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API Getting Custom Fields

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Jack Davenport
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In Folio Custom Fields are the fields that have been added to the Folio Template or Entity/Contact by an Administrator. 

These custom fields are typically where you will find the information you are looking for on an record. 

To start you will need to find all of the fields on the Template or Entity/Contact Layout. To do this you will need to use one of the queries below to get the list of fields, from these you will need to take the libraryFieldID. 

  • For Folios use the folioFields Query
  • For Entities use the entityFields Query
  • For Contacts use the contactFields Query

For a more detailed breakdown on how you get the Field ID's see this article

Example Query

Now in the folios query you then add in an node called customFieldResponse with an array of libraryFieldIds from the fields query. You will then need to include an '... on' for each field type you have filtered for. There is a breakdown of all these options at the bottom of the article. 

So in my example below I have used the folioFields query to find the libraryFieldIds for Incident Description and Incident Date, which are long text and date fields respectively. So my query would look like below

{
  folios {
    nodes {
        key
        title
        id
                                               # Incident Description  # Incident Date
        customFieldResponses(libraryFieldIds: ["MDBGaWVsZC0zNg", "MDBGaWVsZC0zNQ"]) {
        field {
          libraryFieldId
          name
        }
        ... on TextFieldResponse {
          text
        }
        ... on DateFieldResponse {
          date
        }
      }
    }
  }
}

Then the response i receive back would be like below

{
  "data": {
    "folios": {
      "edges": [
        {
          "node": {
            "id": "MDBDb250cmFjdC0yMjU",
            "title": "Example Incident",
            "key": "INCIDENTS-1",
            "customFieldResponses": [
              {
                "field": {
                  "id": "MDBGaWVsZC0zNQ"
                },
                "date": "2026-11-20"
              },
              {
                "field": {
                  "id": "MDBGaWVsZC0zNg"
                },
                "text": "Someone slipped on a wet floor"
              }
            ]
          }
        }
      ]
    }
  }
}

Please Note: You should only include the ...on for the field types you have, as they will all contribute to the complexity score of the query

Field Types Explained

Numeric Fields

customFieldResponses {
  field {
    id
  }
  ... on NumericFieldResponse{
    numeric
  }
}
 
"customFieldResponses": [
  {
    "field": {
      "id": "MDBGaWVsZC0zNQ"
    },
    "numeric" : 107
  }
]

Short & Long Text Fields

For both Short Text and Long text fields you can use the TextFieldResponse 

For long texts the html styling will be included in the response

customFieldResponses {
  field {
    id
  }
  ... on TextFieldResponse {
    text
  }
}
 
"customFieldResponses": [
  {
    "field": {
      "id": "MDBGaWVsZC0zNQ"
    },
    "text": "Example of Text"
  }
]

Date Fields

customFieldResponses {
  field {
    id
  }
  ... on DateFieldResponse{
    text
  }
}
 
"customFieldResponses": [
  {
    "field": {
      "id": "MDBGaWVsZC0zNQ"
    },
    "date": "2026-11-20"
  }
]

Time Fields

customFieldResponses {
  field {
    id
  }
  ... on TimeFieldResponse {
    time
    hour
    minute
  }
}
 
"customFieldResponses": [
  {
    "field": {
      "id": "MDBGaWVsZC0zNQ"
    },
    "time": "09:49 AM",
    "hour": 9,
    "minute": 49
  }
]

for time fields the time is it represented as a string, while hour and minute both represent the hour and minute as an integer

Single & Multi Select Fields

customFieldResponses {
  field {
    id
  }
... on SelectFieldResponse {
  answers {
    edges {
        node {
          freeformText
          fieldAnswer {
            id
            defaultAnswer
            expanded
            instructions
            text
          }
        }
      }
    } 
  }
}
 
"customFieldResponses": [
 {
    "field": {
      "id": "MDBZC0zNQ"
    },
    "answers": {
      "edges": [
        {
          "node": {
            "freeformText": null,
            "fieldAnswer": {
              "id": "MDB0yNTQ4MQ",
              "defaultAnswer": false,
              "expanded": false,
              "instructions": "Youve picked Answer 1",
              "text": "Answer 1"
            }
          }
        }
      ]
    }
  }
]

For select fields you have additional options under the fieldAnswer, which include:

  • The answers ID
  • If the answer is an default answer (meaning it is selected by default on new records but can be changed)
  • If the text has freeform text (by using expanded)
  • Any instructions on the answer
  • The answers text

If you are finding that you are not getting any answers for your field then you should double check if the field is a lookup field, as those require different responses that are outlined below. You can check if it is a lookup on the fields query by adding lookupType

Address Fields

customFieldResponses {
    field {
      id
    }
   ... on AddressFieldResponse {
      line1
      line2
      suburb
      state
      postcode
      country
    }
}
 
"customFieldResponses": [
   {
    "field": {
      "id": "MDBGaWVsZC0xMjA2OA"
    },
    "line1": "13 Example Street",
    "line2": "",
    "suburb": "Sydney",
    "state": "NSW",
    "postcode": "2001",
    "country": "AUS"
  }
]

Attachment Fields

Attachments provide you with an URL for each of the attachments which can be used to download the attachment after first logging in

customFieldResponses {
  field {
    id
  }
  ... on AttachmentsFieldResponse {
    attachments {
      edges {
        node {
          id
          title
          url
        }
      }
    } 
  }
}
 
"customFieldResponses": [
  {
    "field": {
      "id": "MDBGaWVsZC0zNQ"
    },
    "attachments": {
      "edges": [
        {
          "node": {
            "id": "MDBBdHDM",
            "title": "Example_doc.docx",
            "url": "https://exampleCorp.foliogrc.com/attachments/number/download"
          }
        }
      ]
    }
  }
]

Signature Fields

Signature fields return a boolean to say if the signature box has been signed for this field

customFieldResponses {
  field {
    id
  }
  ... on SignatureFieldResponse {
    isSigned
  }
}
 
"customFieldResponses": [
  {
    "field": {
      "id": "MDBGaWVsZC0zNQ"
    },
    "is_signed": true
  }
]

Lookup Fields

For lookup fields you are able to get the title and ID of the answer they have selected. 

Location Lookup Fields

customFieldResponses {
  field {
    id
  }
... on LocationLookupResponse{
    locations {
      edges {
        node {
          id
          title
        }
      }
    }
  }
}
 
"customFieldResponses": [
  {
    "field": {
      "id": "MDBGaWVsZC0zNQ"
    },
    "locations": {
      "edges": [
        {
          "node": {
            "id": "MDBlvbi0x",
            "title": "Sydney"
          }
        }
      ]
    }
  }
]

Program Lookup Fields

customFieldResponses {
  field {
    id
  }
... on ProgramLookupResponse{
    programs {
      edges {
        node {
          id
          title
        }
      }
    }
  }
}
 
"customFieldResponses": [
  {
    "field": {
      "id": "MDBGaWVsZC0zNQ"
    },
    "programs": {
      "edges": [
        {
          "node": {
            "id": "MDBlvbi0x",
            "title": "Mental Health"
          }
        }
      ]
    }
  }
]

User Lookup Fields

customFieldResponses {
  field {
    id
  }
... on UserLookupResponse{
    programs {
      edges {
        node {
          name
          id
          email
          businessUnit{
            id
            title
          }
        }
      }
    }
  }
}
 
"customFieldResponses": [
  {
    "field": {
      "id": "MDBGaWVsZC0zNQ"
    },
    "users": {
      "edges": [
        {
          "node": {
            "id": "MDBlvbi0x",
            "name": "Ernest Melvin"
            "email": "Ernest@example.com"
            "businessUnit": {
              "id": "MDBleefbi0x",
              "title": "South Office"
            }
          }
        }
      ]
    }
  }
]

Business Unit Lookup Fields

customFieldResponses {
  field {
    id
  }
... on BusinessUnitLookupResponse{
    businessUnits{
      edges {
        node {
          title
          id
        }
      }
    }
  }
}
 
"customFieldResponses": [
  {
    "field": {
      "id": "MDBGaWVsZC0zNQ"
    },
    "businessUnits": {
      "edges": [
        {
          "node": {
            "id": "MDBleefbi0x",
            "title": "South Office"
          }
        }
      ]
    }
  }
]

Folio, Entity and Contact Lookup Fields

For these three lookups the Response object allows you to query for all fields on the Folio/Entity/Contact that are selected as an answer, doing this will increase the complexity score so we would recommend if you want to get the values from Folio records in an lookup to use a second query to get those records responses. 

customFieldResponses {
  field {
    id
  }
... on FolioLookupResponse {
    folios{
      edges {
        node {
          key
        }
      }
    }
  }
}
 
"customFieldResponses": [
  {
    "field": {
      "id": "MDBGaWVsZC0zNQ"
    },
    "folios": {
      "edges": [
        {
          "node": {
            "key": "INC-1"
          }
        }
      ]
    }
  }
]

Entity Lookup Fields

customFieldResponses {
  field {
    id
  }
... on EntitiesLookupResponse {
    entities {
      edges {
        node {
          key
        }
      }
    }
  }
}
 
"customFieldResponses": [
  {
    "field": {
      "id": "MDBGaWVsZC0zNQ"
    },
    "entities ": {
      "edges": [
        {
          "node": {
            "key": "ENT-1"
          }
        }
      ]
    }
  }
]

Contact Lookup Fields

customFieldResponses {
  field {
    id
  }
... on ContactLookupResponse {
    contacts{
      edges {
        node {
          name
        }
      }
    }
  }
}
 
"customFieldResponses": [
  {
    "field": {
      "id": "MDBGaWVsZC0zNQ"
    },
    "contacts ": {
      "edges": [
        {
          "node": {
            "name": "Jack"
          }
        }
      ]
    }
  }
]

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