Inline Editing

The CMS provides spreadsheet-style inline editing in Data Table mode, plus auto-generated create and edit forms in the record detail view. All editable fields are determined from your table's guard configuration.

Spreadsheet Editing

In Data Table mode, every editable cell becomes an inline editor. Select a cell, start typing, and the value is saved automatically when you move to another cell or press Enter.

Editable Fields

The CMS determines which fields are editable from the table's guards:

• guards.updatable fields are editable in existing records
• guards.createable fields are editable in new record forms
• guards.immutable fields are locked after creation (shown as disabled in edit mode)
• guards.protected fields can only be changed via actions (marked "Updated via actions only")

If a table has no explicit guard config, the CMS falls back to making all non-system columns editable (excluding id, audit fields, organizationId, and deletedAt).

Cell Types

Each column type gets a specialized editor:

Text

Standard text input. Type freely and press Enter or Tab to save.

Number

Numeric input with step controls. Supports decimal values (step 0.01 for currency fields). The CMS detects money fields from column names containing amount, total, price, cost, balance, rate, etc.

Boolean

A Yes/No dropdown. Click to toggle between the two values.

FK Typeahead

Foreign key columns (ending in Id) get a typeahead dropdown with server-side search:

• Debounced search — Queries are debounced at 200ms to avoid flooding the API
• Server-side filtering — Sends ?search=query&pageSize=20 to the FK target table's list endpoint
• Keyboard navigation — Arrow keys to navigate options, Enter to select, Escape to close
• Auto-loads initial options — Opens with the first 20 records sorted by display column
• Display labels — Shows the target table's display column value (e.g., "John Smith" instead of usr_abc123)

The FK target table is derived by stripping the Id suffix from the column name. For example, contactId searches the contact table, and accountCodeId searches the accountCode table.

Enum / Select

Columns with validation.enum render as a select dropdown with all allowed values.

Display Labels

FK cells in the table view show human-readable names instead of raw IDs. The API enriches list responses with _label fields:

contactId: "cnt_abc123"     → displays "Acme Corporation"
projectId: "prj_xyz789"    → displays "Beach House Renovation"

The label comes from the referenced table's display column (auto-detected from name, title, code, etc.). This works in both Table mode and Data Table mode.

Keyboard Shortcuts

Navigation Flow

1. Select a cell by clicking or using arrow keys
2. Edit by pressing Enter, Tab, or just typing
3. Save by pressing Enter (moves down), Tab (moves right to next editable), or clicking elsewhere
4. Cancel by pressing Escape (reverts to previous value)

When you press Tab, the cursor skips non-editable cells and jumps to the next editable cell in the row. At the end of a row, it wraps to the first editable cell of the next row.

Record Detail View

Clicking a row in Table mode navigates to the record detail view. Fields are automatically grouped by type:

Each group is rendered as a card with the group label as a header. Fields display formatted values — dates are localized, money shows currency formatting, booleans render as Yes/No badges, enums use color-coded pills, and FK references are clickable links to the target record.

Auto-Generated Forms

The CMS generates create and edit forms from the table's guard configuration:

Create Form

Shows all fields listed in guards.createable. Required fields (notNull without a default) are marked with a red asterisk. Validation rules from the schema (min/max length, enum constraints, email format) are enforced client-side.

Edit Form

Shows all fields listed in guards.updatable. Additionally:

• Immutable fields appear as disabled inputs with a lock icon
• Protected fields appear as disabled inputs with the note "Updated via actions only"
• Validation is applied on submit, with error messages shown per field

Field Input Types

The auto-form selects the appropriate input control based on column type and validation:

Next Steps

• Table Views — Browse mode and view projections
• Security — How guards control editability
• Actions — Trigger actions from the detail view