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Meta Column (_meta)

The Meta Column is a virtual column (not a real Frappe field) that shows who last modified a record and when. It gives you an at-a-glance change history right in the grid.

Enabling the Meta Column​

View tab → Meta Column toggle.

The column appears at the far right of the grid with the label _meta.

What It Shows​

Each cell in the meta column shows:

  • Relative time — "2 hours ago", "Yesterday", "3 days ago"
  • Author first name — the user who last modified the record
  • A pencil icon if the record has been modified (not just created)
  • An avatar placeholder in the color matching the user

Hover over a meta cell for the full details: exact timestamp + full username.

Persistence​

Meta column visibility is saved per DocType in user settings and in workbooks.

Performance​

Meta column data is included in the initial data load — no extra API call. The relative time strings are computed by frappe.datetime.comment_when() and cached per row.