Source: https://manu-tests-all-orgs.docs-staging.pageloop.ai/product/assets-objects/custom-objects/build-the-model/fields

# Fields & Sections

Fields define the schema of your object type — what data each record captures and how it's stored. Add and configure fields from the object type's settings page under **Settings → Custom Objects → \[Your Type] → Fields**.

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## Field Types

### Text and content

| Type           | Use for                                       |
| -------------- | --------------------------------------------- |
| **Short text** | Names, labels, identifiers — single line      |
| **Long text**  | Descriptions, notes — multi-line plain text   |
| **Rich text**  | Formatted content with headings, lists, links |
| **Email**      | Email addresses — validated format            |
| **Phone**      | Phone numbers                                 |
| **URL**        | Links to external pages or documents          |

### Numbers and values

| Type        | Use for                                                           |
| ----------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Number**  | Integer quantities, counts, IDs                                   |
| **Decimal** | Contract values, billing rates, amounts needing decimal precision |

### Dates

| Type            | Use for                                    |
| --------------- | ------------------------------------------ |
| **Date**        | Start dates, expiry, deadlines — date only |
| **Date & time** | Timestamps that need time precision        |

### Selections

| Type                | Use for                                      |
| ------------------- | -------------------------------------------- |
| **Dropdown**        | Single selection from a defined list         |
| **Multi-select**    | Multiple selections from a defined list      |
| **Nested dropdown** | Hierarchical options — e.g. Region → Country |

### Other

| Type           | Use for                    |
| -------------- | -------------------------- |
| **Checkbox**   | Boolean on/off flag        |
| **Rating**     | Score or star-based rating |
| **Attachment** | Files and documents        |

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## Relationship Fields

Relationship fields connect records to people, assets, groups, and other custom object records. They're live references — not stored text — so if the linked record changes, every record referencing it reflects that automatically.

### Relationship to person

Links to an employee in your directory. Useful for owners, managers, assigned contacts, and team members. You can configure whether a single person or multiple people can be linked.

### Relationship to asset

Links to a hardware or software asset record. Useful when a custom record is associated with specific devices or software licenses.

### Relationship to group

Links to an access group or organizational team.

### Relationship to custom object

Links to a record in another custom object type. This is how you model multi-entity relationships — a Contract that references a Vendor, a Project that references a Client.

Both sides of the relationship are queryable. If a Contract has a Vendor relationship field, you can view contracts from the Vendor record (reverse relationship) and look up the vendor from the contract record.

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## Configuring a Field

Every field has common configuration options:

**Display name** — the label shown on forms, record views, and list columns. Keep it clear and consistent across your object types.

**Reference key** — a machine-readable identifier used in automations, API calls, and workflow conditions. Auto-generated from the display name. Editable, but cannot be changed after records exist with data in that field.

**Required** — when enabled, the field must be filled before a record can be saved. Use this for fields that are meaningless without a value — a Contract without an Owner or a Vendor without a Name.

**Searchable** — controls whether this field is included in full-text search across records. Enabled by default for text fields. Disable for fields where free-text search would produce noise (e.g. long numeric IDs).

**Sensitive** — marks the field as containing sensitive data. Affects visibility in audit logs and may restrict access based on your workspace's data policy configuration.

For **dropdown and multi-select** fields: define the options list when creating the field. Options can be added or edited later without affecting existing records — existing records retain their saved values even if you rename or remove an option from the list.

For **relationship** fields: select the target entity type (person, asset, group, or custom object type) and choose whether to allow one or multiple linked records per field.

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## Organizing Fields with Sections

Sections group fields into labeled blocks on the record detail form. Every object type starts with a **Basics** section.

To add a section: open the object type settings → **Fields** → **Add section**. Give it a name, then drag fields into it.

**When sections help:** any object type with more than 6–8 fields benefits from sections. A Contract type with 10+ fields is much easier to fill out and scan when fields are grouped into "Contract Details" and "Parties" rather than a single undifferentiated list.

**Sections are layout only** — they don't affect field behavior, API responses, or automation conditions. A field in the "Parties" section behaves identically to one in "Basics."