Actions

This page is the action index. Use it to see which actions are supported in the current browser runtime and then click through to the detailed action pages.

What Actions Are

Actions are browser-side workflow steps processed by the BetterForms actions queue.

Use them to:

• navigate or open UI elements
• run browser-side JavaScript
• trigger named actions
• call FileMaker through actions such as runUtilityHook

Actions are not the same thing as FileMaker hooks. Hooks are server-side scripts; actions are client-side workflow steps that may call those hooks.

Core Actions

Action	Summary	Details
showModal / hideModal	Opens or closes the standard modal dialog	showModal / hideModal
showCardModal / hideCardModal	Opens or closes a card modal that renders another page	showCardModal / hideCardModal
showAlert	Shows a toaster-style alert	showAlert
path	Navigates to another page, URL, or target window	path
runUtilityHook	Calls the scoped server utility hook workflow	runUtilityHook
runOnCompleteHook	Triggers the completion hook flow and waits before continuing	runOnCompleteHook
validate	Runs page validation	validate
setFocus	Focuses or selects an input element	setFocus
scrollTo	Scrolls to a target element	scrollTo
wait	Delays the next queued action for a specified number of milliseconds	wait
debounce	Delays repeated actions until activity settles	debounce
throttle	Limits how frequently an action can run	throttle
function	Runs JavaScript in the client workflow	function
emit	Emits an internal event-bus event	emit
mapInfoWindow	Emits a component-facing map info-window event	mapInfoWindow
clipboard	Interacts with the clipboard helper	clipboard
cookie	Sets or removes browser-side cookies	cookie
consoleError	Writes a message to the browser error console	consoleError
namedAction	Runs another named action / workflow by name	Named Actions

Authentication Actions

These special actions allow you to create custom login and registration pages. See this page for more:

authentication-actions.md

Messaging Actions

Action	Summary	Details
messageSend	Sends a BetterForms message	messageSend
messageSendAnonChannel	Sends a message to an anonymous channel flow	messageSendAnonChannel
channelJoinAnon	Joins an anonymous channel	channelJoinAnon
channelLeaveAnon	Leaves an anonymous channel	channelLeaveAnon

Payment Actions

Action	Summary	Details
showStripeCheckout	Triggers the Stripe checkout event for a configured form	showStripeCheckout

OAuth Actions

Action	Summary	Details
authLoginOauth	Finalizes OAuth login on the callback page	authLoginOauth / oauthLoginHook
oauthLoginHook	Legacy alias for authLoginOauth	authLoginOauth / oauthLoginHook

PWA Actions

Action	Summary	Details
pwaCustomInstall	Captures the browser install prompt for later use	pwaCustomInstall
pwaPromptInstall	Triggers the stored browser install prompt	pwaPromptInstall
pwaPromptPushPermission	Requests push-notification permission and registers the browser subscription	pwaPromptPushPermission
pwaPushNotificationSend	Sends a push notification through BetterForms	pwaPushNotificationSend

AI / Tooling Actions

Action	Summary	Details
llmToolCall	Maps LLM-requested frontend tools into BetterForms named actions	llmToolCall
llmToolCallResponse	Sends a frontend tool result back to the tool-response service	llmToolCallResponse
llmQueryStop	Requests that an active /llm/query stream stop	llmQueryStop
assistantStop	Requests that an active assistants run stop	assistantStop

Usage

Actions can run from many places:

• $$BF_Actions payloads returned from supported FileMaker hooks
• navigation menu items
• page elements such as buttons
• named actions
• *_actions schema keys (where supported)

Wherever you see an actions key in BetterForms, it can be either:

• a single action object
• an array of action objects to run in sequence

$$BF_Actions - Actions Array

$$BF_Actions is the browser action array that applicable FileMaker hooks can return.

Each array element is one action object. BetterForms queues them and runs them in order.

For user-facing docs and custom scripts, clear queued actions with the public BetterForms helper:

BF.actionsClear()

Stacking actions from FileMaker (Helper custom functions)

The Helper File’s BF_SetAction… custom functions (for example BF_SetAction, BF_SetAction_Function, BF_SetAction_Path, and action-specific helpers like BF_SetAction_showAlert) append one action object to the JSON array in $$BF_Actions. Each function reads the current $$BF_Actions, adds the next action at the end, and returns the full updated array.

Pattern: After each call, set $$BF_Actions to the return value of the custom function. The next call then appends to that result.

Do not use FileMaker’s List() (or similar) to merge multiple actions—those helpers already merge into the JSON array.

Your Helper may ship multiple versions of a function (for example a generator variant). Use the names from your Helper file; the examples below use the common names without a _G suffix.

Example script steps:

Set Variable [ $$BF_Actions ; Value: BF_SetAction_Function ( "model.ui.isLoading = true;" ) ]
Set Variable [ $$BF_Actions ; Value: BF_SetAction_Path ( "/orders" ) ]
Set Variable [ $$BF_Actions ; Value: BF_SetAction_Function ( "model.ui.isLoading = false;" ) ]

Generic action + options (second parameter is a JSON string for options, or "" when empty):

Set Variable [ $$BF_Actions ; Value: BF_SetAction ( "runUtilityHook" ; "{ \"type\": \"save\" }" ) ]

For other globals built by FileMaker ($$BF_Model, $$BF_App, etc.), see Global Variables for Hooks. Only $$BF_Actions is an ordered action queue built this way.

Other places you can use actions

actionsBeforeComplete can be added to schema.form and BetterForms will run that action array when present.

The Action Object

Key	Type	Default	Description
action	string		The name of the action
function	string		{optional} All actions can also take a function. This is processed just before the action is executed. This function can be an JS code and can also easily change the action parameters itself of any other environmental value. This is handy for pre-processing data prior to an action.
preventClone	boolean	false	{optional} When true, BetterForms does not strip object references before running the action array. By default, actions are cloned so they are decoupled from the original objects that created them.
nonBlocking	boolean	false	{optional} When added to the action and true, the actions processor will not wait for the action to complete before starting the next action. This is useful when you have a blocking action but still want other things to run (like slow process utility hooks)
options	object		This object may be optional depending on the specific settings needed by a given action.

function On Any Action

Any action object can also include a function key. When present, BetterForms runs that JavaScript just before the action executes.

Use this for pre-processing or mutating the action/options just before the action runs.

This is different from the standalone function action, which is itself the action being executed.

Calling Named Actions

Triggering Actions on Field Changes

All field element types support an onChanged_actions key. This key can contain actions that will be run when the elements data model changes.

// This will show an alert when the checkbox is toggled
{
  "styleClasses": "col-md-4",
  "text": "Enter Address Manually",
  "type": "bfcheckbox1",
  "model": "manualAddress",
  "onChanged_actions": [
    {
      "action": "showAlert",
      "options": {
        "text": "This is the alert message text",
        "title": "Hello World",
        "type": "information"
      }
    }
  ]
}

Clearing Actions

// in a function key
if (!model.isRegistered) {
  BF.actionsClear()
}