diff --git a/cmd/catalog-importer/cmd/sync.go b/cmd/catalog-importer/cmd/sync.go
index 3dc4b83..84fc424 100644
--- a/cmd/catalog-importer/cmd/sync.go
+++ b/cmd/catalog-importer/cmd/sync.go
@@ -473,7 +473,7 @@ func (opt *SyncOptions) Run(ctx context.Context, logger kitlog.Logger, cfg *conf
 				logger.Log("msg", "reconciling catalog entries", "output", outputType.TypeName)
 				catalogType := catalogTypesByOutput[outputType.TypeName]
 
-				err = reconcile.Entries(ctx, logger, entriesClient, catalogType, entryModels, newEntriesProgress(!opt.DryRun))
+				err = reconcile.Entries(ctx, logger, entriesClient, outputType, catalogType, entryModels, newEntriesProgress(!opt.DryRun))
 				if err != nil {
 					return errors.Wrap(err, fmt.Sprintf("outputs (type_name = '%s'): reconciling catalog entries", outputType.TypeName))
 				}
@@ -509,7 +509,7 @@ func (opt *SyncOptions) Run(ctx context.Context, logger kitlog.Logger, cfg *conf
 
 				OUT("\n    ↻ %s (enum)", enumModel.TypeName)
 				catalogType := catalogTypesByOutput[enumModel.TypeName]
-				err := reconcile.Entries(ctx, logger, entriesClient, catalogType, enumModels, newEntriesProgress(!opt.DryRun))
+				err := reconcile.Entries(ctx, logger, entriesClient, outputType, catalogType, enumModels, newEntriesProgress(!opt.DryRun))
 				if err != nil {
 					return errors.Wrap(err,
 						fmt.Sprintf("outputs (type_name = '%s'): enum for attribute (id = '%s'): %s: reconciling catalog entries",
diff --git a/config/reference.jsonnet b/config/reference.jsonnet
index b438902..7755948 100644
--- a/config/reference.jsonnet
+++ b/config/reference.jsonnet
@@ -228,6 +228,12 @@
               //
               // Will default to the id of this attribute.
               source: '$.metadata.description',
+
+              // If true we will only create the attribute in the schema and won't sync
+              // the value of the attribute. This is useful when you want to specify the
+              // schema but leave this field available to be controlled from the dashboard
+              // manually, separately from the importer.
+              schema_only: false,
             },
 
             // Most of the time you can be much less verbose, as source will
diff --git a/output/output.go b/output/output.go
index 36df0ec..52fc9ef 100644
--- a/output/output.go
+++ b/output/output.go
@@ -57,6 +57,7 @@ type Attribute struct {
 	Enum              *AttributeEnum `json:"enum"`
 	BacklinkAttribute null.String    `json:"backlink_attribute"`
 	Path              []string       `json:"path"`
+	SchemaOnly        bool           `json:"schema_only"`
 }
 
 func (a Attribute) Validate() error {
diff --git a/reconcile/entries.go b/reconcile/entries.go
index f12b8ac..bad6c0b 100644
--- a/reconcile/entries.go
+++ b/reconcile/entries.go
@@ -64,7 +64,7 @@ type EntriesProgress struct {
 	OnUpdateProgress func()
 }
 
-func Entries(ctx context.Context, logger kitlog.Logger, cl EntriesClient, catalogType *client.CatalogTypeV2, entryModels []*output.CatalogEntryModel, progress *EntriesProgress) error {
+func Entries(ctx context.Context, logger kitlog.Logger, cl EntriesClient, outputType *output.Output, catalogType *client.CatalogTypeV2, entryModels []*output.CatalogEntryModel, progress *EntriesProgress) error {
 	logger = kitlog.With(logger,
 		"catalog_type_id", catalogType.Id,
 		"catalog_type_name", catalogType.TypeName,
@@ -197,6 +197,15 @@ func Entries(ctx context.Context, logger kitlog.Logger, cl EntriesClient, catalo
 		}
 	}
 
+	// Identify the attributes that are schema-only, as we want to preserve the existing
+	// value instead of setting it outselves.
+	schemaOnlyAttributes := []*output.Attribute{}
+	for _, attr := range outputType.Attributes {
+		if attr.SchemaOnly {
+			schemaOnlyAttributes = append(schemaOnlyAttributes, attr)
+		}
+	}
+
 	{
 		toUpdate := []*output.CatalogEntryModel{}
 	eachPayload:
@@ -238,6 +247,12 @@ func Entries(ctx context.Context, logger kitlog.Logger, cl EntriesClient, catalo
 					currentBindings[attributeID] = current
 				}
 
+				// For any of the schema only attributes, preserve the existing value when
+				// performing an update.
+				for _, attr := range schemaOnlyAttributes {
+					model.AttributeValues[attr.ID] = currentBindings[attr.ID]
+				}
+
 				if isSame && reflect.DeepEqual(model.AttributeValues, currentBindings) {
 					logger.Log("msg", "catalog entry has not changed, not updating", "entry_id", entry.Id)
 					continue eachPayload