Catalogs

Catalogs let you bring in a reference dataset and match your own records against it.

Import a reference set

Load a dataset (a parts catalog, an ingredient database, a standards list) as a catalog. It sits alongside your own data as something to look things up in, not as records you maintain. Importing is a CSV upload today: name the catalog, upload the file, and its rows become searchable reference entries.

Two conveniences on top. A catalog that ships with a source URL (the ones a bundle installs usually do) has a Pull from source button that imports or refreshes its rows in one tap instead of a file upload. And every catalog is browsable: open it to scroll and search its entries directly, like the reference shelf it is.

A very large reference catalog (Rebrickable's Lego data, say) does not have to be copied into your workspace at all. Where a shared, centrally refreshed copy is available, installing the catalog links to that copy instead, and matching, browsing, and disassembling all read from it. On a self-hosted install the catalog imports into your workspace as usual.

Match your records to it

There are two ways in. Most of the time you match as you create: the new-item form has a search at the top that looks through every installed catalog at once, and picking a result fills in the name, image and reference details before the record even exists. You can also start from a record you already have and pick its catalog entry, and the same details ride along with it. Live API sources and fully automatic matching are planned.