Custom Fields

A custom field is a column you add to a datastore without modifying the platform's source code. It's the primary way you adapt the platform to your business — your customers, products, orders, projects all have fields specific to you that aren't in any vanilla install.

Why They Matter

• Every business is slightly different. The platform's “out of the box” schema covers ~70% of needs; custom fields cover the rest.
• Field changes are configuration, not code — non-developers can add them.
• Custom fields are first-class — they appear in forms, browse views, search, exports.
• Performance is on par with built-in fields (custom fields are real columns, not key-value blobs).

Available Field Types

Over 50 field types are available — see the field types reference for the full list. Common ones:

• Text (single line), Text area (multi-line), Rich text (HTML).
• Number, Currency, Percentage.
• Date, Date+time, Date range.
• Dropdown (single or multi-select), Tags.
• Checkbox / Boolean.
• Linked record (foreign key to another datastore).
• File attachment, Image.
• Calculated (formula based on other fields).
• JSON (for structured nested data).

Worked Examples

• SaaS customer: Built-in name/email/phone plus custom fields for Industry, Company Size, Account Manager, NPS Score, Renewal Date.
• Marketplace product: Built-in name/price/description plus custom Brand, Material, Country of Origin, Eco Score.
• Healthcare patient: Built-in name/DOB plus custom Insurance Provider, Allergies (multi), Preferred Pharmacy (linked), Emergency Contact (group).
• Educational student: Built-in profile fields plus Year Group, Subjects (multi), Parent Contacts (linked), Free School Meal Eligible.

This article walks through adding a new custom field, configuring its options and seeing it appear in forms and views.

Step-by-Step

1. Open Architect Panel → Datastores → (your datastore) → Fields.
2. Click Add Field.
3. Pick the field type (see the field types reference for guidance).
4. Configure basic properties:
   • Label — what users see.
   • Internal key — used in code/API (auto-suggested from label).
   • Help text — short explanation shown beneath the field.
   • Placeholder — greyed-out example text.
5. Validation rules:
   • Required / optional.
   • Min/max for numbers and dates.
   • Regex pattern for text.
   • Custom validation function.
6. Advanced options:
   • Indexed (for fast searching/filtering).
   • Encrypted (for sensitive data).
   • Default value when a row is created.
   • Visibility per layout / per group.
7. Save. The field is immediately available throughout the platform.

What Happens Behind the Scenes

• A new column is added to the datastore's table.
• Existing rows get the default value (or NULL if no default).
• Forms, browse views and API responses pick up the field automatically.
• Search index updated if the field is marked searchable.

Worked Examples

• Customer industry: Dropdown field, options pulled from a master list, indexed for filtering, default “Unknown”.
• NPS score: Number field, min 0, max 10, indexed for reporting.
• Sensitive notes: Text area, encrypted at rest, visible only to admin group.
• Computed renewal date: Formula field — subscription_start_date + INTERVAL 1 YEAR.
• Linked account manager: Linked record to Users datastore, filtered to users in “Sales” group.

A conditional custom field appears, becomes required, or changes its options based on other field values. Used well, conditional fields keep forms short and contextual without losing data depth.

Three Kinds of Conditional Behaviour

• Conditional visibility: Field appears only when conditions met.
• Conditional requirement: Field becomes required only when conditions met.
• Conditional options: A dropdown's options depend on another field's value.

Setting Up

1. Open the field's configuration.
2. Scroll to Conditional section.
3. Pick the conditional behaviour to enable.
4. Define one or more conditions: trigger field, operator, value.
5. Combine with AND/OR.
6. Save.

Operator Choices

• equals / not equals
• greater than / less than
• contains / does not contain
• is empty / is not empty
• matches regex

Worked Examples

• Visa status: Visible and required only when nationality ≠ UK. Options vary by nationality (US options different from EU options).
• Refund reason details: Visible only when reason = “Refund request”; required when visible.
• Tax-exempt certificate upload: Visible only when customer ticks “Tax exempt”; required upload to complete.
• Cascading dropdowns: Selecting Country in one field filters the State/Province options in the next field.
• Age-gated medical fields: Show parental-consent capture only when age < 18.
• Subscription tier-specific: Premium-only fields shown only when subscription tier = Premium.

Tip: Server-side validation must mirror conditional rules — the platform handles this automatically. If you write custom validation code, replicate the condition checks or you'll either block valid input or accept incomplete data.