Skip to main content
A field is defined once on a governance model and reused across taxonomies. When you add a field to a taxonomy, you can override its behavior just for that taxonomy: make it required or hidden, and filter which dropdown options appear. Overrides can only tighten a field, never loosen it, and the underlying field never changes.

​
What it is

The same field can appear in many taxonomies. Each taxonomy holds its own reference to that field, and a reference can carry narrow overrides that apply only within that taxonomy. Every other taxonomy that uses the field is unaffected, and the field’s own settings on the governance model stay as they are. Three overrides are available:
  • Required: make the field mandatory in this taxonomy.
  • Hidden: hide the field in this taxonomy (only for computed fields, which still generate a value).
  • Option filter: restrict which picklist options a dropdown field shows in this taxonomy.
There is also a workspace-level layer for the option filter. The same dropdown can show different options depending on which workspace the taxonomy is used in. The taxonomy-level filter and the workspace-level filter both apply at the same time.

​
Overrides can only tighten

This is the rule to remember: an override can make a field stricter, never looser.
  • You can make an optional field required in a taxonomy. You cannot make a field that is required on the governance model optional in a taxonomy.
  • You can hide a field in a taxonomy. You cannot reveal a field that the governance model hides.
The effective setting is “stricter of the two.” If the field is required at the governance-model level, it is required everywhere, and no taxonomy can opt out. Trying to relax a field’s own required or hidden setting in a taxonomy is rejected. If you need a field to be optional in one taxonomy and required in another, leave it optional on the governance model and turn on required in just the taxonomies that need it.

​
Filtering dropdown options

An option filter narrows which picklist options a dropdown shows in one taxonomy, without editing the master picklist. Every other taxonomy keeps the full list. You pick one of two modes. They differ in how they treat options added to the picklist later:
  • Show all options, hide a few (a blocklist): you choose the options to hide. New options added to the picklist later appear automatically. Use this when the taxonomy should track the picklist with a few exceptions.
  • Only specific options I choose (an allowlist): you choose exactly which options show. New options added to the picklist later stay hidden until you add them to the filter. Use this when the taxonomy should pin a fixed set.
A few rules:
  • The filter applies to dropdown fields only. Setting it on any other field type is rejected.
  • An allowlist must include at least one option. An empty dropdown is not allowed, so you cannot save an allowlist with nothing selected.
  • “No filter” shows the full picklist. Clearing the filter resets the dropdown to all options.
  • Filtering changes only what you can pick in the form. It does not change the picklist, and records that already use a now-hidden option keep their value.

​
Workspace-level option filters

A taxonomy is connected to one or more workspaces. On each connection you can set a per-workspace option filter for a dropdown, using the same allowlist or blocklist modes. This is layered on top of the taxonomy-level filter:
  • The taxonomy-level filter restricts the dropdown everywhere the taxonomy is used.
  • The workspace-level filter restricts it further in that one workspace.
Both apply together, so a workspace sees the intersection. The workspace filter, like the taxonomy one, only tightens. See Workspaces for managing the connection.

​
Example

The Campaign URL Builder governance model defines a single utm_medium dropdown backed by a picklist with three options: email, social, and cpc. Three taxonomies reuse that one field with different filters:
  • The Email Campaigns taxonomy uses an allowlist of email.
  • The Social Campaigns taxonomy uses an allowlist of social.
  • The Ad Campaigns taxonomy uses an allowlist of cpc.
When you fill in an Email Campaigns submission, the utm_medium dropdown shows only email. On Social Campaigns it shows only social. The utm_medium picklist still holds all three options and is unchanged. One field with one picklist backs three different form behaviors, so the governance model stays simple while each taxonomy surfaces only the option its channel needs. In the governance model’s import format, the same allowlist looks like this on a field reference: 
field_references:
  - field_id: utm_medium
    position: 6
    filter_options:
      include: [email]
A blocklist uses exclude instead of include. A reference uses one or the other, never both, and omits filter_options entirely when there is no filter.

​
Gotchas

  • Overrides only tighten, never loosen. You can promote a field to required or hidden in a taxonomy, but you cannot relax the field’s own setting. A field that is required on the governance model is required in every taxonomy.
  • include and exclude behave differently as the picklist grows. With exclude, new picklist options appear automatically. With include, new options stay hidden until you add them to the filter. Choose exclude when the taxonomy should follow the picklist, include when it should pin a fixed set.
  • Option filters are dropdown-only. Setting a filter on any other field type is rejected. If a non-dropdown field needs different behavior in different taxonomies, consider whether you need two separate fields.
  • An allowlist can’t be empty. Saving an include filter with no options selected is blocked, because it would leave the dropdown empty. To remove all choices, remove the field from the taxonomy instead.
  • Filters are not access control. A filter narrows what shows in the form. It does not hide options from anyone who can read the picklist, so do not rely on it for security.
  • Existing records keep filtered-out values. Tightening a filter does not rewrite records that already use a now-hidden option. They keep their value, and updating one through a submission keeps it unless you change it deliberately.
  • The taxonomy and workspace filters stack. When both a taxonomy-level and a workspace-level filter exist for the same dropdown, both apply, and the dropdown shows only what passes both.