Extendable Default Types

Extendable default types allow you to customize Routine's core objects — tasks, events, pages, contacts, and calendars — by adding your own properties. This makes Routine flexible without sacrificing its simple, intuitive starting experience.

🤔 What extendable default types are

Routine comes with default types out of the box:

• Tasks

• Events

• Pages

• Contacts

• Calendars

• Projects

With extendable default types, you can:

• Add custom properties to any default type

• Create new types that connect to existing ones via relations

• Bind custom types to behave as tasks — with status, scheduling, and assignee mapped

• Adapt Routine to your workflow without building complex systems from scratch

🗺️ Where to manage types

Go to Settings → Types to:

• View all default and custom types

• Create new custom types

• Edit and extend existing default types

• Add, reorder, and color select property options

• Configure task bindings for custom types

• Repair damaged types with one click

You can also access the type editor directly from any view by clicking Edit Schema in the view configuration panel.

➕ Extending default types with properties

When extending a default type, you can add properties such as:

• Relations — link to other types (default or custom)

• Select fields — dropdown options with custom values, colors, and order

• Dates — start dates, end dates, deadlines

• Numbers — counts, scores, budgets

• Multiline text — rich descriptions or notes fields

• Color — a select-based color property for visual organization

• Booleans — yes/no toggles

• URLs, emails, phone numbers — clickable link fields

These properties appear automatically on every object of that type and are available in all views, filters, and automations.

⌛ Example: building a lightweight CRM

Since Projects is now a built-in type, here's a more advanced example — building a lightweight CRM to track client relationships without a separate tool.

Step 1: Create a Customer type

• Create a new type called "Customer"

• Add properties: Company name (text), Stage (select: Lead, Qualified, Signed, Churned), Owner (relation to Members), Website (URL), Notes (multiline text)

• Add a Color property and map each stage to a color for visual tracking

Step 2: Extend existing types

• Add a relation from Tasks to Customer — link follow-up tasks to specific customers

• Add a relation from Events to Customer — link meetings and calls to the right account

• Add a relation from Pages to Customer — attach proposals, notes, and documentation

Step 3: Create customer records

• Add entries for each client or prospect

• Set their stage, owner, and any relevant details

• Link existing tasks, meetings, and pages to each customer

Step 4: Build views

• Create a Board view grouped by Stage to see your pipeline at a glance

• Create a Table view with all customer properties for a full CRM overview

• Filter tasks by Customer to see all work related to a specific account

• Use the Activity view to track engagement frequency over time

Step 5: Automate

• Create an automation that reacts when a Customer's Stage changes to "Signed"

• Automatically create an onboarding task, notify the owner, and send a welcome email via Gmail

🔋 Why this is powerful

Extendable default types let you:

• Replace rigid, siloed tools with flexible integrated workflows

• Group tasks, events, and notes around any concept — clients, goals, products, sprints

• Build custom workflows without learning a new tool or leaving Routine

• Bind custom types as tasks so they integrate with scheduling, inbox, and AI natively

• Automate reactions to property changes across your custom types

• Keep everything connected to your calendar and task system

👏 Practical use cases

• Lightweight CRM — track clients, stages, and interactions without a dedicated tool

• Sprint planning — create a Sprint type and bind tickets as tasks

• Content calendar — track articles, status, and publish dates as a custom type

• Hiring pipeline — manage candidates, stages, and interview tasks in one place

• Goal tracking — create an Objectives type and link tasks and projects to each goal

• Vendor management — track contracts, renewals, and contacts per vendor

• Custom task workflows — extend the default Task type with department-specific properties

Extendable default types turn Routine into the exact tool your workflow needs — without the complexity of building it from scratch.