The dropdown column lets a user select one or more options from a list. The API allows you to read, filter, create, update, and clear the dropdown column.

Read a dropdown column

You can query the dropdown column using the column_values object that enables you to return column-specific subfields by sending a fragment in your query. Values for the dropdown column are of the DropdownValue type.

query {
  items (ids:[1234567890, 9876543210]) {
    column_values {
      ... on DropdownValue {
        values { 
          label 
          id
				}
        column {
          id
        }
      }
    }
  }
}

const query = `query($itemIds: [ID!], $columnType:[ColumnType!]) { items (ids:$itemIds) { id column_values (types:$columnType) { column { title id } ... on DropdownValue { values { label id } } } } }`;
const variables = {
  itemIds: [9571351485, 9572374902],
  columnType: "dropdown"
};

const response = await mondayApiClient.request(query, variables);

Fields

Field	Description
column `Column!`	The column the value belongs to.
id `ID!`	The column's unique identifier.
text `String`	The column's value as text. This field will return `null` if the column has an empty value.
type `ColumnType!`	The column's type.
value `JSON`	The column's JSON-formatted raw value.
values `[DropdownValueOption!]!`	The selected dropdown values.

Filter a dropdown column

Using the items_page object, you can easily filter a board's items by specific columns or column values. The table below contains the dropdown column's supported operators and compare values.

Operators	Compare values
`any_of`	`""` (blank values) The label IDs to filter by
`not_any_of`	`""` (blank values) The label IDs to filter by
`is_empty`	`null`
`is_not_empty`	`null`
`contains_text`	The partial or whole label text value to filter by
`not_contains_text`	The partial or whole label text value to filter by

Examples

The following example returns all items on the specified board with the label "Marketing" or a label that contains "Marketing."

query {
  boards(ids: 1234567890) {
    items_page(
      query_params: {
        rules: [
          {
            column_id: "dropdown"
            compare_value: ["Marketing"]
            operator: contains_text
          }
        ]
      }
    ) {
      items {
        id
        name
      }
    }
  }
}

import { ApiClient } from "@mondaydotcomorg/api";
const mondayApiClient = new ApiClient({ token: myToken });

const query = `query ($board_id: [ID!], $column_id: ID!, $operator: ItemsQueryRuleOperator!, $compare_value:CompareValue!) { boards (ids: $board_id) { items_page (query_params: {rules: [{column_id: $column_id, compare_value: $compare_value,  operator:$operator}]}) { items { id name } } } }`;
const variables = {
  board_id: 9571351437,
  column_id: "dropdown_mksrbr89",
  compare_value: ["Marketing"], 
  operator: "contains_text",
};

const response = await mondayApiClient.request(query, variables);

Create dropdown column

Required scope:boards:write

The create_dropdown_column mutation creates a new dropdown column with strongly typed settings via the API. You can specify which fields to return from the new dropdown column in the mutation response.

mutation {
  create_dropdown_column(
    board_id: 1234567890
    id: "project_category"
    title: "Project Category"
    defaults: {
      label_limit_count: 1 
      limit_select: true
      labels: [
        {label: "HR"}
        {label: "R&D"}
        {label: "IT"}
      ]
    }
    description: "The project's category."
  ) {
    description
    id
    title
  }
}

Arguments

You can use the following arguments to define the new dropdown column's characteristics.

Argument	Description	Supported Fields
after_column_id `ID`	The unique identifier of the column after which the new dropdown column will be created.
board_id `ID!`	The unique identifier of the board where the new dropdown column should be created.
defaults `CreateDropdownColumnSettingsInput`	The new dropdown column's settings.	labels `[CreateStatusLabelInput!]!`
description `String`	The new dropdown column's description.
id `String`	The dropdown column's user-specified unique identifier. If not provided, a new ID will be auto-generated. If provided, it must meet the following requirements: e API characters in length (inclusive) Only lowercase letters (a-z) and underscores (_) Must be unique (no other column on the board can have the same ID) Can't reuse column IDs, even if the column has been deleted from the board Can't be null, blank, or an empty string
title `String!`	The new dropdown column's title.

The following example returns all items on the specified board with the label "Marketing" or a label that contains "Marketing."

query {
  boards(ids: 1234567890) {
    items_page(
      query_params: {
        rules: [
          {
            column_id: "dropdown"
            compare_value: ["Marketing"]
            operator: contains_text
          }
        ]
      }
    ) {
      items {
        id
        name
      }
    }
  }
}

import { ApiClient } from "@mondaydotcomorg/api";
const mondayApiClient = new ApiClient({ token: myToken });

const query = `query ($board_id: [ID!], $column_id: ID!, $operator: ItemsQueryRuleOperator!, $compare_value:CompareValue!) { boards (ids: $board_id) { items_page (query_params: {rules: [{column_id: $column_id, compare_value: $compare_value,  operator:$operator}]}) { items { id name } } } }`;
const variables = {
  board_id: 9571351437,
  column_id: "dropdown_mksrbr89",
  compare_value: ["Marketing"], 
  operator: "contains_text",
};

const response = await mondayApiClient.request(query, variables);

Update a dropdown column

You can update a dropdown column with a simple string value or a JSON string value.

❗️
NOTE
It is not possible to mix dropdown labels (the text values) with dropdown IDs in the string values.

Simple strings

Send the IDs of the labels you want to set to update a dropdown column with strings. If you don’t know the IDs of the labels you’re trying to set, you can send the label's text value instead. If you need to update more than one value, you can also send a list of IDs or labels separated by commas.

If you make an API call to update the dropdown column value, but the label doesn't exist, the expected behavior will be an error message. In the output of that error, you will also receive the existing labels for that specific column. However, you can use create_labels_if_missing: true in your query to create labels that didn't previously exist.

Here is a sample query to update the dropdown column using simple string values via dropdown IDs.

mutation {
  change_simple_column_value(
    item_id: 9876543210
    board_id: 1234567890
    column_id: "dropdown"
    value: "1,2"
  ) {
    id
  }
}

const query = `mutation ($myBoardId:ID!, $myItemId:ID!, $myColumnValue: String!, $myColumnId: String!) { change_simple_column_value (item_id:$myItemId, board_id:$myBoardId, column_id: $myColumnId, value: $myColumnValue) { id } }`;
const variables = {
  myBoardId: 9571351437,
  myItemId: 9571351485,
  myColumnId: "dropdown_mksrbr89",
  myColumnValue: "1,2",
};

const response = await mondayApiClient.request(query, variables);

Here is a sample query to update the dropdown column using simple string values with dropdown labels.

mutation {
  change_simple_column_value(
    item_id: 9876543210
    board_id: 1234567890
    column_id: "dropdown"
    value: "Cookie, Cupcake"
  ) {
    id
  }
}

const query = `mutation ($myBoardId:ID!, $myItemId:ID!, $myColumnValue: String!, $myColumnId: String!) { change_simple_column_value (item_id:$myItemId, board_id:$myBoardId, column_id: $myColumnId, value: $myColumnValue) { id } }`;
const variables = {
  myBoardId: 9571351437,
  myItemId: 9571351485,
  myColumnId: "dropdown_mksrbr89",
  myColumnValue: "Sunnyside,Midwood",
};

const response = await mondayApiClient.request(query, variables);

JSON

You can also update the dropdown column using JSON values with either the ID value or the text label.

👍
Pro tip
You can use both String and JSON values when updating column values for change_multiple_column_values mutation, or when using the create_item mutation.

Here is a sample query to update the dropdown column using JSON values with dropdown IDs.

mutation {
  change_multiple_column_values(
    item_id: 9876543210
    board_id: 1234567890
    column_values: "{\"dropdown\":{\"ids\":[\"1\"]}}"
  ) {
    id
  }
}

import { ApiClient } from "@mondaydotcomorg/api";
const mondayApiClient = new ApiClient({ token: myToken });

const query = `mutation ($myBoardId:ID!, $myItemId:ID!, $myColumnValues:JSON!) { change_multiple_column_values(item_id:$myItemId, board_id:$myBoardId, column_values: $myColumnValues) { id } }`;
const variables = {
  myBoardId: 9571351437,
  myItemId: 9571351485,
  myColumnValues: JSON.stringify({
    dropdown_mksrbr89: { // dropdown_mksrbr89 is the column ID
      ids: ["3"]
    } 
  }),
};

const response = await mondayApiClient.request(query, variables);

Here is a sample query to update the dropdown column using JSON values with dropdown labels.

mutation {
  change_multiple_column_values(
    item_id: 9876543210
    board_id: 1234567890
    column_values: "{\"dropdown\":{\"labels\":[\"My label\"]}}"
  ) {
    id
  }
}

import { ApiClient } from "@mondaydotcomorg/api";
const mondayApiClient = new ApiClient({ token: myToken });

const query = `mutation ($myBoardId:ID!, $myItemId:ID!, $myColumnValues:JSON!) { change_multiple_column_values(item_id:$myItemId, board_id:$myBoardId, column_values: $myColumnValues) { id } }`;
const variables = {
  myBoardId: 9571351437,
  myItemId: 9571351485,
  myColumnValues: JSON.stringify({
    dropdown_mksrbr89: { // dropdown_mksrbr89 is the column ID
      labels: ["Sunnyside", "Midwood"]
    } 
  }),
};

Add a dropdown value

You can add a new dropdown value to a column using the following mutation:

mutation {
  change_simple_column_value(
    item_id: 1234567890
    board_id: 9876543210
    column_id: "dropdown"
    value: "New dropdown value"
    create_labels_if_missing: true
  ) {
    id
  }
}

Arguments for adding a dropdown value

Argument	Description
item_id `Int!`	The item's unique identifier.
board_id `Int!`	The board's unique identifier.
column_id `Int!`	The column's unique identifier.
value `String!`	The new value of the column.
create_labels_if_missing `Boolean`	Create status/dropdown labels if they're missing. (Requires permission to change board structure)

Clear a dropdown column

You can clear a dropdown column using the following mutations:

mutation {
  change_multiple_column_values(
    item_id: 123456789
    board_id: 987654321
    column_values: "{\"dropdown\": null}"
  ) {
    id
  }
}

mutation {
  change_multiple_column_values(
    item_id: 123456789
    board_id: 987654321
    column_values: "{\"dropdown\":{\"labels\":[]}}"
  ) {
    id
  }
}