Field with type or filter „depends on“

[carsten-re]

I'd like to use a field with type boolean and if this set to true, other fields should become visible.
So at the end, how should I configure it, that a kind of "set to visible, if field XYZ is set to true?

[Lopesnextgen]

Hey brootheeer,

As far as I can tell, this is not currently configurable as a dynamic field dependency in NetBox Custom Objects.

The existing field options are more static:

• UI visible

  • Always
  • If set
  • Hidden

• UI editable

  • Yes
  • No
  • Hidden

So UI visible = If set means:

show this field on the object detail page only if this same field has a value

It does not mean:

show this field if another field is true

For example, this kind of rule is not currently available:

show field_b if field_a == true

or:

make field_b editable only when field_a == true

Related object filters are different

If you are looking at Related object filter, that only limits the selectable objects for an object or multiobject field.

Example:

{"status": "active"}

That filters the dropdown choices, but it does not control whether the field itself is visible.

Practical options

Option 1: Keep the fields optional

The simplest approach is:

• create the boolean field, e.g. has_advanced_settings
• create the additional fields as optional
• maybe put them in the same Group name, e.g. Advanced settings
• explain in the field description that they should only be filled when the boolean is enabled

This is simple, but it does not hide the fields dynamically.

Option 2: Use UI visible = If set for cleaner detail pages

For the dependent fields, you can set:

UI visible: If set
UI editable: Yes

That means users will still see the fields while editing, but the detail page will stay cleaner because empty fields will not be displayed.

This is useful if your main concern is object readability after saving.

Option 3: Model the optional data as another Custom Object Type

If those additional fields only make sense when the boolean is true, I would consider splitting them into a separate Custom Object Type.

Example:

• Main Object

  • name
  • has_extra_config

• Extra Config

  • main_object
  • field_a
  • field_b
  • field_c

Then the existence of the related Extra Config object represents “this object has extra configuration”.

That is often cleaner than having many nullable fields that are only sometimes meaningful.

Option 4: Request/implement conditional visibility

If you need true dynamic form behavior, this would likely need to be added as a feature, something like:

visible_if:
  field: has_advanced_settings
  equals: true

But today I do not see a documented field attribute for that in the Custom Objects schema.

So the short answer is: you cannot currently configure “field B is visible if field A is true” directly. The closest built-in behavior is UI visible = If set, but that depends on the field’s own value, not another field.

Relevant docs:

• Field attributes: https://github.com/netboxlabs/netbox-custom-objects/blob/main/docs/field-attributes.md
• Portable schema field options: https://github.com/netboxlabs/netbox-custom-objects/blob/main/docs/portable-schema.md
• NetBox custom field visibility/editing behavior: https://netboxlabs.com/docs/netbox/customization/custom-fields/#visibility-editing