Configure field validations for tasks

Modified on: Mon, 10 Aug, 2026 at 8:46 PM

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Overview
Benefits of field validations
Types of field validations
- Regex validation
- Custom validation
Supported field types
How field validations are enforced
Limitations
Administrative guidance

Overview

Field validations allow administrators to define rules on tasks (Ticket, Change, Problem, or Release), ensuring that users enter accurate, complete, and correctly formatted data.

When a user adds a task, field validations check the input against the configured rules. If the input does not meet the defined criteria, the field is highlighted and an inline error message is displayed, prompting the user to correct it before proceeding.

By configuring field validations, administrators can enforce data standards, reduce errors, and ensure that tasks are processed efficiently.

Benefits of field validations

Improved data quality: Catch incorrect or incomplete input at the point of entry, before it affects downstream workflow or automations.
Workflow and automation reliability: Ensure that tasks flowing into workflows or business rules carry clean, correctly formatted data — reducing logic failures and unexpected errors.
Consistent data formats: Enforce standard formats for fields like email addresses, IP addresses, phone numbers, or URLs across all tasks.
Less manual intervention for admins: Fewer malformed data means less time spent on data cleanup and corrections.

Types of field validations

Freshservice supports two types of field validations for Task fields — Regex validation and Custom validation. The right type depends on what you want to validate.

Validation type	Best used for
Regex validation	Enforcing a specific pattern or format on a single field (for example, phone number, email, IP address)
Custom validation	Cross-field logic using expressions and placeholders (for example, End Date must be after Start Date)

Regex validation

Regex validation lets administrators enforce specific patterns or formats for data entered in a field using regular expressions.

How to configure

To set up a regex validation, open any existing field within a Task form or add a new field. Toggle on Add validation to start building the rule.

Key capabilities

Most used expressions: Quickly apply common patterns — such as Email, Alphanumeric, or IP Address — from the Most used expressions link. These can also be used as a starting point to build more specific rules.
Expression tester: Test your regex pattern against sample values before saving to make sure it behaves as expected.
Custom error messages: Define an inline error message (up to 255 characters) that is shown to users when their input fails validation — for example, "Enter the 10 digit number in this format: (123) 456-7890".

How it appears to users

Once configured, the validation is enforced. The field is highlighted in red and the custom error message is displayed if the input does not match the pattern.

Custom validation

Custom validation lets administrators build expression-based rules that compare or evaluate data across multiple fields in the same task. This is useful for cross-field logic — for example, ensuring that an End Date is always after a Start Date.

How to configure

Open the field you want to validate within a Task form and toggle on Add validation. Use the expression builder to construct your rule using functions, operators, and placeholder fields.

Key capabilities

Functions and operators: Build expressions using string, mathematical, date, and logical functions, along with arithmetic and logical operators.
Placeholders: Reference other fields from the same Task as variables in your expression. Note that RTE and Attachment field types cannot be used as placeholders.
Expression tester: Test your custom expression against sample values before saving to make sure it evaluates as expected.
Custom error messages: Define an inline error message (up to 255 characters) that is shown to users when their input fails validation.

Note:

For URL fields, the system runs a built-in format check first, followed by your custom validation rule.
Fields that have been added but not yet saved will not appear as placeholders in the expression builder. Save and publish the Task first before referencing newly added fields in a custom expression.

How it appears to users

Once configured, the validation is enforced. If the input does not match the pattern, the field is highlighted in red and the custom error message is displayed.

Supported field types

Field validations are supported for select field types within Tasks. The supported validation type — Regex, Custom, or both — depends on the nature of the field.

Note: A maximum of 15 custom fields per task can have validation rules configured.

Supported custom field types

Custom field type	Regex validation	Custom validation
Single line text	Yes	Yes
Number	Yes	Yes
Decimal	Yes	Yes
Date	No	Yes
URL	Yes	Yes
Checkbox	No	Yes

How field validations are enforced

Understanding when and how validations are triggered helps administrators configure rules with confidence and set the right expectations for agents.

Trigger and user interface (UI) behavior

When validations trigger: Validations are evaluated when agents submit the form.
Validation failure: If a field fails validation, it is highlighted in red and the configured inline error message is displayed, prompting the user to correct the input before resubmitting.

Dependencies and placeholder behavior

Empty or unavailable placeholders: If a placeholder field referenced in a custom validation expression is empty, deleted, or archived, the validation rule is skipped automatically to prevent false errors.
Interaction with business rules: If a business rule hides or disables a field, the validation configured for that field is bypassed. However, if a business rule hides or disables a placeholder field used in the expression, the validation is not bypassed — it continues to be evaluated.

API and integration enforcement

Field validations are not limited to the Freshservice user interface (UI) — they are enforced consistently across APIs and backend.

Any data created or updated via REST APIs, integrations, imports, or scripts must comply with the same validation rules configured on the fields. This ensures data integrity regardless of how a task is submitted or updated.

Limitations

The following limitations apply to field validations in Tasks. Admins should account for these when designing validation rules.

Limitation	Details
Field limit	Validations can be configured for a maximum of 15 custom fields per Task.
Placeholder limit	A single custom validation expression can reference a maximum of 10 placeholder fields.

Administrative guidance

The following details cover system behavior and best practices admins should be aware of when configuring and managing field validations.

Deletion of placeholder fields

If you attempt to delete a field that is currently used as a placeholder in another field's validation expression, the system will block the action and display a message identifying the affected fields.

Validation expression integrity

The system validates that every saved expression produces a Boolean (True/False) output. If an expression does not evaluate to a Boolean, it cannot be saved. This prevents misconfigured rules from being applied to live forms.

Audit logs

All changes to validation rules are captured in audit logs, including:

Enabling or disabling a validation rule.
Modifications to a validation expression.

Sandbox

Field validations are available in the Sandbox environment for custom fields, allowing admins to test and validate rules before deploying them to production.