---
title: Property Fields
description: Datadog, the leading service for cloud-scale monitoring.
breadcrumbs: >-
  Docs > Incident Response > Incident Management > Setup and Configuration >
  Property Fields
---

> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://docs.datadoghq.com/llms.txt).

# Property Fields

## Overview{% #overview %}

Custom property fields enable you to capture important attributes unique to your organization, such as specific product models in the automotive industry or unique codes in a software deployment. These attributes help you efficiently categorize incidents.

You can use custom fields to filter for specific subsets of incidents on the [Incident Management](https://app.datadoghq.com/incidents) page and in [Incident Management Analytics](https://docs.datadoghq.com/incident_response/incident_management/analytics.md). You can also build conditions around custom fields in [incident notification rules](https://docs.datadoghq.com/incident_response/incident_management/setup_and_configuration/notification_rules.md).

## Field sections{% #field-sections %}

Property fields are organized into three tables that correspond to where the fields appear in the [Overview tab](https://docs.datadoghq.com/incident_response/incident_management/investigate.md#overview-tab) of the Incident Details page:

1. `What Happened`
1. `Why It Happened`
1. `Attributes`

You can move or reorder property fields by dragging them using the drag handle icon.

## Default fields{% #default-fields %}

There are five default fields:

| Fields                    | Description                                                                                                                                                                                              |
| ------------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Detection Method** | Add context on how this incident was declared.                                                                                                                                                           |
| **Summary**               | Provide details on what happened to cause this incident.                                                                                                                                                 |
| **Root Cause**       | List possible root causes or areas for investigation.                                                                                                                                                    |
| **Services**              | If you have [Datadog APM](https://docs.datadoghq.com/tracing.md) configured, the `Services` property field automatically uses your APM Service names. To add values to `Services`, you can upload a CSV. |
| **Teams**                 | The `Teams` property field automatically populates from the [teams](https://docs.datadoghq.com/account_management/teams.md) defined in your organization.                                                |

**Note**: You cannot delete default fields.

### Field types{% #field-types %}

You can define new fields of any of the following field types:

{% dl %}

{% dt %}
**Single Select**
{% /dt %}

{% dd %}
A dropdown that accepts one value. You set the available values when defining the field.
{% /dd %}

{% dt %}
**Multi Select**
{% /dt %}

{% dd %}
A dropdown that accepts multiple values. You set the available values when defining the field.
{% /dd %}

{% dt %}
**Text Array**
{% /dt %}

{% dd %}
A free-form field that accepts multiple values. Incident responders set arbitrary values when setting the field on an incident.
{% /dd %}

{% dt %}
**Text Area**
{% /dt %}

{% dd %}
A free-form text box that accepts a single value. Incident responders set arbitrary values when setting the field on an incident.
{% /dd %}

{% dt %}
**Metric Tag**
{% /dt %}

{% dd %}
A dropdown that accepts multiple values. Incident responders are prompted to select any ingested values of the metric tag you select when defining the field.
{% /dd %}

{% dt %}
**Number**
{% /dt %}

{% dd %}
Accepts any integer or decimal number.
{% /dd %}

{% dt %}
**Datetime**
{% /dt %}

{% dd %}
Accepts any datetime. Values are stored in UTC and are parsed and formatted using the user's local timezone.
{% /dd %}

{% /dl %}

### Field names{% #field-names %}

A field's name is a snake-case identifier used in [search and analytics queries](https://docs.datadoghq.com/incident_response/incident_management/setup_and_configuration/property_fields.md#custom-fields-in-search-and-analytics), [Workflow automations](https://docs.datadoghq.com/actions/workflows.md), and APIs. Its display name is a user-friendly label that determines how the field appears in an [incident's overview page](https://docs.datadoghq.com/incident_response/incident_management/investigate.md#overview-tab), an [incident's timeline](https://docs.datadoghq.com/incident_response/incident_management/investigate/timeline.md), and the [incident declaration modal](https://docs.datadoghq.com/incident_response/incident_management/investigate/declare.md).

### Required at declaration{% #required-at-declaration %}

If you mark a field as "Required at Declaration," users are required to enter a value when declaring incidents. This option does not affect Datadog Workflow automations or API requests.

### Prompt user{% #prompt-user %}

Incident Management can be configured to prompt responders to set particular fields when changing the incident's state.

**During declaration**: To prompt responders to enter a value for the field during declaration, edit the field's "Prompt user" option.

**When the incident is moved to Stable/Resolved/Completed**: To prompt users for a field when an incident moves to a given status, use [transition forms](https://docs.datadoghq.com/incident_response/incident_management/setup_and_configuration/transition_forms.md).

### Custom fields in search and analytics{% #custom-fields-in-search-and-analytics %}

Single-Select, Multi-Select, Text Array, Number, and Datetime fields are searchable facets in the [Incident Homepage](https://app.datadoghq.com/incidents) and [Incident Management Analytics](https://docs.datadoghq.com/incident_response/incident_management/analytics.md).

In Incident Management Analytics, number fields appear as measures that can be graphed and visualized in [Dashboards](https://docs.datadoghq.com/dashboards.md) and [Notebooks](https://docs.datadoghq.com/notebooks.md).