Button Field — One Click From Record to Action
Put the next step on the Record itself—open a dynamic link, run an Automation, create a pre-filled Record, or launch a form—so work moves forward without hunting through menus.
What Is Button Field?
The Button Field is a SmartSuite field type that turns a Record into an action hub: a single click opens a URL, executes an Automation, creates a new Record, or launches a form—directly from a view or the Record itself. It helps IT, GRC, and business operations teams standardize the next step of a workflow so it is performed the same way every time. The Button Field is available on all SmartSuite plan types and pairs naturally with Automations.
Four Action Types
Configure Buttons to Link, Automate, Create, or Collect
Each button performs one of four actions: Open URL for static or dynamic links, Execute Automation to run a workflow on the Record's data, Create a Record to open a new—optionally pre-filled—Record in any Table without leaving the view, and Open a Form in popup, slider, fullscreen, or new-tab display.
Labels, colors, and display formats are configurable, so the button reads as the action it performs.
Dynamic URLs
Build Context-Aware Links With the Formula Builder
Open URL buttons go beyond static links: the Formula Builder combines field values into context-specific URLs—a "View in monitoring" button assembled from a stored asset ID, or a pre-scoped search built from the Record's own data.
Every Record carries a link that already knows what it points to.
Workflow Triggers
Run Automations From the Record, Under the Right Permissions
An Execute Automation button saves the Record first, then runs the Automation against the current version—no stale data in the workflow. A Button Click can also serve as an Automation trigger in its own right, putting human judgment at the start of an automated sequence.
Permissions follow the action: opening a URL needs viewer access, executing an Automation needs edit rights, creating a Record needs create rights, and opening a form needs form access.
Button Field
Standardized workflows depend on standardized next steps—the Button Field makes the right action the obvious one on every control, policy, and finding.
A Send for Approval button on each policy or exception Record runs the routing Automation against the saved, current version—review starts the same way every time.
A button on each control opens a pre-filled evidence-request Record in the tasks Table, carrying the control's context so collection starts without re-keying.
A button on policy or control Records opens a pre-filled exception request form in the findings Table—consistent intake without leaving the current view, so exceptions enter governance the moment they surface.
A dynamic Open URL button assembles its link from the Record's stored framework or document reference—taking reviewers from a control straight to the external standard or policy repository it cites.
Pair the Button Field with Automations—a Button Click trigger puts a person's go-ahead at the start of an automated attestation, escalation, or approval sequence.
Standardized workflows depend on standardized next steps—the Button Field makes the right action the obvious one on every control, policy, and finding.
It is a field type that adds a clickable action to Records: open a static or dynamic URL, execute an Automation, create a new Record in any Table, or launch a form. It turns each Record into an action hub for the next step of a workflow.
Four: Open URL (static or formula-built dynamic links), Execute Automation (run a workflow on the Record's data), Create a Record (optionally pre-filled, in any Table), and Open a Form (popup, slider, fullscreen, or new tab).
Yes. Create a Record buttons support default values for text, date, dropdown, checkbox, and assignment or tag fields. Linked records, file uploads, signatures, time tracking, and dynamic defaults are not supported for pre-fill.
No. When a button executes an Automation, SmartSuite saves the Record first so the workflow runs against the current version of the data.
It depends on the action: Open URL requires viewer access, Execute Automation requires edit rights, Create a Record requires create rights, and Open a Form requires form access—so buttons stay inside your existing permission model.
Yes. Beyond the Execute Automation action, a Button Click can itself serve as an Automation trigger—putting a deliberate human decision at the start of an automated sequence.
Make the Next Step a Single Click
Add a button, wire it to a link, form, or Automation, and give every Record a standard way forward.