Custom fields at a glance

Open Saasframe ships with a universal custom-fields system. Administrators can add metadata to any entity without touching code, while developers can commit the same definitions to version control.

Point-and-click configuration

• Navigate to Backend → Entities and open the entity you want to extend.
• Create new attributes, choose field types (text, select, reference, number, phone, etc.), and scope them per organization or tenant.
• Custom fields appear instantly on CrudForm, DataGrid, and APIs generated by the query engine.

Code-first definitions

Mirror the admin configuration by exporting entities from ce.ts within your module:

packages/inventory/src/modules/inventory/ce.ts

import { defineFields, cf } from '@saasframe/core/modules/dsl';

export const entities = [
  {
    id: 'inventory:item',
    fields: defineFields([
      cf.text('bin_location', { label: 'Bin Location' }),
      cf.boolean('is_fragile', { label: 'Fragile' }),
    ]),
  },
];

Run yarn saasframe entities install --module inventory --org <organizationId> to apply changes across environments. The admin UI will show the new fields alongside those created interactively.

Managing fieldsets via API

When entities need different attribute “palettes” (e.g., catalog products with Fashion vs. Services fieldsets) you can configure the selector programmatically. Call the Entities API endpoint POST /api/entities/definitions.batch with two keys:

• definitions: the field payloads just like in the CLI/UI.
• fieldsets: an array of { code, label, icon?, description?, groups? } objects that matches customFieldEntityConfigSchema.
• Optional singleFieldsetPerRecord toggles whether editors can pick multiple fieldsets per entity instance.

curl -X POST "$BASE_URL/entities/definitions.batch" \
  -H "X-Api-Key: $API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d "{
    \"entityId\": \"customers:person\",
    \"definitions\": [
      { \"key\": \"preferred_contact_method\", \"kind\": \"enum\", \"configJson\": { \"options\": [\"email\", \"phone\", \"sms\"], \"fieldset\": \"customer_profile\", \"group\": { \"code\": \"preferences\" } } }
    ],
    \"fieldsets\": [
      {
        \"code\": \"customer_profile\",
        \"label\": \"Customers · Profile\",
        \"icon\": \"lucide:user\",
        \"groups\": [
          { \"code\": \"identity\", \"title\": \"Identity\" },
          { \"code\": \"preferences\", \"title\": \"Preferences\" }
        ]
      }
    ],
    \"singleFieldsetPerRecord\": true
  }"

This request updates both the definitions and the curated list of fieldsets so CRUD forms immediately expose the new tab/dropdown. See Entities API → Field definitions for more parameters and scopes.