Base Properties

Properties are the foundation of Bases - they define the structure of your data. Lokus supports 8 property types out of the box, with advanced features like formulas, rollups, and relations coming soon.

Prerequisites: Familiar with Bases Overview? If not, start there to understand how properties integrate with YAML frontmatter.

Property Types

Text

Single-line text for titles, names, and short descriptions.

YAML Format:

title: "Build Landing Page"
name: "John Doe"
project_code: "PRJ-2024-001"

Configuration:

Max length (optional)
Default value
Validation regex
Required field toggle

Use Cases:

Titles and names
Short descriptions
Codes and identifiers
URLs or links

Tip: For longer content, use Long Text instead. Text properties are optimized for single-line display in table cells.

Long Text

Multi-line text with markdown support for descriptions and notes.

YAML Format:

description: |
  This is a multi-line description.
  It supports **markdown** formatting.
  - Bullet points
  - Links
  - Code blocks

Configuration:

Enable markdown rendering
Max length
Default value
Show preview in table

Use Cases:

Project descriptions
Meeting notes
Instructions
Comments and feedback

Display Options:

Table view: Shows truncated preview (hover for full text)
Card view: Shows full text or configurable preview
Detail view: Full markdown rendering

Number

Numeric values with formatting options.

YAML Format:

score: 85
price: 149.99
quantity: 42
percentage: 0.75

Format Options:

Integer - Whole numbers only
Decimal - Floating point (specify precision)
Percentage - Displays as % (stored as decimal)
Currency - Adds currency symbol and formatting

Configuration:

property: budget
type: number
format: currency
currency: USD
precision: 2
min_value: 0
max_value: 1000000
prefix: "$"
suffix: ""

Advanced Options:

Min/max values
Precision (decimal places)
Prefix/suffix (e.g., ”$”, “kg”)
Thousand separator
Negative number format

Use Cases:

Budgets and costs
Scores and ratings
Quantities and counts
Percentages and ratios

Warning: Store percentages as decimals (0.75) not integers (75). The display format handles conversion automatically.

Checkbox

Boolean true/false values for toggles and completion status.

YAML Format:

completed: true
is_public: false
featured: true

Configuration:

Default value (true/false/unset)
Custom labels (“Yes/No”, “On/Off”, “Active/Inactive”)
Color when checked

Display:

Yes Checked (green)
Unchecked (gray)
− Unset (light gray)

Use Cases:

Task completion
Feature flags
Published/draft status
Active/inactive toggles

Inline Editing: Click the checkbox in table view to toggle instantly. Changes save automatically after 300ms.

Date

Date and optional time values with calendar picker.

YAML Format:

due_date: 2025-10-30
start_date: 2025-01-15
created_at: 2025-01-01T09:00:00Z

Date Formats:

YYYY-MM-DD - Date only
YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS - Date with time
YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SSZ - Date with time and timezone

Configuration:

property: due_date
type: date
include_time: false
date_format: "MMM DD, YYYY"  # Jan 30, 2025
time_format: "12h"  # or 24h
relative_display: true  # "3 days from now"

Display Options:

Absolute: Jan 30, 2025
Relative: 3 days from now, Yesterday, In 2 weeks
Custom format: DD/MM/YYYY, MM-DD-YYYY, etc.

Relative Display Examples:

Today
Yesterday / Tomorrow
In 3 days / 3 days ago
Next week / Last week
In 2 months

Use Cases:

Due dates and deadlines
Start/end dates
Timestamps
Scheduling

Tip: Use relative display for better time awareness. “Due in 2 days” is more useful than “2025-10-25”!

Select

Single-choice dropdown with predefined options.

YAML Format:

status: In Progress
priority: High
category: Web Development

Configuration:

property: status
type: select
options:
  - value: Backlog
    color: gray
  - value: Todo
    color: blue
  - value: In Progress
    color: yellow
  - value: Review
    color: purple
  - value: Done
    color: green
  - value: Cancelled
    color: red
default: Backlog
allow_custom: false

Color Options:

gray, blue, green, yellow, orange, red, purple, pink, brown

Best Practices:

Keep options focused - 5-8 options ideal
Use consistent colors - green for positive, red for negative
Order logically - workflow order or alphabetical
Clear labels - self-explanatory, no abbreviations

Use Cases:

Status workflows
Priority levels
Categories
Stages in a process

Tip: Enable allow_custom to let users add new options on-the-fly, useful for evolving categorizations!

Multi-Select (Tags)

Multiple-choice tags with color coding.

YAML Format:

tags:
  - web
  - design
  - urgent
categories:
  - Frontend
  - Backend
  - DevOps

Configuration:

property: tags
type: tags
options:
  - value: urgent
    color: red
  - value: web
    color: blue
  - value: design
    color: purple
allow_custom: true
max_selections: 5

Display: Tags appear as colored pills:

[urgent] [web] [design]

Filtering:

contains_any: Has at least one specified tag
contains_all: Has all specified tags
is_empty: No tags
is_not_empty: Has at least one tag

Use Cases:

Content categorization
Skill tagging
Topic organization
Feature flags

Tip: Tags are perfect for many-to-many relationships. A project can have multiple tags, and a tag can apply to multiple projects.

URL

Validated URL fields with link rendering.

YAML Format:

website: "https://example.com"
repository: "https://github.com/user/repo"
documentation: "https://docs.example.com"

Configuration:

Validation (must start with http:// or https://)
Display as clickable link
Show favicon (optional)
Open in new tab

Display:

[example.com ↗]

Use Cases:

Website links
Documentation URLs
Repository links
External resources

Validation:

Must be valid URL format
Auto-adds https:// if missing
Validates domain format

Email

Email address fields with validation and mailto links.

YAML Format:

contact: "john@example.com"
owner_email: "sarah@company.com"

Configuration:

Email validation (RFC 5322)
Display as mailto link
Show gravatar (optional)

Display:

[john@example.com ]

Use Cases:

Contact information
Owner/assignee emails
Support contacts

Validation:

Must be valid email format
Checks for @ symbol and domain
Validates format but not existence

Creating Properties

Adding a New Property

Method 1: From Table Header

Click the ”+” button in the table header row
Enter property name
Select property type
Configure options
Click Save

Method 2: From Base Settings

Open Base settings (gear icon)
Go to Properties tab
Click ”+ Add Property”
Configure all options
Save

Property Configuration

Each property can be configured with:

Basic Settings:

Name - Property identifier (used in YAML)
Display name - Human-readable label
Description - Help text for users
Type - Property type (text, number, etc.)

Validation:

Required - Must have a value
Unique - No duplicates allowed
Default value - Pre-filled for new entries
Validation rules - Custom validation

Display:

Show in views - Which views display this property
Column width - Default width in table
Sort order - Position in property list

Advanced Features (Coming v1.4)

Formula Properties

Calculate values from other properties.

Formula Syntax:

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

Available Functions:

Math:

add, subtract, multiply, divide
round, floor, ceil, abs
min, max, pow, sqrt

Logic:

if(condition, true_value, false_value)
and, or, not
equals, greater, less

Text:

concat, upper, lower, trim
substring, replace, length
startsWith, endsWith, contains

Date:

now(), today()
dateDiff(date1, date2, unit)
dateAdd(date, value, unit)
formatDate(date, format)
year, month, day, hour

Aggregation:

sum, average, min, max
count, median, mode

Examples:

// Calculate total cost
{Unit Price} * {Quantity}
 
// Days until due
dateDiff({Due Date}, today(), "days")
 
// Status emoji
if({Completed}, "Complete", if({Status} = "Doing", "In Progress", "Not Started"))
 
// Full name
concat({First Name}, " ", {Last Name})
 
// Overdue indicator
if(dateDiff({Due Date}, today(), "days") < 0, "OVERDUE", "On track")

Rollup Properties

Aggregate data from related records.

Rollup Configuration:

Create a Relation property first
Add rollup property
Select relation to follow
Choose property to aggregate
Select aggregation function

Example:

Projects Base → Tasks Base (via relation)

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

Result: Sum of all related task hours

Aggregation Functions:

Count - Number of related records
Sum - Total of numeric values
Average - Mean value
Min - Minimum value
Max - Maximum value
Percent checked - % of checked checkboxes
Percent unchecked - % of unchecked checkboxes

Relation Properties

Link records between different Bases.

Relation Types:

One-to-One:

# Task → Single Assignee
assignee: [[John Doe]]

One-to-Many:

# Project → Multiple Tasks
tasks:
  - [[Task 1]]
  - [[Task 2]]
  - [[Task 3]]

Many-to-Many:

# Task → Multiple Tags
# Tag → Multiple Tasks
tags:
  - [[Frontend]]
  - [[Urgent]]

Creating Relations:

Add Relation property to source Base
Select target Base
Choose relation type
Optional: Create reverse relation
Configure display

Configuration:

property: project
type: relation
target_base: Projects
relation_type: many_to_one
reverse_property: tasks
display_property: title

Display in Table:

| Task          | Project             |
|---------------|---------------------|
| Design mockup | [[Website Redesign]]|
| Write tests   | [[Website Redesign]]|
| Deploy        | [[Mobile App]]      |

Linked Records:

Click a relation to:

View related record
Add new related records
Remove relations
Filter related records
Open in new tab

Reverse Relations

Automatic back-references between related Bases.

Example Setup:

Projects Base:

properties:
  - name: tasks
    type: relation
    target: Tasks Base
    reverse: true
    reverse_name: project

Tasks Base:

properties:
  - name: project
    type: relation
    target: Projects Base
    # Auto-created as reverse relation

Result:

When you add a task to a project’s tasks list
The task’s project field automatically updates
Bi-directional sync maintained automatically

Property Best Practices

Naming Conventions

Good Names:

due_date - Clear, snake_case
status - Single word
owner_email - Descriptive
is_public - Boolean prefix

Avoid:

dd - Too cryptic
Due Date (MM/DD/YYYY) - Format in name
Status/Stage - Ambiguous
Email Address of Primary Owner - Too long

Property Organization

Group Related Properties:

# Identity
title: "..."
description: "..."
 
# Metadata
status: "..."
priority: "..."
category: "..."
 
# People
owner: "..."
assignee: "..."
 
# Dates
created_date: "..."
due_date: "..."
completed_date: "..."

Default Values

Set sensible defaults to speed up data entry:

properties:
  status:
    default: "Backlog"
  priority:
    default: "Medium"
  completed:
    default: false
  created_date:
    default: "{{today}}"

Required Fields

Mark essential fields as required:

properties:
  title:
    required: true
  status:
    required: true
  due_date:
    required: false  # Optional

Troubleshooting

Property Not Showing in Base

Possible causes:

Property hidden in current view
Property not in YAML frontmatter
YAML syntax error
Property type mismatch

Solution:

Check view settings → Visible Properties
Verify YAML frontmatter format
Validate YAML syntax (no tabs, proper indentation)
Ensure value matches property type

Inline Editing Not Working

Possible causes:

File is read-only
Property configured as non-editable
YAML syntax conflict

Solution:

Check file permissions
Review property settings → Allow editing
Validate YAML frontmatter

Property Values Not Updating

Possible causes:

Auto-save delay (300ms)
File locked by another process
Index not refreshed

Solution:

Wait for auto-save indicator
Close file in other editors
Refresh Base (Cmd/Ctrl + R)

What’s Next?

Filtering - Learn how to filter by properties
Views - See how properties display in different views
Examples - Real-world property configurations
Overview - Back to Bases fundamentals

Views Filtering