NetBox Custom Objects: Updated Public Preview Release

From our initial Tech Preview in February (when Custom Objects was still called “Service Mappings”) to the overwhelming response to our Private Preview in April, and through the launch of our Public Preview in July, NetBox Custom Objects has continually evolved—and we’re almost ready to cross the finish line.

Today, we’re excited to announce the release of NetBox Custom Objects v0.3.1, with the GA release due to follow on soon.

Public Preview

Since launching the Public Preview with v0.1.0 in July, we’ve delivered two releases packed with features that have greatly improved the Custom Objects experience.

Version 0.2.0 brought Custom Objects into the mainstream NetBox experience with sidebar navigation, full-text search capabilities, and all the standard controls users expect—changelogging, bookmarks, custom links, cloning, import/export, event rules, notifications, journaling, and tags. Perhaps most importantly, this release tackled a comprehensive list of stability issues, fixing everything from table startup errors to complex object reference problems that were impacting user workflows.

Version 0.3.1 now takes Custom Objects further with powerful new modeling capabilities. Self-referential object fields now enable recursive relationships (think NetBox’s own Region objects), while support for pluralized Custom Object names ensures consistency between GUI display, API interactions and URL naming. The addition of version fields to Custom Object Types sets the foundation for future enhancements, and improved field grouping makes complex object definitions more manageable than ever.

On top of those enhancements we’ve also tackled nearly 30 significant bugs and improvements, addressing everything from UI rendering issues and API filtering problems to complex validation errors and upgrade script breakages. This intensive focus on stability and reliability reflects our commitment to delivering a feature that’s not just powerful, but dependable.

The Final Stretch

As we prepare for General Availability, this v0.3.1 release represents Custom Objects at its most stable and feature-complete state to date. This makes it an ideal time for anyone who’s been waiting to try Custom Objects, or for existing users to thoroughly test their most complex use cases, so that we can include that feedback in our GA planning.

We’re not quite ready to announce our GA date, but we can say this: it’s coming soon.

Get Involved

As we approach General Availability, we encourage all NetBox users to explore what Custom Objects can do. Some useful links:

Note: Custom Objects 0.3.1 requires NetBox 4.4

README
Docs
Release notes (Note: While 0.3.1 is the correct version to use, the release notes can be found in release 0.3.0. Blame pypi!)
Quickstart Guide

If you do want to provide feedback, here are some pointers:

First check the existing backlog of issues and contribute to ongoing conversations
For new bugs or feature requests, please provide as much detail as possible
If you’re unsure about something, create a discussion

Connect with other users in the #netbox channel on NetDev Slack