> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://help.qrtub.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Reference Fields

> The field that holds no value of its own — it stores a pointer to another Item, Collection, or team member and shows that record's current name and image.

A reference field holds no value of its own. It stores the ID of another record in QRtub, and
displays that record's current name and image. This is how you model a relationship: an Item
that belongs to a site, or has an assigned owner.

That is what separates it from [Allowed Values](/fields/allowed-values), which is a fixed list
of literal values you author on the field itself. A reference field has no list to author —
its options are whatever records exist, and it never copies their data. Rename the referenced
record and every Item pointing at it shows the new name, because the name was never stored on
the Item.

## Setting one up

A reference field is a **UUID** field with a reference type set. When you create a custom
field, choose UUID as the type and the reference configuration appears.

Pick what the field points at:

| Points at         | Options offered in the dropdown                                  |
| ----------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **A team member** | Everyone on the team                                             |
| **Another Item**  | Items in this Collection, or Items in any Collection on the team |
| **A Collection**  | Any Collection on the team                                       |

For an Item reference, that second choice is the **Scope** setting: same Collection only, or
any Collection in the team. Member and Collection references are always team-wide.

**Searchable Dropdown** turns the picker into a search box instead of a plain list. Worth
switching on for anything with more than a screenful of records, since the list is loaded in
full and sorted alphabetically.

## What it looks like once it is set

The picker and the Items table both show the referenced record rather than an ID:

* a team member shows their avatar, name, and email,
* an Item shows its image, its name, and its Item ID,
* a Collection shows its image and name.

If the referenced record can no longer be resolved — it was deleted, or it sits outside the
field's scope — the cell falls back to a placeholder circle and the first characters of the
stored ID. Nothing is cleared automatically, so that is your signal that a pointer has gone
stale.

## Limits worth knowing before you commit

**A binding inserts the ID, not the name.** `{{item.parent_item}}` in a Destination URL
resolves to the stored record ID, because reference lookup happens in the app's own screens,
not in the binding resolver. If you need a human-readable value in a URL, put it in a Text
field. And remember that values are inserted into a URL exactly as stored, with no
URL-encoding — a value containing a space or an `&` will break the link.

If what you actually want in the URL is the Collection the Item belongs to, that is a
Collection binding rather than a reference field: `{{collection.name}}`.

**CSV import cannot fill a reference field.** A UUID field's CSV cell has to be a JSON
object, so a bare record ID in that column is rejected as invalid. Set reference fields from
the Item form.

**A UUID field with no reference type is just a text box.** It has nothing to point at, so
the form falls back to plain text input. If the dropdown never appears, the reference type is
unset.

## Related

* [Allowed Values](/fields/allowed-values)
* [Custom Field Types](/fields/field-types)
* [Creating a Custom Field](/fields/creating-a-field)
* [Field Bindings](/destinations/field-bindings)