Building Custom Functions in Xano

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Building Custom Functions in Xano

• Inputs — Inputs are the data that the Custom Function will accept. For example, name and email.
• Logic — The logic is the logic that will be executed when the Custom Function is called. For example, retrieving a record from your database or calculating a user’s age.
• Response — The response is the data that the Custom Function will return. For our user_list Custom Function, it might return a list of users, or a single user.

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Custom Function Folders

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Creating a new Custom Function

• Canvas View
• Function Stack
• XanoScript

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The Canvas View

The canvas view is a visual representation of your custom function in a node-based format. If you’re new to the canvas view, review the Canvas View basics first.

1

Add Inputs to define what your custom function accepts

Learn how to work with Inputs

Inputs define the data your custom function expects. Learn how to add and configure them.

2

Build your logic in the Function Logic or Canvas View

Learn how to work with Functions

Functions define the behavior of your custom function. Add and arrange functions to process inputs and fetch data.

3

Define what your custom function returns with the Response

Learn how to configure Responses

Control exactly what data your custom function sends back.

1

Add Inputs to define what your custom function accepts

Learn how to work with Inputs

Inputs define the data your custom function expects. Learn how to add and configure them.

2

Build your logic in the Function Stack or Canvas View

Learn how to work with Functions

Functions define the behavior of your API. Add and arrange functions to process inputs and fetch data.

3

Define what your API returns with the Response

Learn how to configure Responses

Control exactly what data your API sends back.

A basic custom function in XanoScript has three parts — inputs, functions, and response — just like in the visual builder:

Example of a basic custom function in XanoScript

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function utilities/format_timestamp {
  description = "Makes a timestamp human readable"

  input {
    timestamp? timestamp?
  }

  stack {
    var $readable_timestamp {
      value = $input.timestamp|format_timestamp:"r":"UTC"
    }
  }

  response {
    value = $readable_timestamp
  }

  middleware = {pre: [], post: []}
}

Learn how to build custom functions in XanoScript

For more information on how to build custom functions in XanoScript, see the XanoScript custom functions documentation.