Using the Formula Browser
Find, review and insert the right formula
An Expression
There is nothing to set up. You'll need Configure permission
This guide assumes you already know the computed field types — see Computed fields for the formula syntax itself.
1. What the browser gives you
The catalogue adapts to the input you are editing. A Template or other single-line text input shows categories such as Text, Conditions, Numbers, Fields & links and Special characters. A numeric Formula shows categories such as Maths, Rounding & limits, Conditions, Dates & durations, Fields and Units.
Kinabase also filters by the result the input has to produce and by what is available around it. A formula that must return a duration shows duration choices, and options such as A form answer appear only where a form supplies one.
Search a formula's name, description or category. Everyday phrasings such as first characters or if blank find the right entry.
Every entry shows its description and syntax, then an Example, the sample values behind it under When, and the result under Gives. Examples are validated against the same rules Kinabase uses to run your formulas.
The formula lands at your cursor with its first value selected, ready to replace. Where that value is a field, the field picker opens for you.
2. Open and search the browser
1. Open a supported input
For a computed field, open the collection, click the options menu (⋯), select Configure, then click Fields under Setup. For an automation, go to Settings → Operations → Automations and open a step with an expression input.
2. Open the browser
Click the fx button labelled Browse formulae beside the input. The Search formulae box takes focus immediately.
3. Search or browse
Type to search across every category, or select a category to narrow the list. While you are searching, the All category is relabelled Search.
4. Move around with the keyboard
Use the up and down arrow keys within a pane. When the search box is empty, the left and right arrow keys move between the category and formula panes. Press Enter to move from a category into its formulas, and Escape or Tab to close the browser.
3. Review and insert a formula
The details pane shows three things for the highlighted formula:
| Label | What it shows |
|---|---|
| Example | A complete worked pattern you could use as-is. |
| When | The values used for any sample fields in that example. |
| Gives | The result the example produces. |
To insert the plain pattern, click Insert, press Enter while the formula is highlighted, or double-click it. To insert the complete worked version instead, click the code shown under Example.
Kinabase inserts at your cursor and selects the first value so you can replace it straight away. In a Template, the formula is wrapped in ${ } unless your cursor is already inside a formula section; in a Formula, the leading = is preserved. Where the selected value expects a field, the field picker opens so you can select one.
If you type an unrecognised formula name, the message below the input points you to the fx button rather than listing every possible name.
4. Type a formula name instead
You don't have to open the browser at all. Type at least two letters where a formula name can begin and Kinabase offers matches in a Formulae group, with each entry's syntax shown beside it. Matching works on the function name and on the words in its plain-English label, so roun finds the rounding formulas and first finds First characters.
Click a match, or move to it with the arrow keys and press Enter. Press Escape to dismiss the list without choosing.
Suggestions appear only where a formula name is valid — after the = prefix in a Formula, or inside a ${ } section in a Template. They never interrupt ordinary template wording or text inside quotation marks, and a token that starts with $ always shows field suggestions instead.
5. Describe a formula in plain English
When you know the result you want but not the formula, Describe it uses AI Assistance
1. Describe the result
Open the browser, type what you want in plain English, then press Enter or click the lightning icon beside the Search formulae box to run Describe it. If a search finds nothing, the browser offers Ask AI to write it instead.
2. Wait, or stop
Click Stop, or close the browser, to cancel the request while it runs.
3. Review the suggestion
Kinabase shows the proposed formula, a short explanation, and — where it can build one — a worked example under When and Gives. Your input is untouched until you accept.
4. Accept, retry or go back
Click Use this to place the formula in the input, Try again for a different suggestion, or Back to formulae to return to the catalogue.
Kinabase checks each suggestion before showing it. The field you are editing is hidden from the request and any answer that reads it is rejected, so a suggestion cannot create a circular calculation. A suggestion may reference a linked record
Always review a suggested formula and check the preview against a real record before saving it.
6. Where you can use it
The fx button appears beside supported editable formula and single-line text inputs, including:
- Formula and Template inputs on computed fields.
- Eligible Default Formula inputs in field configuration, and formula-based validation limits.
- Automation inputs such as Subject, Title, Location, Format, Formula and Value (expression), across steps including Create a new record, Update the current record, Make an API call, Copy to clipboard and Generate PDF document.
The button is hidden when an input is read-only or disabled. Rich-text editors, including an automation email's Content input, don't use the browser.
Read Computed fields for the formula syntax and the preview, and Automation steps for the steps you can configure with expressions.
Need more help? Ask your System admin, or contact our support team via Help & Support.