Custom Fields Overview

Custom Fields turn PrimeTask's built-in entities into a structured database. Beyond the standard fields (name, status, priority, dates, assignees), you can define your own fields - text, number, currency, date, dropdown, multi-select, checkbox, rating, progress, URL, email, phone, and relationship - and apply them to tasks, projects, contacts, and companies. Fields are configured once per Space, then appear on every entity that matches their scope.

The system supports 17 built-in templates (8 general + 9 project-specific), a guided Field Setup Wizard for financial workflows, relationship fields with optional rollup aggregations, and financial metrics (Budget Health, ROI, Burn Rate, Remaining to Pay, and more) driven by currency role tags.

What you can do

Where custom fields live

Custom fields appear on three entity types in PrimeTask. Each has its own dedicated article describing the entity-side experience - read those for the user interface details. This Custom Fields category covers the underlying system that powers them all.

A single field can apply to multiple entity types simultaneously. For example, a Severity field could apply to tasks (bug severity) and contacts (account criticality), with each entity tracking its own value independently.

One value per record - viewed as rows

Because each record keeps its own value for a field, you can line records up and compare them. On a project, the Project Database does exactly that: pivot a field tab to show one row per linked contact, company, task, or project, where every cell edits that record's own value. A customer's payment lives on the customer; the project view just gives you a focused grid to read and edit it in context. The same value then shows wherever that record appears. See Project Database.

The 14 field types

PrimeTask supports 14 field types, grouped by purpose:

For the deep-dive on each type - including what data it stores, how it displays, and which operations (filter / sort / rollup) it supports - see Field Types.

Templates - 17 to choose from

PrimeTask ships with 17 built-in field templates to help you set up common workflows fast:

• 8 general templates (CRM, Project Management, Bug Tracking, Content Creation, Sales Pipeline, Finance Tracking, Contact Profile, Company Profile)
• 9 project-specific templates (Project Planning, Client Management, Software Development, Marketing & Content, Event Planning, Consulting & Services, Construction & Real Estate, OKR & Goals, Game Development)

You can also save custom templates from your existing field setup to reuse across Spaces.

For the full template catalogue with field lists per template, see Field Templates.

The Field Setup Wizard

A guided multi-step flow for adding fields to a project. Two entry paths:

• Financial setup - 8 presets (Budgeting, Freelance, Sales, Estimate vs Actual, Pay Schedule, Contractor Costs, Full Financial, Custom) with currency role configuration. The Pay Schedule and Contractor Costs presets also wire the relationship and rollup that make project totals update themselves.
• Project templates - pick one of the 9 project templates and apply

The wizard handles smart reuse - it detects existing fields with matching names and reuses them rather than creating duplicates. See Field Setup Wizard.

Relationship fields and connections

The most powerful field type - relationship fields let you link entities together. Use them for:

• Linking tasks to contacts (CRM tasks)
• Linking projects to clients (relationship to companies)
• Linking parent tasks to dependencies
• Linking goals to milestones
• Any task ↔ task, project ↔ project, contact ↔ company connections

Relationship fields support bidirectional linking (link from one side, the other side updates automatically) and optional rollup aggregations (sum a field from all linked entities). See Relationship Fields & Connections.

Rollups and financial tracking

Combine relationship fields with rollup aggregations to derive numbers from linked entities:

• Sum the time spent across all tasks linked to a project
• Average the rating across all reviewed items
• Count the open leads in a sales pipeline
• Roll up payments from customers, or costs from contractors, into a project total

When combined with currency role tags (Budget, Expense, Revenue, Payment, Estimate, Value), rollups power 9 derived financial metrics automatically - Budget Health, Estimate Accuracy, Pipeline, Remaining to Pay, Profit, ROI, Budget Utilisation, Burn Rate, and Budget Runway. PrimeTask supports 14 currencies including BTC.

For the full system, see Rollups & Financial Tracking and Project Financial Tracking.

Visibility - three layers

Each custom field can be tuned for visibility at three levels:

These layers let one field definition adapt to different contexts without code or duplication. See Field Visibility & Tabs.

How fields are organised

Two different organising systems depending on the entity:

• Tasks use auto-zones - the system groups fields by type into 5 zones (Metrics, Timeline, Categories, Details, Connections). You can't customise the zones - they're automatic.
• Projects use custom tabs - you create your own tabs with custom names and assigned fields. Total flexibility, and each tab can also be pivoted to show linked records as rows (see Project Database).

See Field Visibility & Tabs for both.

Where to manage fields

Custom fields are managed from Settings → Category Management → Fields tab - see Category Management Settings. From there you can:

• Create, edit, delete fields
• Apply templates
• Configure entity scopes
• Reorder fields
• Set up relationship targets and rollups

You can also create fields inline from the Project Fields tab without leaving the project. The in-project workflow uses the same Custom Field Editor - see Project Fields Tab.

Per-Space configuration

Custom fields are defined per Space. Each Space has its own field set, so:

• Your Work Space's fields are different from your Personal Space's
• Switching Spaces switches the field set you see on entities
• Field definitions sync to other devices via File Sync or iCloud
• Field values on entities sync alongside the entities themselves

If you want the same fields in another Space, save your setup as a custom template and apply it there.

MCP integration

AI agents (Claude Code, Cursor, others) can manage custom fields via the MCP server. Tools include:

• Creating, listing, updating, deleting fields
• Reading and writing field values on entities
• Managing project field tabs
• Configuring rollups and relationships

See External Integrations Settings.

Things worth knowing

Fields are defined once and applied to many entities

A single field definition can apply to tasks, projects, contacts, and companies - or any combination. The Entity Scope setting controls where the field appears. This avoids duplicating "Severity" three times for tasks, contacts, and companies.

A value belongs to its record

Each entity keeps its own value for a shared field. Editing a contact's value - whether on the contact's own page or in a project's Project Database row - changes it for that contact everywhere. The Project Database is a lens onto that shared value, not a separate copy.

Field type is immutable after creation

You can change a field's name, options, visibility, scope, and most other settings - but not its type. To change a field's type, delete it and recreate (you'll lose existing values).

Deleting a field deletes its values

When you delete a field, PrimeTask removes the field's values from every entity that had one. The deletion cascades through tasks, projects, contacts, companies, and isolated CRM project storage. There's no undo - back up your data if you're unsure.

Relationship fields create backlinks

A bidirectional relationship field maintains backlinks automatically. If task A links to project B, project B's Connections zone shows task A as an incoming link. Deleting the field on either side removes the backlink.

Financial metrics activate when you assign currency roles

Just creating a currency field doesn't trigger the Cost Summary. You need to assign a role (Budget, Expense, Revenue, Payment, Estimate, or Value) to currency fields. Multiple fields with the same role are summed automatically.

Templates merge intelligently

When you apply a template, the Field Setup Wizard's smart reuse system checks for existing fields with matching names and reuses them rather than creating duplicates. This makes templates safe to apply on Spaces with existing custom fields.

Per-Space scope means no cross-Space sharing

Field definitions don't sync between Spaces - each Space is independent. To replicate a field setup, save it as a custom template (stored locally across all Spaces) and apply in the new Space.

Common questions

Where to go next