Understanding the Onelist Data Model

The Core Philosophy: Everything is an Entry

Most apps force you to think in their terms. Your notes go in one app, tasks in another, contacts somewhere else. When you want to connect a meeting note to a project and the people who attended? Good luck.

Onelist takes a radically different approach: everything you store is an "entry" - just with different types. A note, a task, a contact, a web clip, an AI conversation - they're all entries that can connect to each other naturally.

Why This Matters to You

Anatomy of an Entry

Every entry in Onelist has the same basic structure. Think of it as a universal container that can hold anything:

{
  "id": "abc123",           // Unique identifier
  "entry_type": "note",     // What kind of entry
  "title": "My Ideas",       // Human-readable name
  "created_at": "2026-02-01",
  "metadata": {              // Type-specific details
    // Whatever extra info this type needs
  }
}

Entry Types: Notes & Memories

Entry Types: Tasks & Projects

Entry Types: People & Contacts

Entry Types: Conversations

Entry Types: Events & Calendar

Entry Types: System Types

Some entry types are used internally by Onelist to store configuration and track activity. You usually won't create these directly, but they're useful to understand.

Connecting Entries: How Links Work

Entries become powerful when they're connected. In Onelist, connections are called links. A link connects two entries with a specific relationship type.

// A link connecting two entries
{
  "source": "task_123",      // The task
  "target": "project_456",   // The project
  "link_type": "belongs_to_project"
}

Types of Links

Real-World Example: A Project in Action

Let's see how entries and links work together for a real project:

Everything connects naturally. When you open the project, you see all related content. When you complete a task, you know what it unblocks. When you reference a saved article, the link is preserved.

Advanced: Representations

One entry can have multiple representations - different views or formats of the same content. Think of it like having the same document in Markdown, PDF, and HTML formats.

Common representation types include:

• markdown - Editable Markdown text
• plaintext - Plain text for search
• original_url - Source URL for web clips
• webarchive - Archived copy of web page
• transcription_text - Text from audio/video
• image_jpeg - Image attachments

Advanced: Metadata Flexibility

The metadata field is where each entry type stores its unique information. It's a flexible "bag" that can hold any structured data.

// Task metadata
{
  "bucket": "next_actions",
  "context": "@computer",
  "due_date": "2026-02-05",
  "effort_estimate": "m"
}

// Event metadata
{
  "start_time": "2026-02-15T14:00:00Z",
  "end_time": "2026-02-15T15:30:00Z",
  "location": "Conference Room A",
  "attendees": ["person-1", "person-2"]
}

// Memory (web clip) metadata
{
  "source_url": "https://example.com/article",
  "captured_at": "2026-02-02T10:00:00Z",
  "reading_time_minutes": 8
}

This flexibility means Onelist can support new use cases without changing the core database schema. Your custom fields fit right in.

Advanced: AI Agent Attribution

When AI assistants create or modify entries, Onelist tracks who did what. This lets you distinguish between your own content and AI-generated content.

// Entry created by Claude Code
{
  "entry_type": "task",
  "title": "Fix authentication bug",
  "metadata": {
    "agent_id": "claude-code",
    "agent_version": "1.0.0",
    "source_context": {
      "conversation_id": "abc123",
      "working_directory": "/projects/myapp"
    }
  }
}

Reference: All Entry Types

Reference: All Link Types