---
title: Configure case settings
description: Configure case closure options, external connectors, and custom observable types for cases.
url: https://docs-v3-preview.elastic.dev/elastic/docs-content/pull/7600/explore-analyze/cases/configure-case-settings
products:
- Elastic Cloud Serverless
- Elastic Observability
- Elastic Security
- Kibana
applies_to:
- Elastic Cloud Serverless: Generally available
- Elastic Stack: Generally available
---
# Configure case settings
Customize how your team works with cases by configuring automatic case closure, connecting to external systems like Jira or ServiceNow, and defining custom observable types. Elastic Stack: Planned Elastic Cloud Serverless: Generally available For templates and the field library, refer to [Case templates](https://docs-v3-preview.elastic.dev/elastic/docs-content/pull/7600/explore-analyze/cases/manage-case-templates).
To perform these tasks, you must have [full access](https://docs-v3-preview.elastic.dev/elastic/docs-content/pull/7600/explore-analyze/cases/control-case-access) to the appropriate case and connector features. Find **Cases** using the [global search field](https://docs-v3-preview.elastic.dev/elastic/docs-content/pull/7600/explore-analyze/find-and-organize/find-apps-and-objects), then open **Settings**.
## Close cases automatically
If you close cases in your external incident management system, the cases will remain open in Kibana until you close them manually.
To close cases when they are sent to an external system, select the option to automatically close cases when pushing a new incident to an external system.
## Configure external connectors
Connectors let you send cases to external incident management systems. To create and manage connectors, you need the appropriate Kibana feature privileges and subscription or project feature tier. Refer to [Control access to cases](https://docs-v3-preview.elastic.dev/elastic/docs-content/pull/7600/explore-analyze/cases/control-case-access).
### Create a connector
You can create connectors in **Stack Management → Connectors** (see [Connectors](https://docs-v3-preview.elastic.dev/elastic/docs-content/pull/7600/deploy-manage/manage-connectors)) or from the case **Settings** page:
1. From the **Incident management system** list, select **Add new connector**.
2. Select the system to send cases to:
- [IBM Resilient connector](https://docs-v3-preview.elastic.dev/elastic/kibana/tree/main/reference/connectors-kibana/resilient-action-type)
- [Jira connector](https://docs-v3-preview.elastic.dev/elastic/kibana/tree/main/reference/connectors-kibana/jira-action-type)
- [ServiceNow ITSM connector](https://docs-v3-preview.elastic.dev/elastic/kibana/tree/main/reference/connectors-kibana/servicenow-action-type)
- [ServiceNow SecOps connector](https://docs-v3-preview.elastic.dev/elastic/kibana/tree/main/reference/connectors-kibana/servicenow-sir-action-type)
- [Swimlane connector](https://docs-v3-preview.elastic.dev/elastic/kibana/tree/main/reference/connectors-kibana/swimlane-action-type)
- [TheHive connector](https://docs-v3-preview.elastic.dev/elastic/kibana/tree/main/reference/connectors-kibana/thehive-action-type)
- [Webhook - Case Management connector](https://docs-v3-preview.elastic.dev/elastic/kibana/tree/main/reference/connectors-kibana/cases-webhook-action-type)
3. Enter your required settings, then click **Save**.
### Edit a connector
1. Select the required connector from the incident management system list.
2. Click **Update **.
3. Modify the connector fields as needed, then click **Save & close**.
### Set the default connector
Select a connector from the **Incident management system** list to set it as the default for new cases. You can also choose a connector when creating individual cases or in case templates.
### About field mappings
When you push a case to an external system, case fields are automatically mapped to corresponding fields in that system. For example, the case title maps to the short description in ServiceNow and the summary in Jira. Case tags map to labels in Jira, and comments map to work notes in ServiceNow.
With a Webhook - Case Management connector, you can map case fields to custom or existing fields.
When you push updates, mapped fields are either overwritten or appended, depending on the field and connector. Retrieving data from external systems is not supported.
## Add custom fields
Custom fields are managed in the [field library](https://docs-v3-preview.elastic.dev/elastic/docs-content/pull/7600/explore-analyze/cases/create-case-field-library) instead of case settings. Existing custom fields become **global fields** in the field library automatically, when you upgrade to Elastic Stack 9.5 or when the feature becomes available on Serverless. You don't need to take any action.
You can add optional and required fields for customized case collaboration.To create a custom field:
1. In the **Custom fields** section, click **Add field**.
2. You must provide a field label and type (text or toggle). You can optionally designate it as a required field and provide a default value.
When you create a custom field, it's added to all new and existing cases. In existing cases, new custom text fields initially have null values.You can subsequently remove or edit custom fields on the **Settings** page.
## Create templates
Templates let you pre-fill case fields like severity, tags, title, description, and custom fields, so your team can create cases faster and more consistently. When creating a case, you can select a template and use its values or override them. Updating or deleting templates does not affect existing cases.
Templates are managed on the **Templates** page instead of case settings. Existing templates are migrated to the new YAML-based format automatically, when you upgrade to Elastic Stack 9.5 or when the feature becomes available on Serverless. You don't need to take any action. Refer to [Case templates](https://docs-v3-preview.elastic.dev/elastic/docs-content/pull/7600/explore-analyze/cases/manage-case-templates).
To create a template:
1. In the **Templates** section, click **Add template**.
2. Provide a template name and case severity.
3. (Optional) Add template tags and a description, values for each case field, and a case connector.
## Add observable types
Ensure you have the appropriate [Elastic Stack subscription](https://www.elastic.co/pricing) or [Serverless project feature tier](https://docs-v3-preview.elastic.dev/elastic/docs-content/pull/7600/deploy-manage/deploy/elastic-cloud/project-settings).
In addition to the preset observable types (such as IP addresses and file hashes), you can create up to 10 custom types to match your investigation needs. Custom observable types appear as options when you [add observables to cases](/elastic/docs-content/pull/7600/explore-analyze/cases/attach-objects-to-cases#add-case-observables).
1. In the **Observable types** section, click **Add observable type**.
2. Enter a descriptive label for the observable type, then click **Save**.
You can edit or remove custom observable types from the **Settings** page. Be aware that deleting a custom observable type also deletes all instances of it from your cases.