Use Custom Formula Functions when formatting data in workflows

Last updated: April 13, 2026

Available with any of the following subscriptions, except where noted:

Data Hub Professional, Enterprise

If you're using a custom formula to format your data in a workflow, you can use functions with property values from the enrolled record or outputs from previous actions to create complex formulas.

These functions do not apply to calculation properties. If you'd like to review the operators, functions, and more for calculation properties, learn about creating custom equation calculation properties instead.

Review the different functions below to determine which to use:

Function	Description	Example
abs	Retrieve the absolute value of a number. You can use this function to make sure that a number is positive.	example formula: abs([number or number property]) example: `abs(-10)` example output: 10
add	Adds a numeric value to another numeric value. This function is the same as the + operator. Use with the following: number: the initial numeric value for the operation. number to add: the number to be added to the initial numeric value.	example formula: `add(number, number to add)` example: `add(5, 10)` example output: 15 Alternatively, you can also use: example formula: `number + number to add` example: `5+10` example output: 15
concat	Combine multiple string values. This function is only available when the Format data action is used in Custom mode.	example formula:`concat([string 1], " ", [string 2])` example: `concat([company name], " ", [MonthYear])` example output: HubSpot June 2006
capitalize	Capitalize the first letter of a string value. The first character will be uppercase, while all others letters will be lowercased. Other words in the input won't have their first letter uppercased	example formula: `capitalize([string])` example: `capitalize([firstname])` example output: Henry
cut	Cut a character or multiple characters to removes a string from a value. This function can be used to match and cut out a specific part of a string. The parameter specifies the part of the string that should be removed. Use with the following: source: the source string to remove characters from. characters_to_cut: the specific characters to remove. This format is case sensitive.	formula: `cut(source, characters to cut)` example: `cut([phone], "-")` example output: 80081234567
datetimeformat	Please note: this formula has been deprecated and replaced by the `format_datetime` function below. Actions using this function will continue to work, but the new function should be used moving forward.
format_datetime	Convert a timestamp into a human-friendly format. Include the timestamp or property along with the following parameters to configure its format: format: the format to use. Values include: `'short'`, `'medium'`, `'long'`, `'full'`. You can also specify a custom format using Unicode LDML patterns. timeZone: the time zone of the output data in IANA TZDB format. By default, returns UTC time. locale: the locale to use for locale-aware formats.	formula: `format_datetime(date, format, timeZone, locale)` example: `format_datetime([closedate], 'medium', 'America/New_York, 'de-DE')` example output: `08.02.2024, 17:09:49`
divide	Divide a number. This function is an alternative to the / operator. Use with the following: number: the number to divide. divisor: the number to divide by for the divide operation.	formula: `divide(number, divisor)` example: `divide (8, 4)` example output: 2 Alternatively, you can also use: formula: `number/divisor` example: `8/4` example output: 2
divisible	Test if a number is evenly divisible. When there is no remainder, this function will evaluate to true. When there is a remainder, this function will evaluate to false. Use with the following: number: the number to divide. divisor: the number to divide by for the divide operation.	formula: `divisible(number, divisor)` example: `divisible (5,2)` example output: false
join	Combine two or more strings into one result string, using a separator between each value. This function is only available when the Format data action is used in Custom mode. Use with the following: delimiter: a separator string to be inserted between each item. items: any number of strings to combine.	formula: `join(delimiter, items)` example: `join("-", "A", "B", "C")` example output: A-B-C
left	Returns a substring of characters from a string value from a beginning of a string value. This function is only available when the Format data action is used in Custom mode.	formula: `left(string, length)` example: `left("Maria", "1")` example output: M
length	Returns the number of characters in a string.	formula: `length(string)` example: `left("Hello World!")` example output: 12
lower	Convert all characters in a string to all lowercase letters.	formula: `lower([string])` example: `lower(["HELLO WORLD"])` example output: hello world
mid	Returns a substring of characters from a string value. This function is only available when the Format data action is used in Custom mode.	formula: `mid(string, start-index, length)` example: `join("abc123", 2, 2)` example output: c1
minus_time	Subtracts an amount of time from a date/time object. Use with the following: datetime: the date/time object to subtract time from. diff: the amount of time to subtract. timeunit: the unit of time to be subtracted. The following can be used: seconds minutes hours half_days days weeks months years	formula: `minus_time(datetime, diff, timeunit)` example: `minus_time([closedate], 2, "days")` example output: 04/11/2020
multiplier	Multiplies a value by a number. This function is an alternative to the * operator. Use with the following: number: the number to multiply. multiplier: the number to multiply by.	formula: `multipler(number, multipler)` example: `multiplier(5, 3)` example output: 15 Alternatively, you can also use: *formula: `numbermultipler` example: `53`* example output: 15
number	Converts a string to a number.	formula: `number(string, default?)` example: `left("36")` example output: 36
plus_time	Add an amount of time to a date/time object. Use with the following: datetime: the date/time object to add time to. diff: the amount of time to add. timeunit: the unit of time to be added.	formula: `plus_time(datetime, diff, timeunit)` example: `plus_time([closedate], 2, "days")` example output: 06/11/2020
randomNumber	Generate a random number within a range. With this function, the numbers generated are completely random and may repeat. For example, if you used a range of one to three and enrolled three contacts, you may not get three unique numbers. Both minimum and maximum numbers are included in the range. You can also use 0 and negative numbers when setting your range.	formula: `randomNumber(minimum, maximum)` example: `randomNumber(1, 3)` example output: 1 or 2
replace	Replace all instances of a substring with a different string. Use with the following: string: the string to search for and replace. old: the substring that should be replaced. new: the replacement string. count: the number of instances of the substring to replace. If not provided, all substrings will be replaced	formula: `replace(string, old, new, count)` example: `replace( "Hello world!", "Hello", "Hi", 1)` example output: Hi world!
right	Returns a substring of characters from a string value from the end of a string value. This function is only available when the Format data action is used in Custom mode.	formula: `right(string, length)` example: `right("abc123", 3)` example output: 123
regex_replace	Search for a regex pattern and replaces it with the provided string. Use with the following parameters: original_string: the original string to search within. pattern: the regex pattern to match on. Information on the RE2 syntax can be found here. replacement_string: the string to replace the characters matched by the pattern with.	formula: `regex_replace(original_string, pattern, replacement_string)` example: `regex_replace("contact-us-2", "[^a-zA-Z]", "")` example output: contactus
root	Calculate the square root of a number. Optionally, specify the Nth root to calculate. Use with the following: number: the number to take the root of.Calculate the square root of a number. Optionally, specify the Nth root to calculate nthRoot: the nth root to be calculated. If not specified, the square root will be taken.	formula: `root(number, nthRoot)` example: `root(625, 4)` example output: 5
round	Round a number to a specified decimal. Use with the following: precision: the decimal to round to. rounding method: round up or down to the nearest whole number. The following rounding methods can be used: common ceil floor	formula: `round(number, precision, rounding method)` example: `round(52.5, 0, 'floor')` example output: 52
striptags	Strip SGML/XML tags and replace adjacent whitespace by one space. This filter can be used to remove any HTML tags from a variable.	formula: `striptags([string])` example: `striptags(<div><p>Potato</p></div>)` example output: Potato
title	Change text to title casing. Each word in the resulting string will start with uppercase letters, while all remaining characters are lowercase.	formula: `title([string])` example: `title("cheddar CHEESE")` example output: Cheddar Cheese
trim	Remove leading and trailing whitespace from a string.	formula: `trim([string])` example: trim(" peach ") example output: peach
unixtimestamp	Convert a date/time object into a Unix timestamp.	formula: `unixtimestamp([dateteime])` example: `unixtimesstamp([closedate])` example output: 1652863824
upper	Change all characters to uppercase.	formula: `upper([string])` example: `upper("teatime")` example output: TEATIME
urlencode	Escape and URL encode a string using UTF-8 formatting.	formula: `urlencode([string])` example: `urlencode("hi there")` example output: hi%20there

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Use Custom Formula Functions when formatting data in workflows

Available with any of the following subscriptions, except where noted:

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