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How Can I Use a Dynamic Name or Function to Change the Sanity Desk List Items?

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Last updated: May 10, 2021
How can I use a dynamic name or function to change what’s shown by the sanity desk list item for a document that only contains a reference? e.g. here, my 
NavigationItem
just has a reference to a 
Route
but I’d like it to display the slug of that route in the list (instead of 
route: {empty}, children: […
- I’d rather not have to add another field for a label or name
AI Update

You can absolutely customize what's displayed in the desk list for your NavigationItem by using the preview configuration with the select property to dereference the route and access its slug directly.

Here's how to do it:

{
  name: 'navigationItem',
  type: 'document',
  preview: {
    select: {
      routeSlug: 'route.slug.current',  // Access the slug from the referenced route
      hasChildren: 'children'
    },
    prepare({routeSlug, hasChildren}) {
      return {
        title: routeSlug || 'No route selected',
        subtitle: hasChildren?.length ? `${hasChildren.length} children` : 'No children'
      }
    }
  }
}

The key is using dot notation in the select object to traverse into referenced documents. When you write 'route.slug.current', Sanity automatically dereferences the route reference and pulls out the nested slug.current value.

This works for any depth of reference - you can access fields from referenced documents without needing to make custom queries or add duplicate fields to your schema. As explained in the preview configuration documentation, the select object supports this dereferencing pattern natively.

If you want to get even fancier, you could combine multiple pieces of information:

preview: {
  select: {
    routeSlug: 'route.slug.current',
    routeTitle: 'route.title',  // If your route has a title field
    childCount: 'children'
  },
  prepare({routeSlug, routeTitle, childCount}) {
    return {
      title: routeTitle || routeSlug || 'Untitled',
      subtitle: `/${routeSlug}${childCount?.length ? ` • ${childCount.length} children` : ''}`
    }
  }
}

This approach keeps your schema clean without adding redundant fields, and the preview will automatically update when the referenced route's slug changes.

You can add a preview to your navigation item schema and pull in the slug field from the route. It will probably look something like:

export default {
  name: 'navigationItem',
  title: 'Navigation Item',
  fields: [
    ...
  ],
  preview: {
    select: {
      title: 'route.slug.current',
    }
  }
}
You might want to include a prepare() function inside of preview to handle the title when there is no route selected (e.g., when a navigation item is first created).
awesome thanks
user A
I probably should read the documentation at some stage huh
There’s lots to read! There’s a great community of people here always willing to help.
Yeah I’m getting through it bit by bit 😉
Posting just for anyone else’s reference but that was easy thanks
user A


preview: {
    select: {
      title: 'route.slug.current',
    },
    prepare({ title }) {
      return {
        title: title ? `/${title}` : 'No route selected',
      };
    },
  },

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