How to access reference field value in hidden property using parent?

You've hit a common limitation with the hidden callback in Sanity schemas – it only has access to the raw document data, which means reference fields only show up as _ref values, not the actual referenced document data.

There are two main approaches to solve this:

1. Use the _ref value directly (simplest)

If you just need to check whether a specific reference is selected, you can work with the _ref string:

defineField({
  name: 'industryCustom',
  title: 'Industry (Custom)',
  type: 'string',
  hidden: ({ parent }) => {
    // Show this field only if "Other" industry is selected
    return parent?.industry?._ref !== 'specific-industry-id'
  }
})

This works if you're checking for a specific document ID, but doesn't help if you need to check a field within the referenced document.

2. Create a custom input component with useFormValue (more powerful)

For more complex scenarios where you need the actual referenced document data, you'll need to create a custom input component using the useFormValue hook. The hidden callback can't dereference documents, but custom components can:

import { StringInputProps, useFormValue } from 'sanity'
import { useEffect, useState } from 'react'
import { StringInput } from 'sanity'

const ConditionalStringInput = (props: StringInputProps) => {
  const industryRef = useFormValue(['industry'])
  const [shouldShow, setShouldShow] = useState(false)

  useEffect(() => {
    if (industryRef?._ref) {
      // Fetch the referenced document to check its fields
      props.client.fetch(
        `*[_id == $ref][0]{ name, slug }`,
        { ref: industryRef._ref }
      ).then(industry => {
        // Show field based on referenced document data
        setShouldShow(industry?.slug?.current === 'other')
      })
    }
  }, [industryRef?._ref])

  if (!shouldShow) return null
  
  return <StringInput {...props} />
}

// In your schema:
defineField({
  name: 'industryCustom',
  title: 'Industry (Custom)',
  type: 'string',
  components: {
    input: ConditionalStringInput
  }
})

The key difference: useFormValue gives you access to form values in real-time within React components, while hidden callbacks only receive the raw document structure. Custom input components give you full control to fetch referenced documents, react to changes, and conditionally render fields.

For your specific use case, if you just need to show a custom text field when someone selects an "Other" industry option, approach #1 (checking the _ref) is probably the simplest solution!