diff --git a/DESCRIPTION b/DESCRIPTION
index bf12b3f..0dd6a63 100644
--- a/DESCRIPTION
+++ b/DESCRIPTION
@@ -15,9 +15,10 @@ BugReports: https://github.com/SafetyGraphics/safetyCharts/issues
 License: MIT + file LICENSE
 Encoding: UTF-8
 LazyData: true
-RoxygenNote: 7.2.3
+RoxygenNote: 7.3.1
 Roxygen: list(markdown = TRUE)
 Imports:
+    cli,
     dplyr,
     DT,
     forcats,
@@ -25,8 +26,8 @@ Imports:
     htmltools,
     htmlwidgets,
     huxtable,
-    jsonlite, 
-    magrittr, 
+    jsonlite,
+    magrittr,
     pharmaRTF,
     plotly,
     purrr,
diff --git a/NAMESPACE b/NAMESPACE
index c704517..2df21f1 100644
--- a/NAMESPACE
+++ b/NAMESPACE
@@ -37,6 +37,8 @@ importFrom(DT,DTOutput)
 importFrom(DT,renderDT)
 importFrom(RColorBrewer,brewer.pal)
 importFrom(Tendril,Tendril)
+importFrom(cli,cli_alert_warning)
+importFrom(cli,cli_bullets)
 importFrom(dplyr,left_join)
 importFrom(dplyr,select)
 importFrom(forcats,fct_drop)
diff --git a/R/init_aeExplorer.R b/R/init_aeExplorer.R
index ec970c5..78832f1 100644
--- a/R/init_aeExplorer.R
+++ b/R/init_aeExplorer.R
@@ -11,7 +11,6 @@
 #' @export
 
 init_aeExplorer <- function(data, settings) {
-    
     # creates flag if treatment_col is missing to trigger actions to avoid downstream JS errors and enable visualization of blinded(no treatment_col) data
     missing_trt_flag <- (
         is.null(settings[["dm"]][["treatment_col"]]) || # Check NULL first and evaluate logic left to right
@@ -44,11 +43,117 @@ init_aeExplorer <- function(data, settings) {
         major = settings[['aes']][["bodsys_col"]],
         minor = settings[['aes']][["term_col"]],
         group = settings[["dm"]][["treatment_col"]],
-        id = settings[["dm"]][["id_col"]],
-        filters = list(),
-        details = list()
+        id = settings[["dm"]][["id_col"]]
     )
 
+    # Pass data filters through with an expected structure of:
+    #     c('column_name', 'column_name', ...)
+    # or
+    #     c('label' = 'column_name', 'label' = 'column_name', ...)
+    # or
+    #     list(
+    #         value_col = 'column_name',
+    #         label = 'column_label',
+    #         type = 'participant' or 'event'
+    #     )
+    if ('filters' %in% names(settings)) {
+        if (is.character(settings$filters)) {
+            settings$filters <- settings$filters %>%
+                purrr::imap(
+                    ~ list(
+                        value_col = .x,
+                        label = ifelse(is.character(.y), .y, .x),
+                        type = ifelse(
+                            .x %in% setdiff(
+                                names(data$ae),
+                                names(data$dm)
+                            ),
+                            'event',
+                            'participant'
+                        )
+                    )
+                ) %>%
+                unname()
+        } else if (!is.list(settings$filters)) {
+            cli::cli_alert_warning(
+                '[ filters ] must be a character vector or a list of column specifications with these key=value pairs:'
+            )
+
+            cli::cli_bullets(
+                '[ value_col=<column name> ]',
+                '[ label=<column label> ]',
+                '[ type=<"participant" or "event"> ]'
+            )
+
+            settings$filters <- list()
+        } else {
+            filters <- settings$filters %>%
+                purrr::keep(
+                    ~ 'value_col' %in% names(.x)
+                )
+
+            if (length(filters) < length(settings$filters))
+                cli::cli_alert_warning(
+                    '{length(settings$filters) - length(filters)} column specification(s) without a key=value pair of [ value_col=<column name> ] removed.'
+                )
+
+            settings$filters <- filters
+        }
+
+        ae_settings$variables$filters <- settings$filters
+    } else {
+        ae_settings$variables$filters <- list()
+    }
+
+    # Pass listing columns through with an expected structure of:
+    #     c('column_name', 'column_name', ...)
+    # or
+    #     c('label' = 'column_name', 'label' = 'column_name', ...)
+    # or
+    #     list(
+    #         value_col = 'column_name',
+    #         label = 'column_label'
+    #     )
+    if ('details' %in% names(settings)) {
+        if (is.character(settings$details)) {
+            settings$details <- settings$details %>%
+                purrr::imap(
+                    ~ list(
+                        value_col = .x,
+                        label = ifelse(is.character(.y), .y, .x)
+                    )
+                ) %>%
+                unname()
+        } else if (!is.list(settings$details)) {
+            cli::cli_alert_warning(
+                '[ details ] must be a character vector or a list of column specifications with these key=value pairs:'
+            )
+
+            cli::cli_bullets(
+                '[ value_col=<column name> ]',
+                '[ label=<column label> ]'
+            )
+
+            settings$details <- list()
+        } else {
+            details <- settings$details %>%
+                purrr::keep(
+                    ~ 'value_col' %in% names(.x)
+                )
+
+            if (length(details) < length(settings$details))
+                cli::cli_alert_warning(
+                    '{length(settings$details) - length(details)} column specification(s) without a key=value pair of [ value_col=<column name> ] removed.'
+                )
+
+            settings$details <- details
+        }
+
+        ae_settings$variables$details <- settings$details
+    } else {
+        ae_settings$variables$details <- list()
+    }
+
     ae_settings$variableOptions <- list(
         group = c(
             settings[['dm']][["treatment_values--group1"]],
diff --git a/R/safetyCharts-package.R b/R/safetyCharts-package.R
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..893f95b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/R/safetyCharts-package.R
@@ -0,0 +1,8 @@
+#' @keywords internal
+"_PACKAGE"
+
+## usethis namespace: start
+#' @importFrom cli cli_alert_warning
+#' @importFrom cli cli_bullets
+## usethis namespace: end
+NULL
diff --git a/inst/htmlwidgets/lib/defineWidget.js b/inst/htmlwidgets/lib/defineWidget.js
index 845e97c..66e4b5b 100644
--- a/inst/htmlwidgets/lib/defineWidget.js
+++ b/inst/htmlwidgets/lib/defineWidget.js
@@ -14,7 +14,6 @@ const defineWidget = function(name, fn) {
                         : `#${d3.select(el).property("id")}`;
                     const settings = inputs.settings;
                     const data = HTMLWidgets.dataframeToD3(inputs.data);
-
                     // instantiate widget
                     const instance = fn(
                         wrapID,