The Date field provides a date picker interface for capturing date values. Date fields enable date-based comparisons, calculations, and automations, making them essential for deadlines, birth dates, start dates, and any time-sensitive data.
Use Date fields whenever you need to track when something happened or when something is due. Date fields provide built-in validation, consistent formatting, and enable powerful date-based automations and filtering.
When to Use
Use Date fields for:
- Birth dates and ages
- Deadlines and due dates
- Start and end dates
- Incident or claim dates
- Contract dates (signature, expiration)
- Submission dates
- Approval dates
- Any date that drives workflow logic
Consider alternatives:
- Use Text for date ranges or free-form date descriptions
- Use Number for year-only values that don’t represent actual dates
Configuration Options
| Option | Description | Type | Default | Example |
|---|
key | Unique identifier | String | Required | birth_date |
name | Display label | String | Required | ”Date of Birth” |
description | Help text for users | String | Optional | ”Your date of birth” |
ai_description | Hint for Intelligence | String | Optional | ”The person’s date of birth” |
min | Earliest allowed date | Date string | None | 1900-01-01 |
max | Latest allowed date | Date string | None | 2026-12-31 |
format | Display format | String | YYYY-MM-DD | DD/MM/YYYY |
default | Default value | Date string | None | today, 2026-01-01 |
visibility | Display setting | String | always-visible | hide-when-empty |
section | Section this field belongs to | String | None | Section UUID |
Examples
Birth Date
Collect date of birth with reasonable validation:
{
"key": "birth_date",
"type": "date",
"name": "Date of Birth",
"description": "Your date of birth",
"min": "1900-01-01",
"max": "today",
"ai_description": "The person's date of birth in DD/MM/YYYY or YYYY-MM-DD format, typically found in identification documents"
}
Deadline Date
Set a future deadline:
{
"key": "submission_deadline",
"type": "date",
"name": "Submission Deadline",
"description": "Documents must be submitted by this date",
"min": "today",
"default": "+30days",
"ai_description": "The deadline date by which all documents must be submitted"
}
Incident Date
Collect when an event occurred:
{
"key": "incident_date",
"type": "date",
"name": "Incident Date",
"description": "When did the incident occur?",
"max": "today",
"ai_description": "The date when the incident or claim event occurred, not the date it was reported. Found in incident reports or claim descriptions."
}
Contract Expiration
Track contract end date:
{
"key": "contract_expiration",
"type": "date",
"name": "Contract Expiration Date",
"description": "When this contract expires",
"min": "today",
"ai_description": "The date when the current contract expires or needs renewal, typically found in contract headers or renewal notices"
}
Validation
Date fields provide automatic validation:
- Only valid dates accepted
- Prevents impossible dates (February 30, month 13, etc.)
- Handles leap years correctly
- Consistent date format across platform
Range Validation
min - Earliest allowed date
max - Latest allowed date
- Use
today as dynamic value for current date
- Use relative values like
+30days, -1year
Special Values
today - Current date
+Ndays - N days from today (e.g., +30days)
-Ndays - N days before today (e.g., -7days)
+Nmonths - N months from today
+Nyears - N years from today
AI Descriptions
AI descriptions help Intelligence extract date values from emails and documents. For date fields:
Be specific about:
- Which date you’re asking for (incident date vs report date)
- Expected format (DD/MM/YYYY vs MM/DD/YYYY)
- Where the date typically appears
- What the date represents
Good AI descriptions for date fields:
| Field | AI Description |
|---|
birth_date | ”The person’s date of birth in DD/MM/YYYY or YYYY-MM-DD format, typically found in identification documents like ID cards or passports” |
incident_date | ”The date when the incident or claim event occurred (not the date it was reported), usually found in the incident description or claim summary” |
contract_start_date | ”The date when the contract becomes effective or was signed, found in the contract header or signature section” |
policy_expiration | ”The date when the insurance policy expires and needs renewal, shown in policy documents and renewal notices” |
submission_deadline | ”The deadline date by which all required documents and information must be submitted” |
Clarify ambiguous dates:
- “Incident date, not report date”
- “Contract signing date, not effective date”
- “Birth date, not application date”
- “Expiration date, not issue date”
Date ambiguity is a common source of extraction errors. Be very specific in AI descriptions to distinguish between similar date types.
Date-Based Automations
Date fields enable powerful date-based automations:
Deadline reminders:
- Send reminder 7 days before deadline
- Escalate when deadline passes
- Update status based on deadline proximity
Age calculations:
- Calculate age from birth date
- Determine eligibility based on age
- Trigger different workflows for age groups
Time-based transitions:
- Move to “Overdue” if response not received by deadline
- Archive cases after 90 days from closure date
- Trigger renewal workflow 30 days before expiration
Date comparisons:
- Ensure start date is before end date
- Check if incident date is within policy coverage period
- Validate dates fall within reasonable ranges
Learn more about Automations →
Best Practices
Use Date fields for all date values:
- Don’t store dates as text (prevents date-based logic)
- Enables date calculations and comparisons
- Provides consistent date formatting
Set reasonable min/max:
- Prevents clearly invalid dates
- Use
today for dynamic validation
- Consider use case (birth dates should be in past)
Clarify in AI descriptions:
- Distinguish between similar date types
- Specify format commonly used
- Mention where date appears in documents
Default values:
- Use
today for current date fields
- Use
+30days for typical deadlines
- Leave blank when user must actively choose
Consider timezone:
- Dates are stored in ISO 8601 format
- Display format respects user locale
- Specify timezone requirements in description if critical