p4-plan-custom-fields

name	p4-plan-custom-fields
description	Guide custom field management, configuration, and usage in P4 Plan. Use when user mentions custom fields, custom columns, metadata, tags, categories, or project-specific data.

Custom Fields in P4 Plan

Custom fields (custom columns) add project-specific data to tasks beyond the built-in fields.

Key Concepts

• Each project defines its own set of custom columns.
• Columns have types: Text, Multiline Text, Number, Decimal Number, Date, DateTime, Time Spent, Drop List, Multi-select Drop List, User, Hyperlink, and Function (computed).
• To set a drop-list or multi-select value, first call get_custom_columns to discover option IDs, then pass the option ID (not the display label) to set_custom_field.
• Function fields are read-only — they appear in get_custom_fields output but cannot be set via set_custom_field.
• Use onlySet parameter on get_custom_fields to skip empty fields.

Tool Mapping

User Intent	Tool	Key Parameters
List available custom columns	get_custom_columns	projectId, activeOnly
Read task's custom field values	get_custom_fields	taskId, onlySet
Set a custom field value	set_custom_field	taskId, customFieldId, value

Value Formats by Type

Column Type	Value Format
Text	Any string
Multiline Text	Sanitized HTML; plain text accepted (no tags = valid HTML). Use HTML for formatting or @mentions — see comment-html-format skill
Number	Integer string, e.g. "5"
Decimal Number	Numeric string, e.g. "5.5"
Date	ISO date "YYYY-MM-DD"
DateTime	ISO datetime "YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS"
Time Spent	Hours as numeric string, e.g. "2.5"
Drop List	Option ID from get_custom_columns
Multi-select Drop List	Comma-separated option IDs, e.g. "id1, id2, id3"
Hyperlink	URL string
User	Comma-separated user IDs from list_project_users
Function	Read-only — computed value

To clear a field, pass an empty string as the value.

Related Skills

• Task Management -- built-in task fields
• Backlog Grooming -- backlog item fields
• Workflows -- workflow status fields (same tool module)
• Comment HTML Format -- HTML format for Multiline Text values
• Mentions -- @user references inside Multiline Text values