Skip to main content
A form is made up of one or more sections. Each section is a screen — the user fills in its fields and submits before moving on. apply.yaml has a single section; most complex forms have several. Here is the section from the job application form: 
sections:
  - id: main
    title: Apply to work with us
    fields:
      - id: full_name
        type: short_text
        label: Full name
      - id: role
        type: single_select
        label: Role you're applying for
        options:
          - Software Engineer
          - Product Manager
          - Designer
      - id: email
        type: email
        label: Email address
    next: done

​
Section properties

id — Unique identifier for the section. No spaces. Used in next references and appears in the URL as ?step= for partial saves. By convention, use snake_case. title — The heading shown at the top of the section. Accepts a plain string or a LocaleMap. fields — Array of field definitions. At least one field is required. See Fields for all field properties. next — Where to go after this section is submitted. See below.

​
The next property

next controls navigation after a section is submitted. It has three forms: next: done — Ends the form. The submission is marked completed, connections fire, and the user sees the thank-you page. 
next: done
next: some_section_id — Advances to the section with that ID. 
next: role_selection
next: https://... — Redirects the browser to that URL instead of showing the thank-you page. 
next: https://example.com/thanks

​
Multi-section forms

Sections are presented in definition order. The form always starts at the first section. Here is apply.yaml split into two steps: 
version: 1
title: Join the team
sections:
  - id: personal
    title: About you
    fields:
      - id: full_name
        type: short_text
        label: Full name
      - id: email
        type: email
        label: Email address
    next: role_selection

  - id: role_selection
    title: What you're applying for
    fields:
      - id: role
        type: single_select
        label: Role you're applying for
        options:
          - Software Engineer
          - Product Manager
          - Designer
    next: done
After submitting personal, the user sees role_selection. After submitting role_selection, the form is complete.

​
Conditional navigation

next can be an array of rules when you want different sections to appear based on what the user entered. Rules are evaluated in order; the first match wins. 
next:
  - when: "data.role === 'Software Engineer'"
    go: eng_questions
  - when: "data.role === 'Product Manager'"
    go: pm_questions
  - else: general_questions
Each rule has:
KeyRequiredDescription
whenYes (conditional rules)JS expression evaluated against data
goYes (conditional rules)Section ID, "done", or https:// URL
elseYes (last rule)Fallback destination — required
The data object contains all field values submitted so far, keyed by field ID. Expressions have access to the full data object: 
next:
  - when: "data.role === 'Software Engineer'"
    go: eng_questions
  - else: other_questions
when expressions are evaluated with new Function("data", ...). Only use static YAML logic in these expressions — never construct them from user input.

​
Partial saves

After each section is submitted, the URL is updated with ?submission_id= and ?step=: 
https://app.declarativeforms.com/{owner}/{repo}/apply?submission_id=abc123&step=role_selection
This URL can be bookmarked or shared. When revisited, the browser resumes from the saved step with previously entered data pre-populated.