Object kinds and doc slots

An object kind gives related services the same fields and document slots. At Lanefold, a fictional freight company, Dispatch Service and Billing Service can both use the Service kind, with a place for each service's architecture and sequence flows.

Creating or editing objects requires objects:manage; adding or assigning their documents requires docs:write. Creating custom kinds requires the Business plan or above and objects:manage.

Create an object

1. Open Objects in the sidebar and select New object.
2. Enter a Name, then choose a Kind. The form shows the fields for that kind.
3. Choose a Space, such as Lanefold's Booking Platform, and fill in Description and the fields you need.
4. Select Create object, then open the object's card.

The catalog initially shows unassigned objects. Choose All spaces in the space filter if the object you just created isn't in the list.

Choose a kind

These core built-in kinds have the following fields and preset doc slots. The slot names describe what you intend to put there; an ERD slot doesn't create an ERD or check the document's contents.

Kind	Fields	Preset doc slots
Service	Owner, Repository, Runbook	Architecture overview, Sequence flows
Datastore	Engine, Owner	ERD, Data model overview
Queue/Topic	Delivery	Message flow
External System	Vendor, Documentation	Integration overview
API	Protocol, Spec	API spec
Generic Component	No built-in fields	Overview

Built-in kinds can't be edited or deleted. If your organization has custom kinds, they appear in the same Kind selector. Custom kinds have their own field definitions and start with an Overview doc slot.

Fill a doc slot

Open the object's Docs tab. Preset holds the slots for its kind; Custom holds documents that don't fill a preset slot.

1. Select an empty slot, such as Architecture overview.
2. Choose Create new to open a new document in the editor. To use a document you already have, choose Assign existing…, select it in the picker and select Assign.
3. Use + Add custom doc for a document that doesn't belong in a preset slot. It opens the same menu.

Each preset slot holds one document. Assigning an existing document attaches it to the object; it doesn't make a copy. Attached documents disappear from the normal document list, so open them through the object's Docs tab.

Attaching a document and referencing an object are separate actions. Used in docs lists documents that reference the object, while Docs lists documents attached to it. Use OpenAPI import to fill an API object's documentation from a specification.