playbook workflow. * Use communication tasks to interact with users in your organization * Use automation tasks to automatically remediate an incident by interacting with a third-party integration, open tickets in a ticketing system such as Jira, or detonate a file using a sandbox. Playbooks run during the investigation and response stage of the incident lifecycle. But you actually start defining the logical flow of your playbook during the initial planning stage when designing your use case. At this stage you need to consider the following: * What actions do you need to take? * What conditions apply along the way? Are these conditions manual or automatic? * Do you need to include looping? * Are there any time-sensitive aspects to the playbook? * When is the incident considered remediated? {% hint style="info" %} You can create a new playbook or update an existing playbook from a content pack. {% endhint %} --- # Agent Instructions This documentation is published with GitBook. GitBook is the documentation platform designed so that both humans and AI agents can read, navigate, and reason over technical content effectively. Learn more at gitbook.com. ## Querying This Documentation If you need additional information that is not directly available in this page, you can query the documentation by asking a question. Perform an HTTP GET request on the following URL with the `ask` and `goal` query parameters: ``` GET https://cortex-docs.paloaltonetworks.com/playbook-design-guide/playbook-design-guide/readme/what-are-playbooks.md?ask=&goal= ``` `ask` is the immediate question: it should be specific, self-contained, and written in natural language. `goal` is what the user is ultimately trying to achieve, the reason they need the answer. Sharing it helps GitBook give you a better, more relevant answer. A goal is most helpful when it describes the outcome the user wants rather than restating the question. For example, with `ask=how do I create an API token`, a goal like `automate deployments from our CI pipeline` lets GitBook tailor the answer to that use case. The response will contain a direct answer to the question and relevant excerpts and sources from the documentation. Use this mechanism when the answer is not explicitly present in the current page, you need clarification or additional context, or you want to retrieve related documentation sections.