The display field: what names a record

A record is a whole row, but most of the time it has to answer to one line: the chip in a link cell, the title of a card in the picker, a search result, the heading of the record panel, the title on a board or gallery card. The field that supplies that line is the table's display field. On the demo shop's Plants table it's Name, which is why an order's plants read as "Monstera deliciosa" rather than rec_y4crk8w9hc3e.

Which fields can be it

Anything that carries a plain one-line value: text in all its flavors, numbers, dates, selects (the choice's name), members (the person), even a formula — an order table whose records name themselves ORD-{number} is a fine pattern.

Five kinds can't, because they have no single line to give: a link, an attachment, a checkbox, a lookup or rollup, and a button. The menu doesn't offer them.

How it gets set, and how to change it

The first qualifying field you create becomes the display field automatically — usually the "Name"-ish column a table starts with. If a table's first field is one of the refused kinds, the table waits until an ordinary field arrives.

To change it:

1. Click the arrow on the field's header.
2. Choose Use as display field.

A quiet confirmation follows — «"Order no" is the display field» — and every chip, card and title that names this table's records updates at once. Nothing is stored per record; the name was always read through this one setting. Editors and owners can change it.

Why it can't be hidden

Hide fields will hide anything except this one — it sits pinned at the top of the list, marked primary, with no eye to click, and its column's header menu leaves Hide field out. The reason is the job description: a grid where records can't be told apart isn't a view of anything, and a public view link keeps it visible for the same reason. It also leads the grid — the display field is the frozen first column, and it can't be dragged elsewhere.

It has no other privileges. It edits, filters and sorts like any field, and it does not need to be unique — two records may share a name; the record ids stay distinct underneath.

When the name is blank

A record whose display field is empty still exists everywhere records do — its chips and card titles read Unnamed record. A column of those usually means data arrived by import with the wrong column first; point Use as display field at the right one and the names appear.

Deleting the display field is allowed — the table then has no display field, and every chip reads Unnamed record until you appoint another. The next qualifying field you create claims the vacancy automatically.

Over the API

The table object carries the choice as display_field_id, and it's what fills the display half of every link value:

"Plants": [
  { "id": "rec_y4crk8w9hc3e", "display": "Monstera deliciosa" }
]

Records themselves are unchanged by any of this — the display field is a lens, not data.