> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://docs.daylite.app/help/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://docs.daylite.app/help/mac-fundamentals/overview/core-concepts.md). # Core Concepts Daylite stores your business as linked objects — people, deals, projects, emails, tasks. Learn the object model, how linking turns records into context, and how to find and finish the work. At its heart, Daylite is a connected database of your business. Every client, deal, project, email, task, and note is a record — an *object* — and the power comes from how those objects relate to one another. Where a spreadsheet keeps information in flat, disconnected lists, Daylite keeps it in a single web where everything is linked, classified, and instantly retrievable. There are four things you do with that data, and this page covers the concepts behind each: * **The Object Model** — what Daylite stores and how it's structured * **Connecting** — linking objects into one relational web * **Finding** — searching, classifying, and segmenting your records * **Driving work forward** — moving objectives through to completion These aren't features you switch on. They're the foundation the whole app is built on — everything else sits on top of them. ## The Object Model Every record in Daylite is one of eleven object types, sorted into three tiers: the objectives you're working toward, the contacts you work with, and the things the work is made of. It's a hierarchy — objectives sit on top because everything beneath them eventually feeds one. Picking the right object is the first decision you make every time you add something. ### The Productivity Pyramid

The Daylite productivity pyramid: Objectives (Opportunity, Project) at the top, Contacts (Person, Company, User) in the middle, and Things (Task, Appt/Meeting, Form, Note, Email, File) forming the base.

Because it's all connected, you can work from whichever layer suits you. Start from a task, a person, or a project — wherever you begin, Daylite surfaces everything linked to it. ### The Daylite Object Types Every record in Daylite is one of these types. Everything else on this page — linking, classifying, searching — operates on them.

Tier	Object	What it is	When to use it
Objectives	Opportunity	A potential sale, which can be moved through pipeline stages	When someone might buy from you and you want to track and follow up until the deal is won or lost
Objectives	Project	Work you deliver, which can be moved through pipeline stages	When you've won the work and need to run it through stages to completion
Contacts	Person	An individual you work with	For any individual: a client, lead, colleague, or supplier
Contacts	Company	An organization, business, association, family, or group of people bound together	For anyone you deal with as a unit, such as a firm, an association, or a household
Contacts	User	A member of your team who logs in to Daylite	Created for each teammate, so you can assign tasks, appointments, and records to them
Things	Task	Something to be done. Tasks can be delegated to a user	For anything that needs doing, on its own or as a step in a pipeline
Things	Appointment / Meeting	A scheduled event on the calendar. You can invite People and Users	For anything happening at a set time that belongs on the calendar
Things	Form	A customizable set of fields for structured data	When you capture the same structured details every time on a record
Things	Note	Recorded information	For freeform context (call summaries, decisions, background) kept on the record
Things	Email	A message stored in Daylite with its full content	To keep client correspondence on the record instead of buried in an inbox
Things	File	A document stored in, or referenced from, Daylite	To keep a document with the client, project, or deal it belongs to

{% hint style="info" %} **Groups** A **Group** sits outside the three tiers. It's a collection bin, a set you hand-pick yourself, that can hold a blend of different record types at once: people, companies, opportunities, projects, and more, gathered together so you can work with them as one set. Use it whenever you want to organize an ad-hoc mix of objects into a single place. {% endhint %} ## Connecting Your Data On their own, objects are just entries in a list. What follows is how Daylite joins them: the link itself, the meaning a link can carry, and the single timeline that falls out of both. ### Linking Linking is the single most important idea in Daylite. It's the act of connecting objects so related data stays together and lives in one place. It is the glue that turns scattered records into context, and what makes Daylite *relational* rather than a set of flat lists. Most software keeps these pieces apart. Your client's details sit in a contacts app, the meeting with them in a calendar, the follow-up in a to-do list, and the proposal in your email. Each app is a silo that knows nothing about the others, so the full picture only ever comes together in your head — and rebuilding it means hopping between apps and hoping you haven't missed anything.

Daylite removes those walls. Because every record is an object and any object can link to any other, a single meeting isn't just *on the calendar* — it's also on the client it's with and the deal it advances. You file a piece of information once, by connecting it, and it shows up on every record it touches. Context stops living in your memory and starts living in the data. Links are **many-to-many**: a single email can link to several people, a company, a project, and an opportunity all at once. A task can link to a company. A note can link to a person and the project it concerns. There's no limit to how many objects one record connects to. You can **search and link from inside a record** as you edit it, adding companies, projects, people, or opportunities that appear on the record's details and history. You can **create a new object already linked**, so a task started from a client's record arrives connected. {% content-ref url="/pages/SpnlZY1xoIBnQsEH5tu9" %} [Why is Linking Important?](/help/mac-fundamentals/find-connect-and-organize/why-is-linking-important.md) {% endcontent-ref %} ### Roles and Relationships Links carry additional meaning. A **Role** describes the function someone plays in a specific context. Link a person to a company, an opportunity, or a project and set their role there: **Decision Maker, Referral Source,** or **Lead Designer**. The same person can hold different roles on different records. A **Relationship** describes how two people, or two companies, know each other: Chuck **referred** Scott / Scott **was referred by** Chuck. A relationship belongs to the *pair rather than* to any one record. It's reciprocal and shows the relation no matter which of the two records you're looking at: open Scott and you see he was referred by Chuck; open Chuck and you see he referred Scott. ### Activity View Open a record and its Activity View shows everything tied to it (every email, note, meeting, task, and deal) in one timeline. Years later, you can pick up a relationship exactly where you left off, with no double-entry along the way. {% hint style="info" %} **Note:** The difference from a folders or spreadsheets: instead of filing information in one fixed place, you *connect* it, and every connection surfaces wherever it's relevant. {% endhint %} ## Finding and Segmenting Your Data A database is only as useful as your ability to pull the right slice of it on demand. Daylite gives you a layered toolkit, from classification through ad-hoc lookup to permanent, self-maintaining segments. ### Categories A Category is a top-level classification. Each record can only have one, so think of it as the answer to "what type of thing is this?" Every Client is a Client; every Vendor is a Vendor — one clear type with a consistent color that makes it easy to recognize at a glance.

### Keywords Keywords are flexible tags you can add to any record to capture what's important beyond the standard fields. They help you group, filter, and quickly find related records — especially when you want to view your work from a different angle. Think of them as hashtags: **add as many as apply**, and use them to surface key details like referral source, region, service tier, or product line.

### Search Fast, ad-hoc lookup across the entire database — the quickest way to find one record or a handful. {% content-ref url="/pages/cvIuxMdQMWjQBJ9eDGF7" %} [Quick Search on Mac](/help/mac-fundamentals/find-connect-and-organize/quick-search-on-mac.md) {% endcontent-ref %} ### Filters & Smart Lists A filter narrows a list down to just the records that match criteria you set — category, keyword, dates, name, email, and so on. It's the quickest way to answer a question like "who haven't I followed up with lately?" But a filter on its own is temporary: it applies to the list in front of you right now and is gone the moment you clear it. {% content-ref url="/pages/cLqJPwc2Yh2SDA9dWkUC" %} [Filtering on Mac](/help/mac-fundamentals/find-connect-and-organize/filtering-on-mac.md) {% endcontent-ref %} {% content-ref url="/pages/WBe8Lf3k4hSCjH8yKCvd" %} [Filtering on iPhone & iPad](/help/mac-fundamentals/find-connect-and-organize/filtering-on-iphone-and-ipad.md) {% endcontent-ref %} On the Mac, a Smart List saves that filter so you don't have to rebuild it every time. Set the filter rules once, name it, and it lives in your sidebar, ready whenever you need it. Because it's saved, it keeps working on its own — Daylite re-evaluates the criteria as records are added, changed, or removed, so the list is accurate every time you open it. Smart lists are available for every object type. {% content-ref url="/pages/YjLPxAT3xG8ruYwUdRmV" %} [Smart Lists](/help/mac-fundamentals/find-connect-and-organize/smart-lists.md) {% endcontent-ref %} ## Driving Work Forward A well-organized database doesn't close a deal or deliver a project on its own. These three put your records to work — the stages an Opportunity or Project passes through, the details you capture at each one, and the handoffs that move it across your team. ### Pipelines The stages that move an Objective — an opportunity or project — from start to finish, with the specific tasks and appointments each stage requires before you advance. {% content-ref url="/pages/omi2GmD8D9tbsL47XZUs" %} [Pipelines](/help/mac-fundamentals/tools-and-utilities/pipelines.md) {% endcontent-ref %} ### Forms Customizable field sets for the structured, business-specific data you need to capture on a record — like a paper form, fully tailored to your workflow. ### Delegation Assign a task to another user and track it through to done. Delegation is how work moves across your team without anything falling through the cracks. --- # Agent Instructions This documentation is published with GitBook. GitBook is the documentation platform designed so that both humans and AI agents can read, navigate, and reason over technical content effectively. Learn more at gitbook.com. ## Querying This Documentation If you need additional information that is not directly available in this page, you can query the documentation dynamically by asking a question. Perform an HTTP GET request on the current page URL with the `ask` query parameter, and the optional `goal` query parameter: ``` GET https://docs.daylite.app/help/mac-fundamentals/overview/core-concepts.md?ask=&goal= ``` `ask` is the immediate question: it should be specific, self-contained, and written in natural language. `goal` is optional and describes the broader end goal you are ultimately trying to accomplish on behalf of the user. GitBook uses it to tailor the answer towards what is most useful for that goal. The response will contain a direct answer to the question and relevant excerpts and sources from the documentation. Use this mechanism when the answer is not explicitly present in the current page, you need clarification or additional context, or you want to retrieve related documentation sections.