Records, models, and fields
A model is a type of thing you track, like Company or Invoice. A field is one typed attribute on a model, like MRR or Renewal Date. A record is one row of a model: one company, one invoice. Models connect through relationships. Company is the root model of the workspace: nearly every other model belongs to a Company, directly or through a parent. That is what lets an invoice, a conversation, or a support ticket roll up to the right customer. Fields carry a data type (text, rich text, number, integer, currency, percent, date, date and time, yes/no, list, multi-list, reference, array, or object), a visibility level (visible to all members, admin-only, or internal), and flags you’ll see as badges in the field list: Required, Computed (calculated by the system), Cached (copied from another model), and Hidden.Companies and People
Companies and People are the two records your team works with every day, under the Records section in the left nav. Both are primarily built by GainTrace: connectors sync raw records from your sources, and identity resolution merges them into one Company per customer and one record per person, no matter how many tools each appears in. You can also add a Company by hand with the New Company button on the Companies page, or bring Companies in through Import CSV. People always come from your sources. In the data model, the People directory is backed by the model labeled End User (the customer-side people at your Companies). A separate User model holds your own teammates, so the two are never mixed.The system models every workspace starts with
Every new workspace is provisioned with 28 system models automatically, so synced data has somewhere to land on day one. You’ll find them grouped by category on the Data Model page:
System models are built in, and the rules for changing them are deliberate:
- You can rename a system model’s display name and description, but not change its category or parent.
- System models cannot be deleted, and Company, as the root model, can never be deleted.
- System fields cannot be removed, though you can hide them, edit their labels and descriptions, and reorder them.
- Custom fields are added on custom models. The Data Model page does not offer Add field on system models.
Custom models
When your business tracks something the system models don’t cover, create a custom model. Its records live in GainTrace’s flexible record store, so you can add and reshape fields at any time without migrations.1
Create the model
Go to Data > Data Model and click New model. Give it a display name, a plural, and a slug.
2
Choose how it links to your customers
Custom models pick a linkage: Company (each record rolls up to a Company), Person (rolls up to a person), or Standalone (reference data with no customer link). You can also set a parent model, for example Licenses belong to Company.
3
Add fields
Open the model and click Add field. Each field gets a label, a stable key, a data type, and a visibility level.
4
Add records
From the model’s menu, choose View records, then New record. Records can also arrive from a connected source once you map its fields.
A model’s slug and a field’s key are permanent once created; they identify the model in URLs and metric references. Display names and labels stay editable.
Computed traits
Computed traits are derived fields calculated from your product event data, like “active seats in the last 14 days” or “days since last login”. Each trait attaches to Companies or to individual people (the trait editor labels the person-level option User), picks the events to aggregate, an output type, and a time window from the last 24 hours up to the last 12 months, or all time. Output types come in eight groups:
The trait editor shows a live preview against a real record while you build, so you can check the result before saving. Live traits recompute automatically, roughly every 6 hours; you can pause a trait to freeze its values. The traits list shows each trait’s status, last computed time, and how many values were written.
How synced records reach the data model
Records from connectors do not land in your models raw. They pass through three stages, each with its own page in the Data section:- Sources syncs raw records from each connection, stream by stream. Ingestion filters control which records sync at all.
- Field Mapping connects each synced source field to a field in your data model. Only mapped fields flow into Companies, health, and boards. GainTrace proposes the obvious matches with a confidence score, and you review the rest.
- Identity matches and merges source records into one unified Company per customer, whatever each system called it, and the same for People.
Explore the data model in the app
Good to know
- Viewing the Data Model page is available to members; creating or modifying models, fields, and computed traits requires an admin role.
- People are created from your connected sources as data syncs and resolves; there is no manual add step for them. Companies mostly arrive the same way, but you can also create one with the New Company button or via Import CSV.
- Records of most system models are managed in their own product surfaces rather than the generic record browser; the View records page tells you where they live.
- Some fields are admin-only or internal. The Admin fields toggle on a model reveals them if your role allows; other members never see them.
- Trait values refresh on the automatic cycle, so a change in your product data can take a few hours to appear in a trait.
FAQ
Can I delete a system model? No. System models cannot be deleted, and Company, the root model, can never be deleted. You can hide the fields you do not use. Can I rename a field’s key after creating it? No. Field keys and model slugs are permanent; labels and display names stay editable. Who can edit the data model? Any member can view it; creating or modifying models, fields, and computed traits requires an admin or owner role. How often do computed traits update? Live traits recompute automatically, roughly every 6 hours. Pause a trait to freeze its values.Related articles
Companies
Browse your Companies, filter by health, and open any record.
People
Find the People at your Companies and see who’s engaged.
Ingestion filters
Control which records your sources sync in the first place.
Integrations
Browse the catalog and connect the sources that feed the model.