Skip to main content
Custom attributes are firm-defined fields Metal tracks alongside the built-in schema. Use them to capture the data your firm cares about that isn’t in Metal’s default model — a proprietary score, a source tag, a due-diligence flag — and have it show up on records the same way built-in fields do. Custom attributes are admin-gated and live under Firm Knowledge. Open Settings → Custom Attributes. Any member can read the schema through the API; writes follow the admin-only endpoints rule.

​
Which objects support custom attributes

Attributes are defined per object type. The settings page has a tab for each of these:
  • Companies
  • Deals
  • People
  • Activities
Switching tabs shows the fields defined on that object type. Funds, limited partners, and fundraising processes also support custom attributes, but they don’t have a tab on the settings page yet. To define or change fields on those record types, contact support@metal.ai.
If a tab shows “Custom attributes for … aren’t available on this environment yet,” the backend hasn’t rolled out that object type here. Try again later or contact support@metal.ai.

​
Anatomy of a field

Each custom attribute has:

​
Field-key suffix convention

The stored key always ends with a suffix that matches the type. Metal builds the key for you from your base name and the type you pick: Legacy date fields use the Date suffix. You can still edit an existing date field, but you cannot create a new one from the app. The key preview updates as you type the base name in the create dialog. Base names must be non-empty, cannot start with an underscore, and cannot contain whitespace or the characters ., $, or /. Keys are unique per object type (case-insensitive).

​
Create a field

1

Open Custom Attributes

Go to Settings → Custom Attributes and pick the tab for the object type you want to extend.
2

Click Create Field

Enter a Field Name (the base name — Metal appends the type suffix), pick a Type, and set a Display Name. Add an optional Description and Rendering Component if relevant, and toggle Indexed if you’ll filter or search on the field.
3

Create

Metal writes the field to the object’s schema. New records — and existing records that get updated — can store values under the new key.
Nested definitions for array items and object fields aren’t editable from the dialog. Create the field with type array or object, then manage the nested shape through the API with an API key an Admin created. Keys created by other roles get 403 Forbidden.

​
Edit a field

Click the pencil icon on a row to change the display name, description, rendering component, or indexed setting. The field key itself is fixed once created — except when you change the type.

​
Changing the type is a re-key

Because the key must match the type suffix, changing a field’s type means creating a new key and removing the old one. Metal walks you through this:
  1. Metal generates the new key by swapping the suffix — e.g. acmeStr → acmeNum when you change string to number.
  2. You confirm the change in the “Change field type?” dialog.
  3. The new field is created first; the old key is then deleted.
If Metal cannot remove the old key, both fields remain until you delete the old one manually. Values previously stored under the old key stay on individual records but no longer match the new field, so they stop appearing in the app. In practice, treat a type change as a fresh field — plan to re-populate values on records that need them.
A type change is not a data migration. Stored values are not converted; they’re orphaned under the old key.

​
Delete a field

Click the trash icon on a row to remove a custom attribute. Deleting a field removes it from the schema so it no longer appears in the app, but values previously written to individual records are left in place, orphaned. Re-creating a field with the same key surfaces those values again.

​
Where custom attributes show up

Once defined, custom attributes behave like other fields on their object type — they can be read and written through the Metal API and referenced in workflows, enrichment, and dashboards. Indexed attributes are additionally available as filters and in search. You can also add custom attributes as columns on company, person, deal, limited partner, fund, and fundraising process lists. If you delete an attribute that a list column uses, the column keeps its stored values but becomes read-only. See Custom attribute columns.