Database Views (Bases)

Bases in Lokus bring structured database functionality to your notes, allowing you to organize, filter, and visualize information in multiple views. Think of Bases as lightweight databases that live alongside your markdown notes, providing spreadsheet-like power without leaving your knowledge base.

Overview

Bases transform collections of notes into structured data that can be viewed as tables, cards, galleries, calendars, or lists. Each Base is a special note that aggregates other notes based on criteria you define, displaying them with customizable properties and views.

Key Features

Multiple view types (table, card, gallery, list, calendar)
Custom properties with typed fields
Filtering and sorting with advanced queries
Aggregations and rollups for data analysis
Relations between Bases for complex data models
Templates for consistent data entry
Export capabilities to CSV and other formats

Creating Bases

New Base

Create a Base from scratch:

Method 1: From Menu

File → New Base
Name your Base
Choose initial view type
Define source (folder, tag, or query)

Method 2: From Folder

Right-click folder
“Create Base from Folder”
Base auto-configured for folder

Method 3: Command Palette

Press Cmd/Ctrl + P
Type “new base”
Follow prompts

Base Sources

Define what notes to include:

Source Types:

Folder: All notes in folder
Tag: All notes with tag
Query: Custom filter query
Manual: Manually selected notes

Example Sources:

Folder: /Projects/Active
Tag: #task
Query: tag:#project AND status:active
Manual: [[Note 1]], [[Note 2]], [[Note 3]]

Base Templates

Start with pre-built Base templates:

Available Templates:

Project tracker
Task manager
Book library
Contact database
Meeting notes
Blog posts
Recipe collection
Habit tracker

View Types

Table View

Spreadsheet-like view of your data:

Features:

Sortable columns
Resizable columns
Freeze columns
Cell editing
Row selection
Column hiding
Column reordering

Table Display:

| Title          | Status | Due Date   | Priority | Assignee |
|----------------|--------|------------|----------|----------|
| Design mockups | Doing  | 2024-03-20 | High     | Sarah    |
| Write tests    | Todo   | 2024-03-22 | Medium   | John     |
| Deploy feature | Todo   | 2024-03-25 | High     | Mike     |

Interactions:

Click cell to edit
Drag column border to resize
Click header to sort
Right-click for options

Card View

Visual card-based layout:

Features:

Customizable card size
Image previews
Property display control
Multi-column layout
Drag to reorder

Card Elements:

Cover image (optional)
Title
Selected properties
Tags/labels
Preview text

Use Cases:

Project boards
Product catalogs
Gallery views
Contact cards

Gallery View

Image-focused view:

Features:

Large image thumbnails
Hover for details
Lightbox on click
Adjustable image size
Grid or masonry layout

Display Options:

Image property to display
Aspect ratio (square, 16:9, 4:3, original)
Images per row
Show captions
Show metadata

Best For:

Photo collections
Design portfolios
Product galleries
Visual research

List View

Compact list display:

Features:

Dense information display
Hierarchical grouping
Expandable rows
Quick actions
Keyboard navigation

List Configuration:

Primary field (title)
Secondary field (subtitle)
Tertiary field (metadata)
Icon/thumbnail
Action buttons

Grouping:

Group by property
Nested groups
Expand/collapse all
Group headers

Calendar View

Time-based visualization:

Features:

Month/week/day views
Drag to reschedule
Multi-day events
Color coding
Event popups

Calendar Properties:

Date field (required)
End date field (optional)
All-day toggle
Color property
Display properties

Use Cases:

Event planning
Content calendar
Project timeline
Meeting schedule

Kanban View

Workflow visualization:

Features:

Customizable columns
Drag between columns
WIP limits
Swim lanes
Card customization

Kanban Configuration:

Column property (status, stage, etc.)
Column order
Column limits
Card properties to show
Swim lane grouping

Example:

Backlog     Todo        Doing       Review      Done
-------     ----        -----       ------      ----
Task A      Task B      Task C      Task D      Task E
Task F      Task G      Task H      Task I      Task J

Properties

Property Types

Define custom fields for your data:

Basic Types:

Text: Single-line text
Long Text: Multi-line text (markdown)
Number: Numeric values
Checkbox: True/false
Date: Date picker
Select: Single choice dropdown
Multi-select: Multiple choice

Advanced Types:

URL: Validated URLs
Email: Email addresses
Phone: Phone numbers
File: File attachments
Relation: Link to other Base entries
Rollup: Aggregate related data
Formula: Calculated values

Creating Properties

Add properties to Base:

Steps:

Click ”+” in property header
Name the property
Choose type
Configure options
Set default value (optional)

Property Configuration:

Property: Status
Type: Select
Options:
  - Backlog (gray)
  - Todo (blue)
  - In Progress (yellow)
  - Review (purple)
  - Done (green)
  - Cancelled (red)
Default: Backlog

Property Options

Configure property behavior:

Common Options:

Name and description
Type and validation
Default value
Required field
Show in views
Color coding

Type-Specific Options:

Number:

Format (integer, decimal, percentage, currency)
Min/max values
Precision
Prefix/suffix

Date:

Include time
Date format
Time format
Relative display

Select:

Options list
Colors
Allow new options
Sort order

Formula Properties

Calculate values from other properties:

Formula Syntax:

// Simple calculation
{Price} * {Quantity}
 
// Conditional
if({Status} = "Done", "✓", "○")
 
// Date difference
dateDiff({Due Date}, now(), "days")
 
// Text manipulation
upper(substring({Title}, 0, 10))
 
// Aggregation
sum({Related Tasks.Hours})

Available Functions:

Math: add, subtract, multiply, divide, round, abs
Logic: if, and, or, not
Text: concat, upper, lower, substring, length
Date: now, today, dateDiff, dateAdd, formatDate
Aggregation: sum, average, min, max, count

Rollup Properties

Aggregate related data:

Rollup Configuration:

Create relation property
Create rollup property
Select relation to follow
Choose property to aggregate
Select aggregation function

Example:

Projects Base → Tasks Base relation

In Projects:
- Rollup: Total Hours
- Relation: Tasks
- Property: Estimated Hours
- Function: Sum

Result: Sum of all related task hours

Relations

Creating Relations

Link entries between Bases:

Relation Types:

One-to-One: Single related entry
One-to-Many: Multiple related entries
Many-to-Many: Multiple on both sides

Creating Relation:

Add Relation property
Select target Base
Configure relationship
Optional: Create reverse relation

Example Relations:

Projects → Tasks (one-to-many)
Tasks → Person (many-to-one)
Notes → Tags (many-to-many)

Linked Records

View and manage relations:

Features:

Click to view related record
Add new related records
Remove relations
Filter related records
Sort related records

Display:

## Project: Website Redesign
 
Related Tasks: [3]
- [Todo] Design homepage
- [Doing] Setup repository
- [Todo] Write documentation
 
Team Members: [2]
- Sarah (Designer)
- John (Developer)

Reverse Relations

Automatic back-references:

Configuration:

Enable reverse relation
Name reverse property
Appears in related Base
Auto-maintained

Example:

Projects Base:
- Property: Tasks (Relation → Tasks Base)

Tasks Base:
- Property: Project (auto-created reverse relation)

Filtering

Filter Types

Filter Base entries:

Simple Filters:

Equals
Does not equal
Contains
Does not contain
Is empty
Is not empty

Number Filters:

Equal to
Not equal to
Greater than
Less than
Between

Date Filters:

Is (exact date)
Is before
Is after
Is within (last/next X days)
Is empty

Advanced Filters:

Matches regex
In list
Custom formula

Filter Groups

Combine multiple filters:

Operators:

AND: All conditions must be true
OR: Any condition must be true
NOT: Invert condition

Example:

Show entries where:
  Status = "Active"
  AND (
    Priority = "High"
    OR Due Date < Today
  )
  AND Assignee is not empty

Saved Filters

Save and reuse filters:

Creating Saved Filters:

Configure filters
Click “Save Filter”
Name the filter
Set as default (optional)

Pre-built Filters:

Active items
Completed items
Overdue items
Assigned to me
Unassigned
This week

Sorting

Sort Options

Order entries by properties:

Sort Configuration:

Primary sort property
Sort direction (ascending/descending)
Secondary sort property
Tertiary sort property

Sort Types:

Alphabetical (A-Z or Z-A)
Numeric (0-9 or 9-0)
Date (earliest-latest or latest-earliest)
Custom (manual order)

Example:

Sort by:
1. Priority (High to Low)
2. Due Date (Earliest to Latest)
3. Title (A to Z)

Manual Sorting

Custom order with drag-and-drop:

Features:

Drag rows to reorder
Persists across sessions
Override automatic sorting
Reset to automatic sort

Grouping

Group By Property

Organize entries into groups:

Grouping Options:

Group by any property
Multi-level grouping
Expand/collapse groups
Group headers with counts
Custom group order

Example:

Group by: Status
├─ Backlog (5)
│  ├─ Task A
│  └─ Task B
├─ In Progress (3)
│  ├─ Task C
│  └─ Task D
└─ Done (12)
   └─ Task E

Group Aggregations

Show statistics per group:

Aggregation Types:

Count
Sum
Average
Min/Max
Percentage

Display:

Status: In Progress (3 items, 15 hours total)
Status: Done (12 items, 48 hours total, avg 4 hours)

Templates

Entry Templates

Create consistent entries:

Template Fields:

Pre-filled property values
Default content
Placeholders
Auto-generated values

Example Template:

---
template: project
status: planning
priority: medium
---
 
# {{title}}
 
## Overview
{{description}}
 
## Goals
- Goal 1
- Goal 2
 
## Tasks
- [ ] Initial task 1
- [ ] Initial task 2
 
## Timeline
Start: {{start_date}}
End: {{due_date}}

Template Variables

Dynamic template content:

Available Variables:

{{now}} - Current timestamp
{{today}} - Today’s date
{{user}} - Current user
{{title}} - Entry title
{{property_name}} - Any property value

Aggregations

Summary Statistics

View aggregate data:

Statistics:

Count of entries
Sum of numeric fields
Average values
Min/Max values
Median
Standard deviation

Display:

Total Projects: 24
Active: 8
Completed: 12
On Hold: 4

Total Budget: $125,000
Average Budget: $5,208
Highest Budget: $25,000

Charts and Visualizations

Visual data representation:

Chart Types:

Bar chart
Pie chart
Line chart
Scatter plot
Timeline
Heatmap

Configuration:

X-axis property
Y-axis property
Grouping
Aggregation function
Colors

Export and Import

Export Options

Export Base data:

Formats:

CSV: Spreadsheet compatible
JSON: Structured data
Markdown: Notes format
HTML: Web display

Export Settings:

Include all properties
Filter before export
Include relations
Formatting options

Import Data

Bring data into Bases:

Import Sources:

CSV files
JSON files
Existing notes
External databases

Import Process:

Choose import source
Map columns to properties
Preview import
Configure options
Import data

Import Options:

Create new entries
Update existing entries
Skip duplicates
Auto-create properties

Collaboration

Shared Bases

Collaborate on Bases:

Features:

Real-time updates
Multi-user editing
Permissions control
Activity history
Comments per entry

Permissions:

View only
Comment
Edit
Admin

Comments and Discussion

Discuss entries:

Comment Features:

Per-entry comments
Thread discussions
@mentions
File attachments
Edit history

Performance

Optimization

Base performance:

Techniques:

Lazy loading
Virtual scrolling
Indexed properties
Cached aggregations
Progressive rendering

Limits:

10,000+ entries supported
Complex queries under 100ms
Real-time updates under 50ms

Configuration

Base Settings

Configure Base behavior:

General:

Base name
Description
Icon
Source configuration
Default view

Properties:

Add/edit/delete properties
Property order
Visibility
Validation rules

Views:

Create/edit views
View permissions
Default view
View layout

Permissions:

Who can view
Who can edit
Who can admin
Public access

Use Cases

Project Management

Track projects with Bases:

Properties:

Project name
Status (select)
Priority (select)
Start date
Due date
Budget (number)
Team members (relation)
Tasks (relation)
Progress (formula)

Views:

Table: All projects overview
Kanban: By status
Calendar: By timeline
Card: Visual grid

Content Management

Manage blog posts, articles:

Properties:

Title
Author (relation)
Status (draft, review, published)
Publish date
Categories (multi-select)
Tags (multi-select)
Word count (number)
Featured image (file)

Views:

Table: Editorial calendar
Calendar: Publishing schedule
Gallery: Featured posts
List: By category

CRM (Contacts)

Customer relationship management:

Properties:

Name
Company
Email
Phone
Status (select)
Last contact (date)
Next follow-up (date)
Notes (long text)
Related deals (relation)

Views:

Table: All contacts
Card: Contact cards
Kanban: By status
Calendar: Follow-up schedule

Inventory Management

Track items and assets:

Properties:

Item name
SKU
Category
Quantity (number)
Location
Status (in stock, low, out)
Cost (number)
Supplier (relation)
Last ordered (date)

Views:

Table: Full inventory
List: By category
Gallery: Product images
Chart: Stock levels

Best Practices

Base Design

Effective Bases:

Clear naming conventions
Logical property structure
Appropriate property types
Consistent data entry
Regular maintenance

Property Guidelines:

Required fields first
Group related properties
Use templates for consistency
Validate data entry
Document property meanings

Performance Tips

Optimization:

Limit visible properties
Use filters to reduce entries
Archive completed items
Optimize formulas
Use relations wisely

Troubleshooting

Common Issues

Issue: Base loading slowly Solution: Reduce visible entries, optimize formulas, check filters

Issue: Relations not working Solution: Verify target Base exists, check permissions, rebuild index

Issue: Formula errors Solution: Check syntax, verify property names, test incrementally

Issue: Import failed Solution: Verify CSV format, check property types, review error log

Next Steps

Use Templates for Base entry templates
Integrate with Tasks for task management
Explore Search for Base queries
See Developer Guide for Base API

Task Management & Kanban Templates & Automation