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Goal: a dropdown whose options are the approved records of another taxonomy, so the list grows on its own as new records are approved, with no governance-model change. With one level it is a plain dropdown. Add more levels and it becomes a cascade.
Requires the Business plan or higher. See Plans and limits. You can build and edit automated picklists on any plan, but publishing a governance model that contains one needs Business. The picklist editor warns “Business feature: blocks publishing until you upgrade” when your plan does not include it.

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What you’ll build

A client dropdown on a Campaigns taxonomy whose options come from the records of a Clients taxonomy. Picking a client stores its code; when a new client is approved, it shows up in the dropdown automatically. This recipe builds the plain, single-level case first. Make it a cascade then adds a second level so the client list narrows by region.

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Prerequisites

  • A governance model you can edit and permission to publish it.
  • A workspace where you can create and approve submissions.

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Steps

1

Create the source taxonomy

Create a Clients taxonomy with a stable code field (a Terminus ID field, or any field marked unique) plus a Text field client_name, a region field, and an industry field. Assign it to a workspace.
Use a unique field for the value the picklist reads. If two records share the value the level reads, options can be skipped or look like duplicates. The editor warns you when the root level’s field has no uniqueness check.
2

Add and approve some source records

Create a few Clients submissions and approve them. An automated picklist reads the source taxonomy’s approved records, so there has to be data here before the dropdown shows anything. Drafts do not count.
3

Create the automated picklist

In Picklists, add an Automated picklist. Set its Source taxonomy to Clients. The editor shows the source taxonomy’s records in a grid so you can see what the options will be.
4

Add the level that supplies the options

Click + Level and choose the field whose values become the option codes, for example the Terminus ID or client_name. Optionally open the level’s menu and set its Label field so submitters see a friendly name while the code is stored. A single level makes a plain, non-cascading dropdown.
5

Carry extra context (optional)

In the Advanced section, add industry as an additional field. Additional fields ride along on the chosen option as read-only context from its source record, which is useful for reporting. They never narrow the list.
6

Create the dropdown field

In Fields, add a Dropdown field named client and set its picklist to the Clients automated picklist.
7

Attach and publish

Add the client field to the Campaigns taxonomy and publish the governance model.

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Make it a cascade

To narrow clients by region, give the picklist a second level and render each level with its own dropdown.
1

Add the parent level

Open the Clients automated picklist, click + Level, and choose region. New levels are added at the end, so open the region level’s menu and choose Move earlier until it is first. region is now the first level and the client level sits under it.
2

Create the parent dropdown

In Fields, add a Dropdown field named client_region and set its picklist to the Clients picklist. Because the picklist has more than one level, a Cascade level setting appears. Leave it unset or choose the root level, region.
3

Point the child dropdown at the client level

Open the client field and set Cascade level to the client level. The editor wires client to depend on the field that renders the level above it (client_region), so create the parent dropdown first. Multi-select is not available on either dropdown.
4

Attach and publish

Add client_region to the Campaigns taxonomy alongside client, then publish.
In a submission, client stays locked with Select "client_region" first until a region is picked. Then it offers only the clients whose records carry that region. For the hand-authored equivalent, see Cascading dropdowns.

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Verify

  • Open a new Campaigns submission. The client dropdown lists every approved Clients record, shown by client_name.
  • Select a client. The stored value is that client’s code (its client_id), not the label.
  • Approve a brand-new Clients record, then reopen the Campaigns form. The new client appears in the dropdown with no model change.

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Gotchas

  • Options come from approved records only. If the dropdown is empty, add and approve source records first. Drafts and rejected submissions do not feed the list.
  • Deleted source records drop out; other statuses stay. The list includes every source record except deleted ones. To remove an option, delete the source record.
  • The source value should be unique. The option code is the value of the level’s field. If many records share that value, options are de-duplicated to one, which can hide records. The editor warns when the root level’s field has no uniqueness check. Prefer a Terminus ID or a unique field.
  • Submitters cannot add options. An automated picklist’s options come from records, so a new value appears only when a record carrying it is approved. If submitters need to coin values inline, use a Text field with Suggest from past entries instead of a dropdown. See Letting submitters enter new values.
  • Any automated picklist in the model counts for the plan check. Publishing is blocked on a plan without automated picklists even if no taxonomy uses the picklist yet. The Picklists list marks each one Blocks publish. Delete picklists you are not using.
  • A plan downgrade stops new records, not drafts. If your account moves to a plan without automated picklists, a submission for a taxonomy that uses one still saves as a draft, but submitting it for review or creating its records is refused until the plan includes the feature again.
  • A chosen option keeps a snapshot of its source record. The selected option carries the source record as it looked at submission time, so later edits to that record do not rewrite past submissions. New submissions read the current record.