Field Service Data Capture Form Designer Configure

Design a Data Capture Form (from prose or from an image / PDF)

This skill produces an intermediate JSON spec from the user's input — a natural-language description or a PDF/image of an existing form — gets the user's approval on the plan, and then invokes fs-data-capture-form-deployer to compile and deploy.

When this skill fires

The user asks for a Data Capture Flow / Field Service Mobile form. The input arrives in one of two modes:

• Prose mode — the user describes the form in plain text with no attached file. Examples:
  • "Create a data capture form for asset inspection that asks for asset id, condition rating, photos, and remarks."
  • "Build a Field Service form for inventory transfer with parts repeater, source location, and destination dropdown."
  • "Generate a DataCaptureFlow that captures three things: site name, contact info, and a notes field."
• Image / PDF mode — the user supplies a path to a .pdf, .png, .jpg, or .jpeg file. Examples:
  • "Convert /tmp/inspection.pdf to a Data Capture Flow"
  • "Build a Field Service form from this image: ~/Downloads/site-visit.png"
  • "Turn this paper form into a DataCaptureFlow" (with attached image)

Detect the mode from the input: if the user supplied a .pdf / .png / .jpg / .jpeg path, use image/PDF mode; otherwise use prose mode. Everything after extraction (steps 2-6) is identical for both.

Workflow

1. Read the source (mode-dependent)

Prose mode — read the description carefully; don't fabricate fields. Extract only the fields the user actually mentioned. Don't invent extra fields based on what "usually goes on" an inspection form. If the user says "asks for asset id, condition rating, photos, and remarks", emit four fields, not eight.

If the user's description is too vague to produce a usable form ("build a form that captures stuff about a service appointment"), ask one or two targeted questions before extracting — what fields they want, whether there's a parent record, what should happen on submit. Don't guess.

Then apply the prose-evidence rules in reference/extraction-from-prompt.md.

Image / PDF mode — read the file. Use the Read tool on the path the user gave you. PDFs and images are natively supported. If the PDF is more than 10 pages, ask the user which pages contain the form (the Read tool requires a pages parameter for large PDFs).

Then apply the control-evidence rules in reference/extraction-from-image.md.

2. Extract the intermediate JSON

Apply every rule in the mode-appropriate extraction reference (from step 1). The output schema is defined by the input contract of the build skill:

• field-types.md — field type → component mapping, required Flow boilerplate, choice/repeater shapes, visibility rules.
• post-screen-automation.md — schema for the optional postScreen block.

Write the JSON to /tmp/data-capture-spec.json.

3. Determine the desired outcome

A data capture form is a means, not an end. Before asking for approval, decide what should happen in Salesforce when the user submits the form:

• If the user explicitly says what to create/update ("create a ProductTransfer for each part"), OR the source/filename strongly implies an outcome (Inventory Transfer → ProductTransfer; Asset Inspection → WorkOrderLineItem) — emit a postScreen block with the named (or best-guess) object and field API names. When it's a best guess, list every valueRef / field in the confirmation step so the user can correct names.
• If the outcome is ambiguous AND the user gave no hint — surface the question in the confirmation step ("What should happen when this form is submitted?") with concrete options drawn from the form's domain.
• A screens-only flow with no postScreen is valid, but you must say so explicitly in the confirmation step.

See the mode-appropriate extraction reference for the full outcome-elicitation rules.

4. Confirm with the user (mandatory gate)

Show the user what you plan to build before deploying. Use AskUserQuestion to gate the handoff to Build.

In the question body or surrounding text, plainly state:

1. The desired outcome. What the flow does after the last screen — e.g. "Submitting the form will create a ProductTransfer per row in the Parts repeater" or "This flow only captures data — admin will wire up automation in Flow Builder." If a postScreen block was generated, list every Salesforce object name and every field API name it references. Object/field API names are the most common source of post-deploy errors.
2. The formTitle and the proposed <FlowApiName> (PascalCase, no spaces).
3. The number of screens and total fields (count repeater children too).
4. Any visibility rules generated and the choice values they key off of.
5. Every field type, especially specialized ones, and the evidence it's based on. For each Signature, UploadFile, UploadImage, Images, Matrix, Address, Lookup, FileView, or Repeater in the spec, name the field and the evidence — in prose mode the prose evidence ("user said 'parts repeater'", "user described a sign-here pad"); in image mode the visual evidence ("damagePhoto → UploadImage because the source has a camera-icon button"). These deploy as real functional components (dcSignature, dcUpImage, etc.) — so emitting them when the user only meant a text field (prose) or when you can only point to the field's label (image) is the most common extraction bug. If the matching control vocabulary / visual control isn't present, downgrade to ShortText/LongText/Numeric and call it out.
6. Lookup objects and FileView filenames. For every Lookup, list the lookupObject (Salesforce object API name) and lookupSearchFields you chose. For every FileView, list the fileName. These names are common sources of post-deploy errors — surface them so the user can correct.
7. Any fields that fell back to a labeled dcTextInput placeholder (only happens for Lookup with no lookupObject and FileView with no fileName).

Offer the user clear options:

• Approve and deploy — proceed to step 5.
• Edit the spec first — let them edit /tmp/data-capture-spec.json directly, then re-run from step 4.
• Cancel — stop without deploying.

Do not proceed to step 5 without explicit approval.

5. Hand off to Build

Once approved, hand the approved spec to fs-data-capture-form-deployer. Pick a <FlowApiName> matching ^[A-Z][A-Za-z0-9_]*$ (default: PascalCase of formTitle), then follow that skill's workflow — it runs entirely over REST through the Codey runtime, with no sf CLI, no scripts, and no .flow-meta.xml:

1. Verify org auth — fs-data-capture-form-deployer/SKILL.md §1 (a cheap SELECT Id FROM Organization LIMIT 1 REST probe; the runtime resolves the connected org — this family does not manage aliases).
2. Build the Flow Metadata JSON inline from the approved spec — deployer §3 + reference/flow-metadata-json.md. The agent assembles the Metadata object directly; there is no XML compile step.
3. Deploy with a single POST /services/data/vXX.0/tooling/sobjects/Flow carrying { "FullName": "<FlowApiName>", "Metadata": { ... } } — deployer §4.

After deploy, follow the reporting + error-handling steps in fs-data-capture-form-deployer/SKILL.md §5.

6. Offer to attach the form to a parent record

After a successful deploy, the flow exists but is invisible from the Forms tab on any Service Appointment / Work Order. Ask the user whether they want it attached to a specific parent (the canonical "pending form" pattern). If yes, follow the attach steps in fs-data-capture-form-deployer/SKILL.md §6 — a single POST /services/data/vXX.0/sobjects/DynamicDataCapture (no scripts). For SA-context testing, attach to the SA's parent Work Order, not the SA itself — FSL Mobile reads Forms from the parent Work Order.

Out of scope

• Patching an already-deployed flow → fs-data-capture-form-editor.
• Hand-authoring patterns the converter doesn't generate (visual polish HTML, real dcSignature/dcUpImage, master-detail child records, supporting CustomObjects) → fs-data-capture-reference library skill.

Files in this skill

• reference/extraction-from-prompt.md — prose-evidence rules for picking field types from user descriptions, screen grouping, visibility rules, outcome-elicitation, validation checklist. Used in prose mode.
• reference/extraction-from-image.md — control-evidence rules for picking field types from rendered widgets, repeater extraction rules, screen grouping, visibility rules, outcome-elicitation, validation checklist. Used in image / PDF mode.