> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.serval.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Forms overview

> Build structured request forms that validate answers, pull live data, and hand a clean payload to a workflow.

Forms collect structured information from employees and hand it to a workflow. Instead of a free-text ticket an agent has to chase down, a form asks the right questions, validates the answers, and starts the automation with a complete payload.

<Frame caption="A form opened in a ticket, with product images on the options">
  <img src="https://mintcdn.com/serval/x-XapdxK5rS-MS0N/images/serval-docs/forms/form-in-ticket.png?fit=max&auto=format&n=x-XapdxK5rS-MS0N&q=85&s=2ca9d1e843f2cd124614760e0bec0569" alt="Laptop Request form in a Serval ticket, showing a Device section with a two-by-two grid of laptop cards, each with a photo, name, and description" width="1550" height="1882" data-path="images/serval-docs/forms/form-in-ticket.png" />
</Frame>

## Where forms live

Forms live on a team, under **Service Management → Forms**.

<Frame caption="Forms in the team sidebar">
  <img src="https://mintcdn.com/serval/x-XapdxK5rS-MS0N/images/serval-docs/forms/forms-nav.png?fit=max&auto=format&n=x-XapdxK5rS-MS0N&q=85&s=ebc7ed87784fec89c71832efb3066500" alt="Serval left sidebar with Service Management expanded and an arrow pointing at the Forms entry" width="334" height="548" data-path="images/serval-docs/forms/forms-nav.png" />
</Frame>

## Why Serval forms

| Capability                    | What it means                                                                                             |
| :---------------------------- | :-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Built by describing them**  | Tell Catalyst what to collect. It writes the fields, validation, and submit workflow.                     |
| **Live data inside the form** | A form can run a workflow while it's open: check stock, look up a manager, price a license.               |
| **Conditional by default**    | Fields appear, become required, or change options based on earlier answers.                               |
| **Typed answers**             | Dates, durations, uploads, database records, and Serval users are real field types with real constraints. |
| **One form, every surface**   | The same form renders in the catalog, in a ticket, and as a Slack modal.                                  |
| **Versioned like a workflow** | Edits autosave to a draft. Publishing deploys a version. Every version is restorable.                     |

## When to use a form

| Use a form when                          | Example                                                     |
| :--------------------------------------- | :---------------------------------------------------------- |
| A request always needs the same facts    | Laptop request: model, justification, needed-by date        |
| Answers must be valid before work starts | Access request: a real system, a real role, a real expiry   |
| Questions depend on earlier answers      | Onboarding: contractor or employee changes what you collect |
| The requester picks from real data       | A cost center, an application, a device from a database     |

Need only a parameter or two before running an automation? [Workflow inputs](/sections/documentation/workflows/Configure/inputs) may be enough. Reach for a form when the request has sections, logic, live data, and a lifecycle worth versioning.

## Lifecycle

<Steps>
  <Step title="Build">
    Describe the form to Catalyst, or edit its code directly.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Preview and publish">
    The preview is the real form, rendered by the real engine.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Employees fill it in">
    From the catalog, a link, or because the Help Desk Agent offered it in their ticket.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Submit starts the workflow">
    Every submission and its run appears under **Run history**.
  </Step>
</Steps>

***

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Create a form" icon="wand-magic-sparkles" href="/sections/documentation/forms/create-a-form">
    Build, preview, and publish your first version.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Fields and layout" icon="list-check" href="/sections/documentation/forms/fields">
    Every field type, its validation, and how to lay out sections.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Logic and workflows" icon="code-branch" href="/sections/documentation/forms/logic-and-workflows">
    Conditional fields, live data, and the submit handler.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Share and fill" icon="share-nodes" href="/sections/documentation/forms/share-and-fill">
    Catalog, tickets, Slack, and who can open a form.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>