Custom lead field fails to update on inline edit in lead management grid view

CRM Zendesk Sell
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1

We have a custom field called “qualification_score” in our lead management module. When users try to update this field using inline editing in the grid view, the change appears to save but doesn’t persist. Refreshing the page shows the old value.

Interestingly, editing the same field through the full lead detail form works perfectly. The issue only occurs with inline editing in the grid view. I’ve checked the custom field API schema and it’s configured as editable. User permissions seem fine since the detail form edit works. Is there something specific about how grid view inline edits handle custom fields in Zendesk Sell?

2

Look at the grid view configuration itself. Custom fields need to be explicitly enabled for inline editing in the grid settings, separate from the field’s editable property. Go to lead management grid configuration and verify your custom field is in the inline-editable columns list.

3

Grid inline edits use a different API endpoint than full form saves. Check if your custom field is included in the grid’s editable fields configuration.

4

I’ve encountered this before. The grid view caches field configurations and might not recognize newly added custom fields for inline editing until you refresh the grid layout configuration or clear the application cache.

5

Even though detail form editing works, grid inline editing might require different permissions. Check if your users have ‘bulk_edit’ permission for leads, not just standard edit permission. Grid operations sometimes fall under bulk operations even for single-row edits.

6

This sounds like a field mapping issue. Grid view inline edits send partial updates using PATCH requests, while full form saves use PUT with complete objects. Your custom field might not be mapped correctly for the PATCH endpoint. Check the API field key - it needs to match exactly between the grid configuration and the custom field schema. If the grid is sending ‘qualificationScore’ but your field is defined as ‘qualification_score’, the update will silently fail.

7

I checked the field key and it matches. Here’s the custom field definition:

{
  "key": "qualification_score",
  "type": "number",
  "editable": true
}

Grid still won’t save inline edits.

8

Let me systematically address all three focus areas causing your inline edit failure:

Custom Field API Schema: Your field definition looks correct, but there’s a critical property missing for grid inline editing. Custom fields need explicit grid edit support:

{
  "key": "qualification_score",
  "type": "number",
  "editable": true,
  "grid_editable": true
}

The grid_editable property is separate from general editable because grid operations use different validation and update logic. Add this property and update your custom field schema through the Zendesk Sell API or admin interface.

Grid View Inline Edit Logic: Grid inline edits in Zendesk Sell use a specialized update mechanism:

  1. They send PATCH requests with only changed fields (partial updates)
  2. They use a different API endpoint: /api/v2/leads/{id}/grid_update instead of the standard `/api/v2/leads/{id}
  3. Custom fields must be registered in the grid’s editable columns configuration

To fix this, navigate to Admin → Lead Management → Grid Settings → Editable Columns. Your custom field must appear in this list. If it’s not there:

  • Click “Add Custom Field”
  • Select “qualification_score” from the dropdown
  • Set inline edit widget type (for numbers, use “number_input”)
  • Save grid configuration

User Permissions: Grid inline editing requires compound permissions that differ from detail form editing:

  • Standard leads.edit permission allows detail form editing
  • Grid inline editing additionally requires leads.bulk_edit permission
  • Custom field inline editing requires custom_fields.inline_edit permission

Verify your user role has all three permissions. Even if detail editing works, missing any of these will block grid inline edits.

Additional troubleshooting:

  • Clear browser cache after updating grid configuration
  • Check browser console for API errors during inline edit attempts
  • Verify the field isn’t read-only in certain lead states (some workflows lock fields based on lead status)
  • Test with an admin account to rule out permission issues

The most common cause is missing grid_editable property combined with the field not being added to the grid’s editable columns configuration. Fix both and the inline editing should work immediately.