Create a Custom Entity

Create a Custom Entity

HARi CRM is not limited to contacts, companies, and deals. You can create custom entities to track anything your business needs — products, projects, locations, contracts, support tickets, or anything else.

What is an Entity?

An entity is a type of business record. Each entity has its own fields, forms, views, and permissions. Think of it as a table in a database, but presented as a user-friendly interface with forms, lists, and relationships.

Creating a New Entity

1. Go to Settings > Schema
2. Click + New to create a new entity
3. Fill in the basics:
   • Label: The name users will see (e.g. “Product”, “Project”, “Support Ticket”)
   • Name: Auto-generated from the label (used internally, cannot be changed later)
   • Plural Label: The plural form for list views (e.g. “Products”, “Projects”)
   • Description: A brief explanation of what this entity tracks
   • Icon: Choose an icon for the sidebar navigation
4. Click Create

HARi creates the entity with default system fields (_state, _version, _created_by, _created_at, _updated_at) and a default form layout.

Adding Fields

After creating the entity, add the fields you need:

1. Click the Fields tab on the entity settings page
2. Click New Field for each piece of data you want to track
3. Configure each field’s label, type, and options

For example, a “Product” entity might need:

• Product Name (Text)
• SKU (Text)
• Price (Currency)
• Category (Option Set)
• In Stock (Boolean)
• Description (Textarea)

See Add a Custom Field for detailed field configuration.

Setting the Display Name

The display name controls how records appear in lookups, links, search results, and relationships. For example, a Contact might display “Sarah Chen” while a Company displays “Acme Ltd”.

1. In the entity settings header, find Display name
2. Choose a Single field (e.g. the “Name” field) — or click Composite to combine fields
3. For a composite display, click the fields in the order you want (e.g. First Name + Last Name)
4. Click Apply composite, then Save

See What is a Display Field? for more details on composite display names.

Setting Up the Form

1. Click the Form tab
2. Organize your fields into tabs and sections
3. Drag fields to reorder them — put the most important fields first
4. Save the form layout

Creating Relationships

Connect your custom entity to existing entities:

1. Add a Lookup field that references another entity (e.g. a “Customer” lookup pointing to the Contact entity)
2. This creates a two-way relationship: the custom entity shows the linked contact, and the contact shows a subgrid of related custom records

Configuring Permissions

By default, only admins can see new entities. To give your team access:

1. Go to Settings > Permission Profiles
2. Select a profile (e.g. “Sales Rep”)
3. Find your new entity and enable the appropriate permissions (Create, Read, Update, Delete)
4. Save

Setting Up Views

The new entity starts with a default table view. Customize it:

1. Navigate to the entity in the sidebar
2. Click the column settings to add, remove, or reorder columns
3. Save as a view for your team

Next Steps

• Add a Custom Field for detailed field configuration
• Setup a Lookup Field to create relationships with other entities
• Customize Form Layout to design the record form