Custom Object Types

A Custom Object Type defines a new object type in NetBox - the equivalent of a model in NetBox plugin terminology. Each Custom Object Type generates its own database table, list and detail views, REST API endpoints, and an entry in the left navigation pane. See the Custom Objects documentation for a full walkthrough, including how Custom Object Type Fields are added to a type.

Fields

Internal Name

A unique, lowercased, URL-friendly internal name of up to 100 characters, e.g. vendor_policy. Only lowercase alphanumeric characters and underscores are permitted; names may not start or end with an underscore, and double underscores are not allowed.

Display Name (Singular)

The human-friendly singular name shown throughout the UI, e.g. Vendor Policy. If left blank, the internal name is used with its first letter capitalized, e.g. Vendor_policy.

Display Name (Plural)

The human-friendly plural name shown throughout the UI, e.g. Vendor Policies. If left blank, the singular display name followed by s is used.

URL Path/Slug

A unique, plural, URL-friendly identifier used as a URL component for this type's list and detail views, e.g. vendor-policies. In the form, it's filled in from the plural display name.

Display Expression

An optional Jinja2 template used to render the display name of individual objects of this type, e.g. {{ name }} - {{ manufacturer }}. Reference field values by name; undefined fields resolve to an empty string. The template's syntax is checked when the type is saved, and it can be up to 500 characters long. If left blank, the value of the type's primary field is used instead, or, without a primary field, the type's display name and the object's ID (e.g. Vendor Policy 3).

The rendered display name is included in global search, quick search and object selectors, so searching for any text in it finds the object. It's stored in NetBox's search cache when an object is saved, and every object of the type is reindexed when the expression changes. An expression can include values from related objects, e.g. {{ interface.device.name }}. Changes to those objects don't update the cached display name immediately, but a background job (which needs NetBox's background worker running) refreshes the cached display names hourly for every type whose expression references an object or multi-object field, so search catches up within an hour. The same job also indexes any object that has no cached display name yet, such as objects that existed before this feature was installed.

Group Name

An optional label used to group similar Custom Object Types together in the navigation menu.

Version

An optional PEP 440 version string, e.g. 1.0.0. Used when managing schemas across environments with the portable schema feature.

Description

A short, optional description of this Custom Object Type.

Config Context Support

Whether objects of this type support NetBox's config context feature, gaining a Local Context Data field and a Config Context tab. This can only be set when the type is created - it adds a column to the type's table, so it cannot be toggled afterward. See the Config Context section of the documentation for details.

Comments

Free-form text for any additional notes about this Custom Object Type.