How do custom fields participate in data, search, and templates?

Custom fields are treated like built-in fields: their values are stored as real data, they can participate in search, and they're available to templates. This is what makes the custom-field system genuinely useful rather than cosmetic — a field you add isn't a dead-end note; you can search by it, surface it in list columns, and render it in storefront or document templates. The…

Custom fields are treated like built-in fields: their values are stored as real data, they can participate in search, and they're available to templates. This is what makes the custom-field system genuinely useful rather than cosmetic — a field you add isn't a dead-end note; you can search by it, surface it in list columns, and render it in storefront or document templates. The consistency principle again: once data is in the system, custom or built-in, it behaves the same way everywhere.