Views

Written By Manos Mastorakis

Last updated 7 days ago

Views allow you to explore your Routine workspace and display exactly the information you need. Every view is built on a query — filtering, sorting, and grouping objects from any database or default type — and rendered in a layout that fits your workflow.

📐 Layouts

Routine supports the following view layouts:

List A clean, linear display of objects. Rows open on double-click. Ideal for task lists, backlogs, and simple overviews. Each row shows a completion checkbox, object type icon (optional), and key properties.

Table A spreadsheet-style layout with rows and columns. Column headers offer ... to show or hide properties and + to open the data source schema. Table title cells open objects on double-click. Best for structured data with many properties.

Board A kanban-style layout grouped by a select property (e.g. Status). Each column represents a group value. Cards open on double-click. Drag cards between columns to change their value. Best for workflow and status tracking.

Feed A scrollable, content-first layout that previews the notes property of each object. Best for databases with rich text content — journals, research notes, meeting summaries, or any database where the content matters as much as the metadata.

Activity A calendar-heatmap style layout that visualizes how many objects match a date property over time. Select a database, a date property, and up to four ranges to see occurrence density over days or weeks. Best for habits, contributions, task planning frequency, or any time-series data.

🗂️ Grouping

Views can be grouped by any select or relation property. When grouping is enabled:

  • Each group has its own column or section header with a ... menu to edit or hide it

  • Each group shows a + New button — objects created this way are automatically prefilled with the group's value (e.g. creating in "In Progress" sets Status to In Progress)

  • Groups can be shown, hidden, and reordered with per-view preferences

  • Empty groups are hidden by default in tables

  • Drag and drop between groups is enabled when grouping is active

Select property option order and colors are defined in the type editor (Settings → Types) and drive the default group order and colors in views.

⚙️ View configuration

Every view can be configured from the view header:

  • Edit schema — opens the data source's type editor to modify properties

  • Show/hide properties — toggle which columns or fields are visible

  • Filter — add filter rules to narrow results

  • Sort — define sort order across one or more properties

  • Group — select a property to group by

  • Layout — switch between List, Table, Board, Feed, and Activity

The view header shows the data source name and layout icon for quick reference.

ᐖ Query examples

Views are powered by a query language that filters objects from any database. Below are examples for each default type.

Tasks

tasks where title = "Schedule call with investor"
tasks where status = "todo"
tasks where status = "done"
tasks where status = "discarded"
tasks where planning = today
tasks where planning = today - 1 and status = "todo"
tasks where parent.title = "Work"
tasks where length(notes.blocks) != 0

People

people where givenName = "Andrew"
people where name = "Andrew Reynolds"
people where familyName = "Reynolds"
people where email = "andrew.reynolds@routine.co"
people where avatar != null
people where length(notes.blocks) != 0

Pages

pages where title = "Work"
pages where parent.title = "Projects"
pages where title ~ "Meeting Notes"

Calendars

calendars where title = "Personal"
calendars where active = true
calendars where color = "F"

Events

events where active and date(time.start) = date(today)
events where length(notes.blocks) > 0 and title = "Chemistry 101"
events where length(notes.blocks) > 0 and week(time.start) = week(today)
events where calendar.title = "Personal"
events where location != null
events where length(participants) > 0
events where week(time.start) = week(today)
events where active = true

References

events where length(notes.references where target.name = "John Smith") != 0

🕳️ Interaction

  • Single click — selects a view item (shown with a darker border)

  • Double click — opens the object (list rows, board cards, table title cells)

  • Right-click — opens the context menu for quick actions

  • Drag and drop — reorders items or moves them between groups (when grouping is enabled)

  • + New per group — creates an object directly in that group with prefilled values

💡 Object type icons can be shown on each row from view configuration — useful when a view spans multiple types.