DOCS-1251 - User choice variables (#6030)

* Draft

* Task variables

* Add screenshots to release note

* Updates from Rohit Agrawal review

Author: jpipkin1

blog-csoar/2025-11-20-application-update.md

@@ -0,0 +1,18 @@
+---
+title: November 20, 2025 - Application Update
+hide_table_of_contents: true
+image: https://assets-www.sumologic.com/company-logos/_800x418_crop_center-center_82_none/SumoLogic_Preview_600x600.jpg?mtime=1617040082
+keywords:
+  - automation service
+  - cloud soar
+  - soar
+---
+
+import useBaseUrl from '@docusaurus/useBaseUrl';
+
+### New feature: User choice variables
+
+User choice variables let you retrieve user choice data in subsequent playbook actions in a playbook. They provide a useful way to track who responded to a user choice option. [Learn more](/docs/platform-services/automation-service/playbooks/create-playbooks/#user-choice-variables).
+
+<img src={useBaseUrl('img/platform-services/automation-service/user-choice-variables.png')} style={{border:'1px solid gray'}} alt="User choice responder variables" width="500"/>
+

docs/platform-services/automation-service/playbooks/create-playbooks.md

@@ -155,6 +155,21 @@ If a user has an action marked as **Waiting Owner**, they must perform the steps
 
 <img src={useBaseUrl('img/cse/automations-complete-task.png')} style={{border:'1px solid gray'}} alt="Complete task" width="300"/>
 
+<!-- Oringanially added by DOCS-1251, but pulled out. Add after CSOAR-3993 and CSOAR-3967 are resolved:
+
+#### Task variables
+
+Task variables provide a useful way to track who is assigned to a task and other task data, and let you interact with the task information in subsequent playbook actions.
+
+Perform the following steps to use the variables in nodes that come after the task node in the playbook:
+1. Let's say you create a task node:<br/><img src={useBaseUrl('img/platform-services/automation-service/task-example.png')} style={{border:'1px solid gray'}} alt="Example task node followed by an action node" width="500"/>
+1. Open a node that comes later in the playbook than the task node. In our example, we'll select the node titled **Send email about task status**.
+1. In the **Edit Node** dialog, click either a gear icon <img src={useBaseUrl('img/platform-services/automation-service/gear-icon.png')} style={{border:'1px solid gray'}} alt="Gear icon" width="20"/> or a placeholder icon <img src={useBaseUrl('img/platform-services/automation-service/insert-placeholder-icon.png')} style={{border:'1px solid gray'}} alt="Insert placeholder icon" width="20"/>:<br/><img src={useBaseUrl('img/platform-services/automation-service/task-example-edit-node.png')} style={{border:'1px solid gray'}} alt="Gear icon and insert placeholder icons highlighted on the Edit Note dialog" width="500"/>
+1. From the list of available values from previous actions, click the name of the task node. Then select the variable you want to use:<br/><img src={useBaseUrl('img/platform-services/automation-service/task-example-node-values.png')} style={{border:'1px solid gray'}} alt="Task variables" width="500"/>
+1. Insert the variables as needed in your node. In the following **Send email about task status** node example, the task variables are used for the email subject and in the email body:<br/><img src={useBaseUrl('img/platform-services/automation-service/task-example-variables.png')} style={{border:'1px solid gray'}} alt="Task variables in a node" width="500"/>
+1. Continue inserting the task variables as needed in nodes following the task node.
+-->
+
 ### Add a user choice node to a playbook
 
 When a user choice node is encountered, the execution will pause until a user selects an option. For example, after enrichment, a user could be asked whether to proceed with a containment action or to perform additional enrichment first. When a playbook is paused at a user choice node, the status of that playbook will say **Waiting user interaction**.
@@ -175,6 +190,26 @@ Following is an example of a user choice node. Note the node branches to the nex
 
 <img src={useBaseUrl('img/cse/automations-example-user-choice-node.png')} style={{border:'1px solid gray'}} alt="Example user choice node" width="500"/>
 
+#### User choice variables
+
+User choice variables provide a powerful way to track who responded to a user choice option, and let you interact with the responder in subsequent playbook actions.
+
+Exposing the responder ID as a variable provides great benefits, such as letting subsequent nodes automatically reassign the originating incident to the responder, or allowing you to build a playbook that auto-assigns incidents based on the responder ID. The authorized responder can be a single individual, or anyone from a group of authorized users.
+
+Following are the available variables that identify the person who responded to a user choice:
+* `responder.id`. The user ID of the responder. The ID is stored in hexadecimal format.
+* `responder.email`. The responder's email.
+* `responder.firstName`. The responder's first name.
+* `responder.lastName`. The responder's last name.
+
+Perform the following steps to use the user choice responder variables in nodes following user choice:
+1. Let's say you create a user choice node to either send an email to the responder, or assign the responder to an insight:<br/><img src={useBaseUrl('img/platform-services/automation-service/user-choice-variable-example-playbook.png')} style={{border:'1px solid gray'}} alt="Example user choice node for actor variables" width="400"/>
+1. Open a node following the user choice node. In our example, we'll select the **Send Email** node.
+1. In the **Edit Node** dialog, click either a gear icon <img src={useBaseUrl('img/platform-services/automation-service/gear-icon.png')} style={{border:'1px solid gray'}} alt="Gear icon" width="20"/> or a placeholder icon <img src={useBaseUrl('img/platform-services/automation-service/insert-placeholder-icon.png')} style={{border:'1px solid gray'}} alt="Insert placeholder icon" width="20"/>:<br/><img src={useBaseUrl('img/platform-services/automation-service/user-choice-variables-edit-node.png')} style={{border:'1px solid gray'}} alt="Gear icon and insert placeholder icons highlighted on the Edit Note dialog" width="500"/>
+1. From the list of available values from previous actions, click the name of the user choice node. Then select the responder variable you want to use:<br/><img src={useBaseUrl('img/platform-services/automation-service/user-choice-variables.png')} style={{border:'1px solid gray'}} alt="User choice responder variables" width="500"/>
+1. Insert the variables as needed in your node. In the following **Send Email** node example, the responder variables are used for the email's recipient and in the email body:<br/><img src={useBaseUrl('img/platform-services/automation-service/user-choice-variables-insert-placeholders.png')} style={{border:'1px solid gray'}} alt="User choice variables in a node" width="500"/>
+1. Continue inserting the variables as needed in nodes following the user choice.
+
 #### User choice nodes in out-of-the-box playbooks
 
 Here are just a few of the [out-of-the-box playbooks](/docs/platform-services/automation-service/playbooks-in-app-central/) that contain user choice nodes. Look at the user choice nodes in these playbooks to get an idea of how to structure them: