Hello everyone,
I’m looking for guidance on a form limitation and wanted to check if there is a supported solution or best practice in Softr.
My setup:
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I have a Softr app with a form connected to Monday.com as the data source.
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One of the form fields needs to allow users to select a staff member (search by Name & ID).
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The staff data comes from my organization’s internal Identity API and cannot be stored in Monday due to security requirements.
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My organization’s security team allows on-demand API calls for a single staff lookup, but does not allow persisting staff data in Monday boards or anywhere.
The problem:
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Softr form fields (especially dropdown fields) must be connected to the form’s data source.
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Since the form is connected to Monday, any dropdown options must come from Monday.
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This forces staff data to be stored in Monday, which is not allowed.
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Using a second data source (e.g., REST API) for just one field in the same form does not seem to be supported.
My questions:
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Is there any supported way in Softr to:
- Populate a form field dynamically from an external API without storing that data in Monday, while the rest of the form is still connected to Monday?
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Would using the Softr Database instead of Monday change this limitation?
- For example, can a form connected to the Softr Database pull dropdown options from an external API or custom action without persisting the external data?
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Is there any recommended Softr-native workaround (custom actions, automations, hidden fields, REST API data source, etc.) for this type of security-restricted lookup use case?
I want to stay fully within Softr’s supported features and avoid custom hacks if possible, but I also need to comply with strict data security constraints.
Any guidance, documentation, or confirmation of current limitations would be very helpful.