HubSpot custom objects missing required or searchable properties

Why it matters

The primary display property is what users see in record lists, association cards and search results. If it is missing or poorly chosen, records show up as IDs or vague names and people stop trusting the object.

Required and searchable properties are how you enforce and find the data that matters. When none are set, records can be created half-empty, and migration checks have no rule to test against.

Records that already miss required values break search, reporting and associations even when the definition is correct, so the schema and the data both need review.

How to find it in HubSpot

1. 1In Settings, open the data model or custom objects area, if your subscription includes custom objects.
2. 2Open each custom object and note its primary display property, searchable properties and required properties.
3. 3Ask the object owner what each record represents and which fields must always be filled.
4. 4Open the custom object index and filter for records where each required property is unknown.

How to fix it safely

1. 1Agree the object’s purpose, owner and key fields before changing the definition.
2. 2Set a clear primary display property and mark the fields users search on as searchable.
3. 3Backfill missing required values on a small staged sample first, check the result, then complete the rest.
4. 4Update imports and integrations so new records always arrive with the required fields.

Before you change anything: Custom object definitions are shared by every record, form, workflow and integration that uses them. Plan and test schema changes in a sandbox, if your subscription includes one.

How Ancil checks this

Rule

ARCH-009, ARCH-011

What it looks for

Reads the custom object definitions and flags any object with no primary display property, no searchable properties or no required properties. Separately, when Ancil can read every record in one pass (up to 10 custom objects with up to 100 records each), it flags records with a blank required property. Larger record sets are not checked by the record rule.

Severity

Warning for both checks.

Evidence shown

Each affected object’s ID, name, primary display property, searchable properties and required properties, plus, for the record check, the record total, sample size and up to 50 record IDs per object.

Governed fix

Not automated. Ancil reports the evidence only. Your team, or an INSIDEA expert, changes the schema and backfills records. Ancil does not change custom objects automatically.

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