Objects and fields
Create lists, choose field types, connect records, and control who can see sensitive values.
Objects define what your workspace tracks. Fields define what you know about each record. Use built-in app objects where they fit, and add custom objects or fields for the details unique to your team.
Create and organize a list
Open Workspace Settings → Data Model to see the Object Directory and the Data Visualizer. The directory opens each object’s settings and controls whether supported record objects appear in navigation. The visualizer helps you inspect objects, fields, and their relationships.
Choose New Object to create a custom list. Set its singular and plural names, icon, description, and primary label field. A clear primary label makes records easier to identify in search results and relationship pickers.
An object’s settings are organized into General, Organization, Fields, Views, Detail panel, Activity, and Permissions. General includes its names, description, page address, and record label. Organization controls supported folder behavior. Built-in objects can reserve fields or settings that the app needs for its workflows.
Choose the right field type
- Everyday values. Text, Number, True/False, Date, Date and Time, Currency, Rating, and Icon cover names, measurements, flags, dates, money, and visual labels.
- Choices. Select stores one choice. Multi-select stores several. Configure the options and their presentation so the team uses a consistent vocabulary.
- Contact details. Emails, Phones, Links, Full Name, and Address keep related parts together instead of spreading them across unrelated text fields.
- People and progress. Person and People identify workspace members. Progress stores current and total values. Map Location stores location details.
- Longer or structured information. Rich Text supports formatted content. JSON and Array are available when you need structured values.
- Connections and calculations. Link to another list connects records in different objects. Calculated Field derives an output from a formula.
Add a field
A required field must have a value before a record can be saved. Unique fields reject duplicate values. Uniqueness is available for suitable single-value fields; it does not apply to every multi-value or structured type.
Defaults help populate new records. Changing a default is not the same as replacing values already saved in existing records. Likewise, hiding a column in one view does not delete the field or its data.
- Open the object’s settings and choose Fields, then New field. The table’s add-column menu also offers New field if you have permission.
- Enter the field name, choose its type and icon, and add a helpful description or hint.
- Configure the options that apply to that type, such as select choices, a date display, progress labels, or a default value.
- Decide whether the field is required and, for supported scalar types, whether values must be unique.
- Create the field and check it in a real record and in the views where your team needs it.
Connect records instead of copying details
Use New relation or Link to another list to connect records. Choose the target object and the supported relationship type. For example, an item can point to a supplier, or an opportunity can point to a company.
Relationship settings can choose which fields form the displayed label, which extra details appear in a picker, and which fields users can search. These settings help distinguish records with similar names.
Relations keep a link to the original record. Copying a supplier name into a text field creates a separate value that will not behave like a relationship. Keep this distinction in mind when mapping imported columns.
Use calculated values
When creating a Calculated Field, choose the output type and supply its formula. Supported output choices include Number, Currency, Text, and True/False. The result is computed from the formula rather than entered as a normal editable value.
Use the field names and formula syntax accepted by Matte. Calculated fields are not a full spreadsheet application, and a spreadsheet formula should not be assumed to work unchanged. Check a few known records after creating a calculation so the result matches the meaning you intended.
Control access to fields
Who can see this field lists the object’s permission roles. An authorized administrator can untick roles to hide a restrictable field from those users. Owners always retain access. Field permissions depend on the workspace’s plan and your permission to manage object access.
Restricted values remain protected in tables, boards, record panels, search, exports, activity, APIs, and agent work. Someone who cannot read a field cannot use a hidden value by copying it, filtering by it, or sorting by it.
Display configuration and access control solve different problems. Hide an unneeded column to simplify a view; restrict a field when its contents should not be available to a role.