Abstract: Techniques are described for providing a new “capability block” for information technology (IT) and security operations application playbooks. A capability block broadly enables playbook creators to create automations including generic actions that are not tied to computing environment-specific assumptions about a computing environment in which the playbook is to be executed. Once a playbook containing one or more capability blocks is distributed to a user's computing environment, a user can use a visual playbook editor or other interface to configure the capability blocks for their environment. The configuration of a capability block can include selecting an input playbook that accepts input parameters and provides output parameters required by the capability block, where the input playbook includes implementation steps for a particular type of computing environment.