Goal
Enable developers to handle complex form submissions (multiple related datasets) in a simple, reliable way by allowing forms to directly trigger automations with full payloads. This removes the need for fragile frontend workarounds and enables clean backend-driven data modeling.
Improve the flexibility and scalability of form handling in Budibase so users can build real-world workflows (e.g. applications, onboarding, multi-entity submissions) without fighting the platform.
Problem
Today, forms in Budibase are tightly coupled to individual tables, making it difficult to handle submissions that span multiple related entities. Users must manage relationships (e.g. parent/child records) within the form itself, which leads to complexity, brittle logic, and poor UX—especially in public forms without session/state.
Additionally, while automations exist, they are not naturally integrated with form submissions and have limited input handling. This prevents users from cleanly passing structured form data (arrays, nested data) into backend workflows, forcing inefficient patterns like temporary IDs or post-processing.
Solution
Introduce a “Form Trigger” for automations, allowing forms to submit directly to an automation instead of a table. The form sends its entire payload (including complex and nested data) to the automation, which becomes responsible for all data processing, validation, and record creation across multiple tables/datasources/destinations.
Enhance automation inputs to support rich data types (arrays, objects, etc.) and provide a seamless way to map form fields to automation inputs. This decouples data capture (forms) from data logic (automations), enabling more robust, maintainable, and scalable solutions.
Goal
Enable developers to handle complex form submissions (multiple related datasets) in a simple, reliable way by allowing forms to directly trigger automations with full payloads. This removes the need for fragile frontend workarounds and enables clean backend-driven data modeling.
Improve the flexibility and scalability of form handling in Budibase so users can build real-world workflows (e.g. applications, onboarding, multi-entity submissions) without fighting the platform.
Problem
Today, forms in Budibase are tightly coupled to individual tables, making it difficult to handle submissions that span multiple related entities. Users must manage relationships (e.g. parent/child records) within the form itself, which leads to complexity, brittle logic, and poor UX—especially in public forms without session/state.
Additionally, while automations exist, they are not naturally integrated with form submissions and have limited input handling. This prevents users from cleanly passing structured form data (arrays, nested data) into backend workflows, forcing inefficient patterns like temporary IDs or post-processing.
Solution
Introduce a “Form Trigger” for automations, allowing forms to submit directly to an automation instead of a table. The form sends its entire payload (including complex and nested data) to the automation, which becomes responsible for all data processing, validation, and record creation across multiple tables/datasources/destinations.
Enhance automation inputs to support rich data types (arrays, objects, etc.) and provide a seamless way to map form fields to automation inputs. This decouples data capture (forms) from data logic (automations), enabling more robust, maintainable, and scalable solutions.