The deal form builder

The deal form is configurable. Most dealerships do at least a couple of changes — turn off fields they don't use, add custom fields they do.

Settings → Forms → Deal form.

What you see

A drag-and-drop schema editor. The form is split into sections (Customer, Vehicle, Pricing, Trade-in, Finance, plus any custom sections). Each section contains fields. Each field has type, label, default, validation, and a few flags.

What you can change

For any field:

• Toggle hidden / required / optional. Hidden fields are removed from the form entirely.
• Reorder. Drag fields up or down within a section.
• Rename the label. "Customer" → "Buyer".
• Set a default value (where the field type supports it).
• Mark as scannable — included when the AI deal scanner reads a paper write-up sheet.
• Mark as inline-editable — appears as a sales-log column you can double-click to edit.

What you can't change

A handful of fields are locked because they're load-bearing:

• Customer (the section, not the individual fields inside it).
• Vehicle make + model.
• Sale price + cost price.
• Deal status.
• Salesperson.

You can rename their labels, but you can't remove them entirely. Removing them would break the rest of the app.

Adding custom fields

Click Add field in any section. Pick:

• Type — text, number, date, dropdown, checkbox, currency, percentage.
• Label — what users see.
• Required / optional.
• Validation — min/max for numbers, regex for text.
• Per-role visibility — same as per-field permissions.
• Inline-editable in sales log.
• Include in fill-the-gaps wizard.

Custom fields are first-class — they sort, filter, export, and report just like built-in fields.

Per-sales-channel overrides

If your wholesale team needs a different form than your retail team — say, no customer email field but a "consignment partner" field — you can override per channel.

Settings → Forms → Deal form → Channel overrides.

Pick the channel, then make changes. Overrides only affect that channel; the dealership default stays untouched. Channels without an override fall through to the default.

Three-tier resolution

When a salesperson writes a deal in a specific channel, the form they see is built up:

1. System defaults — the base set of fields Autopilot ships with.
2. Dealership overrides — your changes in Settings → Forms → Deal form.
3. Channel overrides — any per-channel customisation.

The most specific override wins.

Live preview

The editor has a Preview button — opens a sample deal form in a side panel using your current schema. Useful for sanity-checking before saving.

AI form generator

If you don't want to build from scratch, the Generate from description button lets you describe what you want in plain English ("a deal form for a motorcycle dealership with finance, insurance, and accessories sections") and the AI proposes a schema. Review and edit before saving.

Save and rollout

Schema changes take effect immediately for everyone in the dealership. Existing deals are preserved (their old values stay in the database) — newly written deals use the new schema.

If you remove a field, existing deals' values for that field are kept in the database but hidden in the UI. Re-adding the field surfaces them again.