====== Collections ======

===== What is a Collection? =====

A **Collection** is LEAST's configurable workflow and data engine. Every collection is a self-describing system with:

  * **Fields (FX)** — the data schema: text, select, date, URL, rating, etc.
  * **Records (DX)** — the actual data rows
  * **Interactions (IX)** — a full audit trail of every action taken on every record
  * **Views (GX)** — named, filtered lenses for reading and writing data

Collections power requests, task trackers, content registers, review queues, and more. They are far more than simple lists — each is a mini workflow engine.

===== Creating a Collection =====

  - Navigate to an association → **Collections → New Collection**
  - Enter a name and choose a template (Blank, or a pre-built template like Requests, Jira-style, or GitHub Issues)
  - The collection is created with the chosen field schema

===== Managing Fields =====

  - Open a collection → **Admin → Fields**
  - Add, reorder, or configure fields
  - Field types: text, textarea, select, boolean, yes/no, number, date, URL, email, multiselect, currency, rating, colour, lookup

===== Managing Views =====

Views (GX groups) control what records are visible and what fields are shown for different users or purposes:

  - Open a collection → **Admin → Views**
  - Each view has: a name, a SQL filter (which records to show), a field list, and API access settings
  - Views can be set to read-only or read/write for API callers

===== Actions =====

Actions record what happened to a record. Every create, update, and status change is an action:

  - Open a collection → **Admin → Actions**
  - Define action names (e.g. "Submitted", "Under Review", "Approved", "Closed")
  - Actions can have pre-filled field values (e.g. auto-set status to "Closed" when the Approve action is taken)

===== Swim Lanes =====

Collections can be displayed as a Kanban-style swim lane board:

  - Open collection admin → **Enable Swim Lanes**
  - Create lane groups (e.g. "To Do", "In Progress", "Done")
  - Records can be dragged between lanes from the collection view

===== Row-Level Security =====

To restrict records so each user only sees their own:

  - Open collection admin → **Enable Row-Level Security**
  - Set the view's RLS mode to **Owner** (each user sees only their records) or **Custom** (SQL filter)
  - API Admin users bypass RLS and see all records

===== API Access =====

Collections are accessible via the [[developer:api|Collection API]]. Enable API on individual views, set the write action, and share credentials with integrators.