Factorial Code — input parameter schemas

A process's input parameters are defined by a JSON Schema in parametersSchema.json. The same schema is what fcode-forms renders as a web form, so designing the schema is designing the form. Values arrive in code as fcode.context.parameters (see fcode-javascript / fcode-python).

Schemas render with react-jsonschema-form, so its ui: options apply.

How to author one

1. Top level is "type": "object" with a properties map (one entry per field)

and an optional required array.

1. Pick a type per field (string, integer, number, boolean, array,

object) and add validation (minimum/maximum, format, enum/oneOf, uniqueItems, nested properties).

1. Control rendering with a per-field ui object (e.g.

"ui": { "ui:widget": "textarea" }).

1. Open assets/parametersSchema.sample.json for a complete, copy-pasteable

schema exercising every supported type — adapt fields from it rather than guessing the shape.

Field types & widgets (in the sample)

• Text — "type": "string"; format: "email"; ui:widget of textarea,

color, hidden, or file.

• Secret — "isSensitive": true masks the input (e.g. passwords/tokens).
• Numbers — integer / number with minimum / maximum.
• Boolean — "type": "boolean".
• Choices — enum (select), oneOf of { const, title } (labeled radio

with ui:widget: "radio"), or an array with ui:widget: "checkboxes" + uniqueItems.

• Structured — nested object with its own properties/required; arrays

of strings or of objects (type: "array" + items); raw JSON via "ui": { "ui:field": "json" }.

• Conditional fields — use top-level dependencies to show/hide fields based

on another field's value (see anotherBooleanField in the sample).

• Content around a field — a per-field markdown object with before /

after strings renders block markdown (full GFM, incl. tables) above/below the field. Detail and a worked example in fcode-forms (references/advanced.md).

• Long forms — split roughly ten or more fields into steps with a root-level

ui:steps node; see fcode-forms §Multi-step forms.

Gotchas

• A file field ("ui:widget": "file") is auto-uploaded to Storage before

the process runs; the parameter arrives as an fcode.storage://… reference, not the file contents. Strip the prefix before fcode.storage.download(...).

• isSensitive: true only affects display/masking — still read the value

from a secret variable, never hardcode it.

• The schema is the single source of the form's fields — to change fields, edit

the schema, not the form embed code.

• The schema is data, not code — no executable JavaScript, and all form

text is markdown (raw HTML is never rendered). Client-side behaviour belongs in the embedding page — see fcode-forms.

• Visible text can be translated: schema strings (titles, descriptions,

ui:placeholder) accept fcode.i18n("key") tokens, substituted server-side before the form is served — see fcode-i18n.