In addition to the DVSA's standard make/model/fuel/colour, you might want to capture richer per-vehicle detail: engine code, gearbox, paint code, key reference, tyre size. Workshop Settings → Vehicle Specs lets you define those fields once and Pistonlog surfaces them on every vehicle record in the garage.
Adding a field
Open Workshop Settings → Vehicle Specs
From the admin sidebar.
Add a new field
Click Add Field, then set the label (e.g. "Engine code") and a placeholder (the hint text shown in the input).
Set the requirement mode
Pick Not Required, Required Once (must be filled once for the vehicle), or Required Every Time (must be filled on every jobcard). Required fields block a jobcard from being marked complete until filled — use sparingly.
Show Previous Entries
Toggle this on to show the most recent value entered for this vehicle as placeholder text when filling the field on a new jobcard (it overrides the custom placeholder). Handy for things you usually re-enter the same way.
How values are stored
Spec values are saved as a JSON specValues map on each vehicle, keyed by the spec field's stable id (not its label). They're free text — there's no per-field type picker (no text vs. number vs. dropdown vs. yes/no input). Because the key is the id, renaming a label doesn't lose previously-entered values.
Where these fields appear
On every vehicle record's Specs tab and in the Inspector panel's Vehicle tab on a jobcard. There's no per-field "technician-visible" toggle today — if a spec field is on the vehicle, it shows wherever vehicle details are surfaced.
Common configurations
Most garages set 3–6 spec fields. A typical starter set:
- Engine code
- Gearbox type
- Tyre size
- Key code
- Paint code