Using custom properties

Custom properties let you define organisation-wide metadata fields that appear on every BPMN element across all your process maps. Use them to capture structured information such as system names, risk levels, compliance categories, or any other data relevant to your processes.

Field types

Three field types are available when creating custom properties:

• Text — a short, single-line text field.
• Text area — a multi-line text field for longer descriptions.
• Dropdown selector — a list of predefined options to choose from.

Defining custom properties

Only organisation Owners can create and manage custom property definitions.

1. Go to your organisation settings from the dashboard.
2. Select Custom Properties.
3. Click Add new property.
4. Set the following:
   • Name — the label that will appear on elements (for example, "System Name" or "Risk Level").
   • Type — choose Text, Text area, or Dropdown selector.
   • Description — an optional explanation of what this property captures.
   • Options — for dropdown selectors, define the list of choices.
5. Save the property.

The new property will immediately be available on all process map elements across your organisation.

Using custom properties on elements

1. Open a process map in the BPMN editor.
2. Select any element in the diagram (a task, gateway, event, or other shape).
3. Open the Properties panel.
4. Below the standard fields, you will see your custom properties.
5. Fill in the values as needed for that element.

Each element can have its own values for every custom property, giving you fine-grained metadata across the entire process.

Including custom properties in exports

Custom properties can be included in PDF exports of your process maps. For each property definition, toggle Include in export to control whether it appears in exported documents. This is useful when you need to share detailed process documentation with stakeholders who do not use BA Copilot directly.

AI extraction hints

When importing documents or using AI to generate process maps, you can add hints to your custom property definitions to guide the AI. For example, you might add a hint like "Extract the system name from the process description" to help the AI populate the property automatically during import.

Viewing properties with overlays

To see custom property values at a glance without selecting individual elements, use the overlays feature:

1. Open a process map in the editor.
2. Click the Overlays button below the diagram.
3. Select which custom property to display.

Badges will appear on each element showing its value for the selected property, giving you a quick visual overview of metadata across the entire process map.

Tip: Custom properties are shared across all process maps in your organisation. Any change to a property definition (such as renaming it or adding dropdown options) applies everywhere immediately. Plan your property structure carefully before rolling it out to your team.