05a - Fields reference

Info: This article is work in progress and subject to change.

A Field reads or edits a single metadata value on the selected asset or collection. Thirteen field types are available, each with its own configuration options. This article is the complete reference for every type and every option — use it as a lookup, not a read-through.

For the conceptual material on what a Field is and how it relates to Actions and Notifications, see 02b — Component types: Fields, Actions, and Notifications. For the conditions used in disable, required, and visibility settings, see 02d — How conditions work and the appendices in section 12.

Options shared by every field type

Every field type, regardless of which one you choose, has the same baseline set of options. The reference for each type below lists only the type-specific options; assume the shared set is also available.

Note: Both Disabled and Disable condition can be set at the same time. Disabled wins — if it is on, the field is non-editable regardless of the condition. Use Disabled for permanent restrictions and Disable condition for state-dependent ones.

Text

A free-form short-text field. Use it for titles, codes, names, and other single-line values.

Note: Keep pattern filters as the user types. Pattern validates the result. The two are independent: a Keep pattern that is too narrow can prevent the user from ever typing a valid value, so always test both together.

Rich text

A free-form text field with bold and italic formatting, stored as Markdown. Use it for briefs, longer descriptions, and instructions.

The user sees a small editor with a Markdown source view and a formatted preview. The value is stored as Markdown text in the Assets metadata field.

Rich text takes the same options as Text above, including Keep pattern and Pattern, with one practical caveat: regex on a Markdown-bearing field is rarely what you want, because the value contains formatting characters. Use Pattern only for shape-checking the formatted text — for length limits, for example.

Decimal

A floating-point number field. Use it for prices, ratios, or any value that needs fractional precision.

Number (Integer)

A whole-number field. Use it for counts, IDs, and any value that should be an integer.

Takes the same options as Decimal, with the implicit constraint that decimal points are not allowed.

Note: A legacy Number type may also appear in older configurations. Treat it as the same as Number (Integer) — use the new name in new panels.

Date

A day-month-year picker.

Underneath the display format, the value is stored as a real Assets date — so sorting, filtering, and queries work on the date value, not on the formatted string.

Datetime

A day-month-year-hour-minute-second picker. Behaves the same as Date with the addition of time.

Dropdown

A single-value pick from a list you define.

Note: When the Assets metadata schema for this field has its own values list (defined in the Custom asset info file), your Dropdown values list and the schema’s list can disagree. With Restrict to values on, the Configurator’s list wins. To keep them in sync, mirror them — or let the user pick from either by leaving Restrict to values off.

Tags

A multi-value text field. The user adds and removes tags one by one. Behaves the same as the Tags field elsewhere in Assets.

Link to external page

A free-form text field whose value, if it starts with http:// or https://, is rendered as a clickable hyperlink. Clicking the link opens the URL in a new browser tab.

Takes the shared options. No type-specific options.

Tip: Use the Hint to tell users that the value should be a full URL including the scheme. Common mistake — pasting example.com and not understanding why the link does not become clickable.

Navigate to asset by ID

A free-form text field whose value is treated as an Assets asset ID. Clicking the rendered value navigates to that asset and changes the panel context to it.

This field type is the way to build cross-references between assets — for example, a relatedBriefId field on an image that points at the brief it was created for.

Formatted

A read-only field for system-formatted values such as file size and duration. Assets stores these as raw numeric values; the Formatted field type displays them in a readable form (12.4 MB, 1m 35s).

Formatted fields are typically paired with Disabled: on, because the underlying value is system-managed and not user-editable.

The most common Formatted fields you will use are fileSize and duration. Pick them from the Field-name autocomplete; the Formatted type only appears for fields the autocomplete recognises as formatted.

Milli-to-time

A specialised field that takes a millisecond timestamp from a metadata field and displays it as a human-readable time. Useful for video timecodes and system-generated durations.

Takes the shared options. No type-specific options.

Note: Milli-to-time is a display transformation. The underlying value remains the millisecond integer; only the rendering changes. Sorting and Lucene queries continue to work on the integer value.

External data source

A field that draws its values from an external data source defined separately in the Configurator. Two display modes are available — a tree view for hierarchical sources, and a searchable dropdown for flat or large sources.

External-data-source fields have the most options of any field type because they connect to outside systems. Plan the source carefully — the page on External Data Sources covers the lifecycle.

A note on Lucene-driven options

Several of the options above accept a Lucene query — Disable condition and Required condition in particular. The query runs against the selected asset’s metadata and decides the option’s outcome. See 02d — How conditions work for the primer and 12a — Lucene query quick reference for the full vocabulary.

A common pattern, repeated for clarity:

Cross-references

Each field type’s behaviour is anchored in shared concepts elsewhere in the manual:

• 02b — Component types — what a Field is, what an Action is, what a Notification is
• 02c — Asset kinds and visibility — the Applies to checklist
• 02d — How conditions work — Lucene and regex primer
• 05b — Actions and buttons reference — the verbs that pair with these fields
• 05c — Notifications reference — for surfacing field state to users
• 06b — Disabling components and writing disable conditions
• 06c — Requiring values and validating input
• 07 — External data sources — full coverage of the External-data-source field type
• 12a — Lucene query quick reference
• 12b — Regex quick reference for field validation
• 12c — Moment.js date and time tokens

Revisions

• 8 May 2026: First publication of the manual