Fields

Configure system fields and custom field types to capture structured data on items, controlled by processes.

Overview

Fields are the data attributes on an item. Every item carries a set of built-in system fields, and you can extend items with custom fields defined by your organization. Together, they capture everything you need to track about a piece of work.

Processes control which fields appear on items of a given type, the order they appear in, and whether they are required or optional.

System fields

System fields are built into every item. They cover the core attributes needed for work management, planning, time tracking, and auditing.

Item fields

These fields capture the primary data about a work item.

Field	Type	Description
Name	Text	The item title or summary
Description	Rich text	Detailed description content
Priority	List	Work priority level (Low, Medium, High)
Severity	List	Impact level (Trivial, Minor, Major, Showstopper)
Status	List	Current workflow status (Open, Unassigned, Accepted, Approved, Assigned, In Backlog, In Sprint, In Progress, On Hold, Ready, Pending, Closed, Blocked)
Resolution	List	Final outcome (Unresolved, Resolved, Rejected, Ignored, Duplicate)
Approved	Toggle	Simple approval capture
Points	Integer	Work estimation — more points equals more effort
Restricted to	Picker	Which user groups can see certain data
Container	Picker	The container the item belongs to
Area	Picker	Sub-grouping within the container (supports multi-select)
Owned by	Picker	Who reported or owns the item
Start date	Date	When work is due to start
Due date	Date	When work is due to finish
Percent complete	Percent	Completion percentage (0–100%)
Work estimate	Time	Estimated effort (days and hours)
Cost center	Picker	Cost center for the item
CRM	Picker	Linked customer record
SKU	Picker	Linked stock unit
Job role	Picker	Job role associated with the item
Process	Picker	The business process the item follows
Resource	Picker	The person currently working on the item

Board and cycle fields

These fields connect items to the planning system.

Field	Type	Description
Board	Picker	The board the item is planned on
Cycle	Picker	The cycle the item is assigned to

Clock fields

These fields track SLA clock state for the item.

Field	Type	Description
Clock start	Date	When the item was placed on the clock
Clock finish	Date	When the item should be completed by
Clock delta	Integer	Difference in hours between start and finish
Clock hours	Integer	Expected duration of the clock in hours
Clock status	List	Clock state (Green, Amber, Red)

Audit fields

These fields are set automatically by the system.

Field	Type	Description
Sequence	Integer	Item sequence number within its container
Create date	Date	When the item was created
Created by	Picker	Who created the item
Change date	Date	When the item was last modified
Changed by	Picker	Who last modified the item
Email GUID	Text	Unique ID for items created via email (system-only)
Record source	Text	Where the item originated (user, email, API)

Feature fields

These fields support specific Ekso features.

Field	Type	Description
Link type	List	Relationship type for linked items (Duplicate, Related)
Time type	List	Category of time entry (Internal, Development, QA, R&D, PMO, Sales, Marketing)

Configuring system list fields

System fields that use the List type (Priority, Severity, Status, Resolution, Clock status) ship with default values, but you can configure them to match your workflow. For each value you can set:

Property	Description
Active	Toggle a value on or off. Inactive values are hidden from new items but preserved on existing ones.
Value	The display name shown to users
Image	An icon or visual indicator for the value
Metadata	Additional context for the value. For Status fields, this must be one of the four workflow verbs: Open, Working, Closed, or Blocked — determining which lifecycle phase the status belongs to. Other list fields can use metadata freely.
Default value	Which value is pre-selected when a new item is created

Retire obsolete list values by toggling them inactive rather than deleting and re-creating them. This preserves referential integrity on existing items. Inactive values that are no longer in use on any item are deleted automatically.

Default field values

System list fields ship with default values that cover common workflows. Admins can add, rename, or remove values to match their organization’s needs.

Priority

Default: Medium

Value	Icon
Low	Priority 3
Medium	Priority 2
High	Priority 1

Severity

Default: Minor

Value	Icon
Trivial	Signal Fair
Minor	Signal Good
Major	Signal Strong
Showstopper	Signal Best

Status

Default: Unassigned

Statuses are grouped into workflow phases that determine how items behave in boards, cycles, and reports.

Value	Workflow phase
Open	Open
Unassigned	Open
Accepted	Open
Approved	Open
In Backlog	Open
In Sprint	Open
Ready	Open
Pending	Open
Assigned	Working
In Progress	Working
On Hold	Working
Closed	Closed
Blocked	Blocked

Resolution

Default: Resolved

Value
Unresolved
Resolved
Rejected
Ignored
Duplicate

Link types

Default: Related

Value
Duplicate
Related

Billable time types

Value
Internal
Development
QA
R&D
PMO
Sales
Marketing

All list field values are fully editable. Add values that match your workflow, retire values you do not use, and set the default to the value your team selects most often.

Custom field types

Beyond system fields, you can create custom fields to capture data specific to your organization. Ekso supports nine custom field types:

Type	What it stores	Example use
Text	Free-form text	Customer reference, external ID
Integer	Whole numbers	Story points, item count
Decimal	Numbers with fractional precision	Cost estimate, hourly rate
Percent	Percentage values	Completion percentage, discount
Date	Calendar dates	Target date, review date
Time	Duration values	Estimated hours, time spent
Toggle	On/off boolean	Requires approval, is external
List	Single selection from predefined values	Environment, category, region
Picker	Lookup reference to related data	Related user, container, cost center

Custom field properties

When you create a custom field, you configure the following properties:

Property	Description
Field	The unique field name. Reserved field names (used by system fields) are not allowed.
Prompt	Maps to a localization string in language files — this is the label users see.
Type	The data collection method (one of the nine types above). Set at creation and cannot be changed.
Notes	A description or help text for the field.
Content type	How the input is rendered (e.g., plain text, rich text). Applies to text fields.
Maximum length	Character limit for text input. Set to zero for no limit.
Default value	The value pre-filled when a new item is created.

Custom list fields have the same value configuration as system list fields — you can add values, assign images, set a default, and retire obsolete entries.

How processes use fields

A process determines which fields appear on items of that type, their display order, and whether each field is required or optional. The same field can behave differently across processes — required in one, optional in another, or absent entirely.

Some fields are always present on every process and cannot be removed: the audit fields (CreateDate, ChangeDate, CreateBy, ChangeBy, RecordSource, EmailGuid) plus Name and Status. All other fields can be added, removed, reordered, and marked as required through the process Field tab.

To change which fields appear on an item type, update the process configuration under Settings > Process > Field. Processes are the single place that controls field visibility and requirements.

Constraints can further control what values are allowed in fields based on conditions, adding data integrity rules on top of the process configuration.