Base Examples & Use Cases
Learn from real-world Base configurations and discover how to apply Bases to your workflows. This guide covers common use cases, configuration examples, and best practices.
Prerequisites: This guide assumes familiarity with Bases Overview, Properties, and Views.
Project Management
Track projects with status, priority, timelines, and team members.
Configuration
Properties:
# Identity
title: text (required)
project_code: text
description: long_text
# Status & Priority
status: select
options:
- Planning (blue)
- Active (green)
- On Hold (yellow)
- Completed (gray)
- Cancelled (red)
priority: select
options:
- Critical (red)
- High (orange)
- Medium (yellow)
- Low (blue)
# Timeline
start_date: date
due_date: date
completed_date: date
# Resources
budget: number (currency, USD)
owner: text
team: tags
# Tracking
progress: number (percentage)
health: select
options:
- On Track (green)
- At Risk (yellow)
- Blocked (red)Views
Table View: All Projects
name: "All Projects"
type: table
visible_properties:
- title
- status
- priority
- owner
- due_date
- budget
- progress
sort:
- priority: desc
- due_date: ascKanban View: By Status
name: "Project Board"
type: kanban
column_property: status
card_properties:
- priority
- owner
- due_date
- progress
wip_limits:
Active: 5Calendar View: Timeline
name: "Project Timeline"
type: calendar
date_field: due_date
color_by: status
show_properties:
- owner
- prioritySaved Filters
"Active High Priority":
- status equals "Active"
- priority in ["Critical", "High"]
"At Risk":
- health equals "At Risk"
- status equals "Active"
"Due This Month":
- due_date relative "this month"
- status not_equals "Completed"
"My Projects":
- owner equals "{{current_user}}"
- status in ["Planning", "Active"]Best Practices
Do:
- Set realistic due dates
- Update progress regularly (weekly)
- Use health status to flag issues early
- Assign clear ownership
- Track budget vs actual spending
Don’t:
- Leave projects in “Planning” indefinitely
- Skip status updates for weeks
- Assign multiple owners (use team tags instead)
- Ignore “At Risk” or “Blocked” projects
Task Management
GTD-style task management with priorities, contexts, and due dates.
Configuration
Properties:
# Core
title: text (required)
description: long_text
completed: checkbox
# Organization
status: select
- Inbox (gray)
- Next (blue)
- Waiting (yellow)
- Someday (purple)
- Done (green)
priority: select
- P1 - Urgent (red)
- P2 - High (orange)
- P3 - Normal (yellow)
- P4 - Low (blue)
# Context
project: text
area: select
- Work
- Personal
- Home
- Learning
tags: tags
- urgent
- quick-win
- deep-work
- admin
# Timing
due_date: date
scheduled_date: date
completed_date: date
# Effort
estimated_hours: number
actual_hours: number
# Assignment
assignee: textViews
List View: Next Actions
name: "Next Actions"
type: list
filters:
- status equals "Next"
- completed is_false
group_by: project
sort: priority descTable View: This Week
name: "This Week"
type: table
filters:
- due_date relative "this week"
- completed is_false
sort:
- due_date asc
- priority descKanban View: Workflow
name: "Task Board"
type: kanban
column_property: status
filters:
- status not_equals "Done"
- completed is_false
swimlane: prioritySaved Filters
"Inbox":
- status equals "Inbox"
"Overdue":
- due_date before today
- completed is_false
"Quick Wins":
- tags contains "quick-win"
- estimated_hours less_than 1
- completed is_false
"Waiting For":
- status equals "Waiting"
"Today":
- due_date equals today
OR scheduled_date equals todayGTD Workflow
Weekly Review Checklist:
- Process Inbox → Assign status
- Review “Waiting For” items
- Check overdue tasks
- Schedule next week’s tasks
- Update project progress
- Archive completed items
Content Management
Manage blog posts, articles, and content calendars.
Configuration
Properties:
# Content
title: text (required)
subtitle: text
slug: text
content_type: select
- Blog Post
- Article
- Tutorial
- Case Study
- Newsletter
# Status
status: select
- Idea (gray)
- Outline (blue)
- Draft (yellow)
- Review (orange)
- Scheduled (purple)
- Published (green)
# Meta
author: text
publish_date: date
updated_date: date
featured: checkbox
# Organization
categories: select
- Product
- Engineering
- Design
- Company
- Tutorial
tags: tags
seo_keywords: tags
# Metrics
word_count: number
reading_time: number
target_audience: select
# Media
featured_image: text (URL)
thumbnail: text (URL)Views
Calendar View: Editorial Calendar
name: "Editorial Calendar"
type: calendar
date_field: publish_date
color_by: category
filters:
- status in ["Scheduled", "Published"]
- publish_date after "{{today-30d}}"Table View: Content Pipeline
name: "Content Pipeline"
type: table
visible_properties:
- title
- status
- author
- publish_date
- word_count
- categories
filters:
- status not_equals "Published"
sort:
- publish_date asc
- status ascGallery View: Published Posts
name: "Published Posts"
type: gallery
image_property: featured_image
filters:
- status equals "Published"
sort: publish_date desc
show_captions: trueSaved Filters
"This Month":
- publish_date relative "this month"
"Needs Review":
- status equals "Review"
"Ready to Schedule":
- status equals "Draft"
- word_count greater_than 800
"Top Performing":
- featured is_true
- status equals "Published"Best Practices
Do:
- Set publish dates early
- Use consistent categories
- Add SEO keywords to all posts
- Review drafts before scheduling
- Track word count targets
- Schedule featured images early
Don’t:
- Skip the outline stage
- Publish without review
- Ignore SEO optimization
- Leave drafts unfinished
- Forget to update old content
CRM (Contacts)
Customer and contact relationship management.
Configuration
Properties:
# Identity
name: text (required)
company: text
title: text
email: email
phone: text
linkedin: text (URL)
# Classification
contact_type: select
- Lead
- Prospect
- Customer
- Partner
- Vendor
status: select
- New (blue)
- Qualified (green)
- Nurturing (yellow)
- Closed Won (green)
- Closed Lost (red)
priority: select
# Engagement
last_contact: date
next_followup: date
meeting_scheduled: date
# Context
source: select
- Referral
- Website
- Event
- Social
- Cold Outreach
interests: tags
stage: select
# Business
deal_value: number (currency)
probability: number (percentage)
# Notes
notes: long_textViews
Card View: Contact Cards
name: "Contact Cards"
type: card
card_properties:
- company
- title
- email
- status
- next_followup
show_thumbnail: true
columns: 3Table View: Pipeline
name: "Sales Pipeline"
type: table
filters:
- contact_type in ["Lead", "Prospect"]
- status not_in ["Closed Won", "Closed Lost"]
sort:
- priority desc
- deal_value descCalendar View: Follow-ups
name: "Follow-up Calendar"
type: calendar
date_field: next_followup
color_by: priority
show_properties:
- company
- status
- deal_valueSaved Filters
"Hot Leads":
- status equals "Qualified"
- priority equals "High"
- next_followup is_not_empty
"Needs Follow-up":
- next_followup before "{{today+7d}}"
- status not_in ["Closed Won", "Closed Lost"]
"Recent Customers":
- status equals "Closed Won"
- last_contact relative "last 30 days"
"Stale Leads":
- status equals "Nurturing"
- last_contact before "{{today-30d}}"CRM Workflow
Weekly Tasks:
- Review “Needs Follow-up” filter
- Update status for recent calls
- Schedule next follow-ups
- Qualify new leads
- Check “Stale Leads” for re-engagement
Inventory Management
Track items, stock levels, and suppliers.
Configuration
Properties:
# Item
item_name: text (required)
sku: text
barcode: text
description: long_text
# Classification
category: select
- Electronics
- Furniture
- Supplies
- Equipment
- Tools
brand: text
model: text
# Stock
quantity: number
min_stock: number
max_stock: number
unit: select
# Status
status: select
- In Stock (green)
- Low Stock (yellow)
- Out of Stock (red)
- Discontinued (gray)
# Pricing
cost: number (currency)
price: number (currency)
margin: number (percentage)
# Location
location: text
warehouse: select
# Supplier
supplier: text
supplier_sku: text
lead_time: number (days)
last_ordered: dateViews
Table View: Inventory
name: "Current Inventory"
type: table
visible_properties:
- item_name
- sku
- quantity
- min_stock
- status
- location
- cost
sort:
- status asc
- quantity ascList View: Low Stock
name: "Low Stock Alert"
type: list
filters:
- status in ["Low Stock", "Out of Stock"]
- status not_equals "Discontinued"
sort: quantity asc
group_by: categoryGallery View: Products
name: "Product Gallery"
type: gallery
filters:
- status equals "In Stock"
sort: item_name ascSaved Filters
"Needs Reorder":
- quantity less_than_or_equal min_stock
- status not_equals "Discontinued"
"High Value":
- cost greater_than 1000
- quantity greater_than 0
"Recent Orders":
- last_ordered relative "last 30 days"
"Discontinued":
- status equals "Discontinued"Best Practices
Base Design Principles
1. Start Simple
- Begin with 5-8 core properties
- Add complexity as needed
- Don’t over-engineer upfront
2. Consistent Naming
# Good
due_date, start_date, end_date
# Avoid
dueDate, StartDate, end-date3. Use Defaults
status:
default: "Backlog"
created_date:
default: "{{today}}"4. Required Fields
- Only mark truly essential fields
- Too many required fields = friction
- Usually just
titleis required
5. Color Coding
- Green = positive/complete
- Red = negative/urgent/blocked
- Yellow = warning/in-progress
- Blue = neutral/new
- Gray = inactive/archived
Property Organization
Group Related Properties:
# 1. Identity (top)
title
description
# 2. Status & Classification
status
priority
category
tags
# 3. People
owner
assignee
team
# 4. Dates
start_date
due_date
completed_date
# 5. Metrics (bottom)
budget
hours
progressPerformance Optimization
For Large Bases (1,000+ entries):
-
Use specific source folders
source: "/projects/active" # Not: "/" -
Add default filters
default_filters: - status not_equals "Archived" -
Enable Quantum Search
- Preferences → Performance → Quantum Search
-
Limit visible properties
- Show 6-8 columns max in table view
-
Use pagination
- 50-100 entries per page
Data Entry Efficiency
Use Templates:
---
template: project
status: planning
priority: medium
owner: "{{current_user}}"
start_date: "{{today}}"
---
# {{title}}
## Overview
{{description}}
## Goals
- Goal 1
- Goal 2
## Tasks
- [ ] Initial taskKeyboard Shortcuts:
Cmd/Ctrl + N- New entryCmd/Ctrl + E- Edit selectedTab- Next cellEnter- Edit cellEsc- Cancel edit
Maintenance Routines
Daily:
- Update task statuses
- Check overdue items
- Process inbox/new items
Weekly:
- Review all active items
- Archive completed items
- Update priorities
- Schedule next week’s work
Monthly:
- Analyze trends and metrics
- Clean up old data
- Review and adjust workflows
- Update templates
Troubleshooting
Base Loading Slowly
Solutions:
- Reduce visible entries with filters
- Enable Quantum Search
- Use specific source folder
- Hide unused properties
- Close unused Base tabs
Missing Data
Solutions:
- Check YAML frontmatter format
- Verify property names match
- Refresh Base index
- Check file permissions
Inline Editing Not Working
Solutions:
- Ensure file is not read-only
- Check property is editable
- Validate YAML syntax
- Wait for auto-save (300ms)
What’s Next?
- Overview - Back to Bases fundamentals
- Properties - Deep dive into property types
- Filtering - Master advanced filtering
- MCP Integration - Automate with AI
Additional Resources
- Templates - Base entry templates
- Tasks - Integrate with task management
- Search - Search within Bases
- Developer Guide - Base API reference