# Actions

Actions come in many different flavors, but can be roughly divided in two main categories:

* [Custom Actions](/inbox-ai/actions/custom-actions.md)\
  \&#xNAN;*These actions can be added and customized by you, the user.*
* [Built-in Actions](/inbox-ai/actions/built-in-actions.md) \
  \&#xNAN;*These actions are fixed and only be used by you, the user.*

Each action has several standard fields, the [Terminal Command](/inbox-ai/actions/custom-actions/terminal-command.md) below is used as an example to show the default fields.

<div><figure><img src="/files/PvLliSPrILuiLzUOdY7P" alt=""><figcaption><p>An action without configuration</p></figcaption></figure> <figure><img src="/files/C5wCD9fhHWJdvXoZmcJV" alt=""><figcaption><p>An action with configuration</p></figcaption></figure></div>

The common fields are:

* Name (and icon)\
  \&#xNAN;*This is the name you and the AI use to refer to this action.*
* Description\
  \&#xNAN;*This is the description that explains what the actions does to you and the AI*
* Instructions (optionally)\
  \&#xNAN;*These are instruction for a human, who is using this action. Supports Markdown links.*
* Next Action\
  \&#xNAN;*The next action to call after this one. See* [Next Action Field](/inbox-ai/actions/next-action-field.md) for more information on this.

The checkbox "Hide action fields by default" allows you to hide complexity and just show the name and instructions for an action. When an action has human [Action Variables](/inbox-ai/actions/action-variables.md), this is checked by default and the configuration screen will always show, like in the example below.

<figure><img src="/files/e5mRMDNljuWiKTtNuRz8" alt=""><figcaption><p>The configuration screen.</p></figcaption></figure>

Most fields in actions support [Action Variables](/inbox-ai/actions/action-variables.md) and [Templating](/inbox-ai/templating.md). Refer to the documentation on these for more information.


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