Column Types

Table column types reuse PromptLayer’s evaluation and workflow building blocks, plus the Tables-specific Composition reference type. Most type values (COMPARE, PROMPT_TEMPLATE, LLM_ASSERTION, CODE_EXECUTION, and the helper/eval types below) match the evaluation pipeline and workflow node enums documented in Node & Column Types. Tables-only: COMPOSITION is not part of the legacy evaluation or workflow node enum. Use it only in Tables to mirror a column from another sheet or table.

Input, reference, and computed columns

Table columns fall into three groups:

Group	Type value	Behavior
Input	`TEXT`	Stores editable values you set manually, paste, or import. Text cells do not run.
Reference	`COMPOSITION`	Mirrors a value from another sheet or table. Does not execute per row.
Computed	All other type values below	Runs per row, tracks cell status (`QUEUED`, `RUNNING`, `COMPLETED`, `FAILED`, `STALE`), and can become stale when dependencies change.

Put source data in input columns, then add computed columns left to right for each workflow step. Use composition when multiple sheets should share the same upstream result. See Cells and Runs for status and rerun behavior.

How sources work

Computed columns read from source columns in the sheet. For example, a Prompt output column can map a prompt variable to Customer message, and a Quality score column can read from Prompt output. If a source changes, dependent computed cells can become stale.

Prompt Template column configuration showing input variables mapped to source columns

Column type reference

Type values use UPPERCASE enum strings. The UI label is what you see in the column picker.

Input column

UI label	Type value	Use when
Text	`TEXT`	You need editable input data, expected answers, labels, metadata, or notes.

Reference column

UI label	Type value	Use when
Composition	`COMPOSITION`	You want to reference data from another sheet or table without re-running upstream logic.

Computed columns

UI label	Type value	Category	Compute cost	Use when
Prompt Template	`PROMPT_TEMPLATE`	Data source / execution	LLM — one or more model requests per row	You want to run a Prompt Registry template or inline prompt for each row.
Workflow	`WORKFLOW`	Data source / execution	Variable — depends on the workflow’s nodes	You want a row to execute a PromptLayer workflow.
Code Execution	`CODE_EXECUTION`	Data source / execution	Compute — server-side code per row	You need Python or JavaScript logic per row.
Endpoint	`ENDPOINT`	Data source / execution	External — outbound HTTP per row	You want to send row data to an external URL endpoint.
MCP	`MCP`	Data source / execution	External — MCP server calls per row	You want to call Model Context Protocol server functions.
Conversation Simulator	`CONVERSATION_SIMULATOR`	Data source / execution	LLM — multiple model turns per row	You want to simulate a multi-turn user and assistant conversation.
Human	`HUMAN`	Data source / execution	None — waits for manual input	You need a human to fill in or approve data.
While Loop	`WHILE_LOOP`	Data source / execution	Variable — multiplies inner step cost	You need repeated execution while a condition remains true.
For Loop	`FOR_LOOP`	Data source / execution	Variable — multiplies inner step cost	You need to iterate over a collection or array.
Compare	`COMPARE`	Simple eval	None — deterministic check	You want to compare values and generate a diff or comparison result.
Contains	`CONTAINS`	Simple eval	None — deterministic check	You want to check whether text contains a substring.
Regex	`REGEX`	Simple eval	None — deterministic check	You want to validate text against a regular expression.
Absolute Numeric Distance	`ABSOLUTE_NUMERIC_DISTANCE`	Simple eval	None — deterministic check	You want the absolute distance between numeric values.
Assert Valid	`ASSERT_VALID`	Simple eval	None — deterministic check	You want to validate data types or formats.
Math Operator	`MATH_OPERATOR`	Simple eval	None — deterministic check	You want mathematical comparisons such as greater than or less than.
LLM Assertion	`LLM_ASSERTION`	LLM eval	LLM — one or more model requests per row	You want an LLM to judge whether an assertion is true.
AI Data Extraction	`AI_DATA_EXTRACTION`	LLM eval	LLM — one or more model requests per row	You want an LLM to extract specific information from text.
Cosine Similarity	`COSINE_SIMILARITY`	LLM eval	LLM — embedding or similarity requests per row	You want semantic similarity between vectors or text embeddings.
JSON Extraction	`JSON_PATH`	Helper	None — deterministic transform	You want to extract values from JSON with JSONPath.
XML Path	`XML_PATH`	Helper	None — deterministic transform	You want to extract values from XML with XPath.
Regex Extraction	`REGEX_EXTRACTION`	Helper	None — deterministic transform	You want to extract capture groups from text.
Parse Value	`PARSE_VALUE`	Helper	None — deterministic transform	You want to parse a specific value from structured or unstructured data.
Count	`COUNT`	Helper	None — deterministic transform	You want counts of elements, characters, or occurrences.
Min Max	`MIN_MAX`	Helper	None — deterministic transform	You want the minimum or maximum value from numeric inputs.
Coalesce	`COALESCE`	Helper	None — deterministic transform	You want the first non-null value from several sources.
Combine Columns	`COMBINE_COLUMNS`	Helper	None — deterministic transform	You want to merge values from multiple sources into one output.
Apply Diff	`APPLY_DIFF`	Helper	None — deterministic transform	You want to apply a unified diff patch to text.

Condition appears in Workflow node selectors, but it is not a Table column type. Use Table-supported comparison, assertion, or helper columns for row-level checks.

Compute cost notes

Computed columns run once per row (and again on reruns). Cost depends on the column type:

None — Helper columns, simple eval columns, HUMAN, and COMPOSITION do not call models or external services on their own.
LLM — PROMPT_TEMPLATE, LLM_ASSERTION, AI_DATA_EXTRACTION, COSINE_SIMILARITY, and CONVERSATION_SIMULATOR make model requests. Prompt Template columns expose per-cell cost, latency, and token metrics. Use History and Analytics to inspect request-level details.
External — ENDPOINT and MCP call services outside PromptLayer. Cost depends on your endpoint or MCP server.
Compute — CODE_EXECUTION runs server-side code per row.
Variable — WORKFLOW, FOR_LOOP, and WHILE_LOOP cost depends on the nested steps they execute.

Running a sheet across many rows multiplies cost for LLM and external columns. Prefer deterministic helper and simple eval columns when checks do not need a model. Use stale-cell reruns instead of full-sheet reruns when only some inputs changed.

Composition

Composition references a source table, sheet, and column, then pulls that value into the current sheet. Use it when multiple sheets should share a reusable intermediate result instead of copying logic.

Tables API type values

The Tables REST API uses the same uppercase enum strings as the UI (TEXT, COMPARE, PROMPT_TEMPLATE, COMPOSITION, and so on). Set the specific column behavior in config. For backwards compatibility, create-column requests also accept lowercase aliases such as text, prompt_template, llm, code, score, comparison, and composition. PromptLayer normalizes these to the uppercase enum before storing the column. Shared computed types (COMPARE, PROMPT_TEMPLATE, LLM_ASSERTION, CODE_EXECUTION, helper columns, and the rest except TEXT and COMPOSITION) use the same configuration schemas as Workflows and legacy Evaluations. See Node & Column Types for those schemas. COMPOSITION is Tables-only. Do not use it in legacy evaluation or workflow column definitions.

API references

Use the generated API reference for exact request schemas when creating or updating columns programmatically.

Create column

Create text or computed columns.

Update column

Update title, config, and dependencies.

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Input, reference, and computed columns

How sources work

Column type reference

Input column

Reference column

Computed columns

Compute cost notes

Composition

Tables API type values

API references

Create column

Update column

​Input, reference, and computed columns

​How sources work

​Column type reference

​Input column

​Reference column

​Computed columns

​Compute cost notes

​Composition

​Tables API type values

​API references

Create column

Update column

Input, reference, and computed columns

How sources work

Column type reference

Input column

Reference column

Computed columns

Compute cost notes

Composition

Tables API type values

API references