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Zendesk Custom Objects

Zendesk custom objects are your own data types inside Zendesk, related to tickets and users. Powerful, and easy to reach for when a custom field would've done.

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What Zendesk custom objects are

Custom objects let you define records that aren't tickets, users or organizations: a subscription, a device, a property, a vehicle, a shipment.

You define the fields, create records through the interface or the API, and relate them to tickets with lookup fields, so an agent can see the specific device this ticket is about rather than reading it out of the message.

Where they genuinely pay off

Devices or serial numbers, where support depends on which unit the customer has.
Subscriptions or contracts, when entitlement decides what you do.
Properties, vehicles or assets, in industries where the thing has an identity.
Orders, when your ecommerce platform integration can't reach far enough back.

The pattern is the same each time: the ticket is about a thing, and knowing which thing changes the answer.

Try the cheap options first

A custom field holds a value. An organization field holds something true for the whole account. An integration puts the other system data in the sidebar without you modelling anything.

Reach for custom objects when you need many records of the same type, related to tickets, that you have to search and report on. Anything less is a field.

They also need a higher plan tier, so check what your account includes before designing around them.

FAQ

Frequently asked questions

How do custom objects change the Zendesk data model?

They add nouns. The Zendesk data model ships with tickets, users and organizations, and a custom object adds your own. Zendesk lookup fields are how a ticket points at one of those records instead of copying its values.

Which Zendesk plans include custom objects?

Higher tiers, with limits on the number of object types and records. Check your plan before designing a data model.

Custom object or custom field?

Field for a value. Object when you have many records of a type that tickets need to reference and you need to report on them.

Better data, sharper matching

The more Zendesk knows about who and what a ticket concerns, the more confidently duplicates can be identified.

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