Column types

A column's type decides what its cells hold and who fills them: you, the server, or the AI. Quanty has 31 types in four groups, from a plain line of text to a sub-sheet that the AI fills with one row per item it finds. This page walks the type picker and then every type: its settings, how you edit its cells, how it shows and exports, and its limits.

How to add, edit and run a column, and the AI settings every AI column shares, are on Columns and AI.

Before you start

• Adding a column or changing its type needs edit access to the table. With view-only access the column window says View only.
• Basic fields, linked fields and fields that are filled for you never cost credits. AI fields spend credits each time they run (see Columns and AI).
• The AI group can be picked on every plan. When your organization cannot run AI, the picker adds: "You can add and set up this column now. Running it needs a paid plan." (see Billing and credits).

The type picker

The type picker is the Field type box in the column window. It opens from Add column in the grid, from Add field in the record window, and from Edit column in a column's menu (see Columns and AI).

1. Click the type under Field type. It shows the type's name and its cost tag, for example Text and Free.
2. Type into Search field types… to narrow the list. The search matches type names and common words, so "status" finds Single choice, "logo" finds Image and "invoice" finds KSeF invoice data. With no match: "No field type matches that".
3. Move through the list with the arrow keys and press Enter to pick, or click a type. Escape closes the list.
4. The settings of the type you picked appear under Field type. Set them and click Create (or Save for a column you are editing).

The four groups

The types are grouped by what they cost, always in this order. Each group heading carries a cost tag and a caption.

Date & time is not a separate type: it is a Date with Include a time switched on, so you can switch the time off later.

Explanations

Next to the list, the explanation pane shows a short looping animation of the highlighted type and a paragraph on how it works, for example for Text: "One line of text: a name, a reference, a city." Hide explanations at the bottom of the list folds the pane away and shows a one-line hint next to each type instead; Show explanations brings it back. The same switch is in Settings, Preferences, Interface hints, Column type explanations. The choice is remembered in your browser.

How a column is filled

Some types can be filled in more than one way. Under the type settings, How this column is filled offers:

• By hand: "Nobody computes this column: you type the values. It never enters a run and never costs credits."
• AI: "The model reads each document and extracts the value"
• Formula: "Computes from other columns: deterministic, no credits spent" (see Formulas and totals)

By hand is offered on Number, Single choice, Multiple choice, Link and Email, and a new column of these types starts on it. The AI fields offer AI and Formula and start on AI. Sub-sheet has no such switch. Every other type is filled in only one way. More on Columns and AI.

All types at a glance

Basic fields

You fill basic fields yourself. They never run, never cost credits and are instant. Each type has its own editor in the cell (see The grid).

Text

A single line: a name, a reference, a city. There is nothing to set up: "Nothing to set up: type straight into the cells. This column never runs and never costs credits."

• In the cell: select it and type, or press Enter.
• AI: no. For text that the AI writes, use Ask the AI.

Long text

"Several lines: notes, a description, meeting minutes. Opens in a resizable panel so long entries stay readable."

• In the cell: there is no editor in the cell itself; opening the cell opens the larger panel, which you can resize.
• AI: no.

Number

"A number you type, shown as a plain figure, currency, percentage or duration. Choose the format once and every cell follows it."

• In the cell: typed by hand while the column is By hand. With AI or Formula the cell has no editor.
• AI: yes. Switch How this column is filled to AI and the model extracts the number from each row's documents.
• Format changes are free. Changing the data format, decimal places, prefix or suffix only changes how the value looks. It never re-runs the column and never costs credits.

Checkbox

"A single tick. One click in the cell toggles it, with no editor to open." There are no settings. With the cell selected, Space ticks the box too.

• AI: no.

Date and Date & time

"A calendar date. This is the field a calendar or timeline view reads, so a sheet needs one before it can be shown as either."

• In the cell: a date picker with Today, Previous month and Next month. With a time, the Time field takes 24-hour HH:MM.
• Views: calendar week and day views place a date with a time at its hour, and a timeline draws it to the hour (see Projects, tables and views).
• AI: no. To read a date out of documents, use Find a date.

Single choice and Multiple choice

Single choice is "Exactly one option from a list you define. Each option gets its own colour, and this is the field a Kanban board stacks its lanes by." Multiple choice holds "As many options as apply, each as its own coloured chip": "Several values at once: the chips wrap and collapse to +n."

• In the cell: a list of the options as coloured chips: "Find an option or type your own". A value that is not in the list can still be saved with Use "…".
• AI: yes. With AI, the model picks from your options for each row, and the cell has no editor.
• Kanban: a board stacks its lanes by a Single choice column (see Kanban).

Person

"One or more members of your organization: an owner, an assignee, a manager. Removed members keep their name rather than vanishing."

• In the cell: Search people… lists the members who have access to the table. If nobody has: "Nobody has access to this sheet yet".
• AI: no.

Email

"An email address, kept exactly as typed and clickable in the grid."

• AI: yes: "Switch the column to AI to have the address extracted from the row's documents instead."

Phone

"A phone number, kept exactly as typed so country codes and extensions survive." There are no settings.

• AI: no.

Link

"A web address, opened in a new tab. Only http and https are followed."

• In the cell: typed by hand while the column is By hand.
• AI: yes. With AI the model finds the most relevant link, also on the internet when the column reads it (see Web research).

Rating

"A score from zero to the maximum you choose. Click a star to set it, click the same one again to clear."

• In the cell: the marks are live; one click sets the score.
• AI: no.

Image

One picture per row, drawn in the cell: a company logo, a vehicle photo. Images are only shown, never processed: they are never sent to the AI, never read by an AI column and never cost credits.

To add a picture:

1. Click Add image in the cell, then Upload image; or drop or paste an image onto the cell ("Drop or paste an image here").
2. Or click Paste link, paste an address in Image link and click Use this link.

Replace, Remove and Open original change or open the picture. A cell with an image can be filtered with Has an image.

File

"The documents this row is about. AI fields read them; on its own it is just an attachment." A file column has no settings: "A file column can hold one or more files. Click a file cell to view, download, replace, or add files."

• In the cell: click it to view, download, replace or add files. Several files in one cell make a File set. Adding files with Add row, Add files makes one row per drop. How uploads, limits and reading work is on Files.
• AI: AI columns read the files of the file columns picked in their Source documents (all file columns when none is picked). Removing the last file from a cell asks first: "AI values computed from this file stay visible but are marked stale until recomputed."
• Export: the files themselves are never exported. XLSX and PDF downloads leave the file column out and start each row with its file name; CSV starts each row with a Document column holding the file name.

Linked to another table

These types connect a table to another one in your organization and stay in step with it. They are free. Lookup, Rollup and Count are kept current by the server: "The server keeps this in step with the linked rows. It costs nothing and cannot be typed into."

Linked records

"Points at rows of another sheet: an employee, a company, an order. This is what lets one sheet's changes reach another, and what lookups and rollups follow."

• The table must be saved first: "Save the sheet before linking it to another one." With no other table yet: "There is no other table to link to yet."
• In the cell: Pick records with Search records… lists the rows of the linked table.
• AI: no.

Two-way links

Two-way link: "Link an event to a vehicle, and the vehicle lists the event too." In the column window, under Choose the matching column, pick a link column in the other table that points back here, or click Create the matching column in the other table. "A link made on either side shows up on the other one at once."

• While the two columns are paired, the linked table and the field type cannot change: "Paired with Vehicles: unpair it to change the field type."
• Unpair asks first: "Links already made stay on both sides. From now on a new link is only written on the side where you make it."
• Pairing two columns that already hold links brings them together in one go, up to 5,000 linked cells on both sides together. Past that the pairing is refused: "These columns already hold 6200 linked cells. Pairing can bring together at most 5000 at once."
• You need edit access to the other table. Work-item columns (parent, blocked by) cannot be paired.

Lookup

"Shows a column of the rows a link field points at, and follows them when they change. Read-only here: edit it on the sheet it comes from."

Without a link field: "Add a Linked records field to this sheet first - this one reads through it."

Rollup

"Adds up, averages or otherwise reduces a column of the linked rows. Total hours worked, cost per employee, value of a customer's orders." It has the two fields of a Lookup, plus:

With no linked rows, Sum, Count of linked rows and Count of filled values show 0 and the others stay empty, because an average of nothing is not zero. One cell rolls up at most 1,000 linked rows.

Count

"How many rows a link field points at. Open tickets, invoices this month, people in a team." Its only field is Follow this link field.

KSeF invoice data

"Reads the KSeF invoices already synced into this workspace. Instant, free, and never calls KSeF." It needs your KSeF invoices to be synced (see KSeF).

Three presets set everything at once: Bought this year, How many invoices and Last invoice. The fields stay for any other shape:

A NIP matches many invoices, so the single-invoice values are not offered for it. The cells are refreshed when you run the table (Run AI), at 0 credits.

Filled for you

The server fills these from the row itself. They have no settings, cost nothing and cannot be typed into: "The server fills this column and keeps it up to date. It costs nothing, and cells cannot be typed into."

AI fields

AI fields are filled by the model from each row's documents, from the internet, or both. Every run spends credits. They share the AI settings that Columns and AI describes: Model, Source documents, Data source, the Prompt (up to 20,000 characters), Inputs and @-mentions, Knowledge base, Cite sources, Branch: run only when and Related sheets ("Up to 3 sheets, 4 columns each"; "Changing related sheets re-runs every cell of this column."). What each type adds:

On Find entities, Find a field and Structured data, picking a report or a file switches the column to Ask the AI: "A report or a file needs an AI text column: picking one switches this column to AI text." AI cells have no editor; to correct a value, use Edit value in the cell's menu (see Cell details, reviews and history).

Ask the AI

"You write the instruction and the model answers it for every row, reading that row's documents."

• Single value: "One answer per row, shown in the cell." A long answer shows its first line in the cell; the cell details show all of it.
• Full report (DOCX/XLSX): "A structured report per row: verdict, findings, recommendations." The cell shows the verdict; the report is in the cell details, to download as DOCX or XLSX.
• File (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, text): "A finished document per row, saved in Files." Pick a File format (DOCX, XLSX, PPTX, MD or TXT; DOCX by default), a Template (optional) from Files and a File name (optional): "Use @Column to insert a value from the row. Empty: the AI names the file." The cell shows the file, which downloads with a click; the cell details add Download, Open in Files and Regenerate.
• Sub-sheet: "One row per item of the answer, in a sub-sheet." See Sub-sheet.

Transcribe audio/video "Turns the row's recording (audio or video, even many hours long) into text. Billed per minute of audio." Pick the Spoken language (Auto-detect or one of 13 languages) and whether to add Timestamps (on by default): "Start each paragraph (about every 4 minutes) with its time, for example [01:24:00]." While it is on, the column has no prompt, model, internet or output format: the cell is the transcript.

Summary

"A short summary of each row's documents." It offers the same output formats and the same Transcribe audio/video switch as Ask the AI.

Classify

"The model picks one of the categories you define for each row."

The cell shows the category as a coloured chip. A Classify column can serve as the Status of work items.

Find entities

"Pulls named things out of the row's documents: people, organizations, amounts." As a Sub-sheet, each entity gets its own row.

Find a field

"Finds one named value in the row's documents: an invoice number, a contract date."

Find a date

"Reads a date out of the row's documents rather than you typing it."

An XLSX export writes it as a real date cell.

Structured data

"The model returns a structured object, optionally matching a schema you give it."

The cell shows the object in a compact monospace line.

AI on a basic type

Number, Single choice, Multiple choice, Link and Email can also be filled by AI: switch How this column is filled to AI and they get the same AI settings as the AI fields. The cell keeps the type's look (a formatted number, coloured chips, a link) but loses its editor. Switching AI off again warns: "Turning AI off clears the values it produced in this column. The instruction is deleted too."

Sub-sheet

"Extraction writes one sub-row per item it finds into a nested sheet: line items, contacts, positions." Use it whenever one row has many answers: the lines of an invoice, the people in a contract, the companies that match a search. It is an AI field and spends credits; it has no By hand or Formula switch.

Text and number sub-columns are filled by the AI. A PY sub-column is a formula computed for each item at 0 credits, for example row['asking price'] / row['sqft'] (see Formulas and totals). The sub-sheet also has Data source and Related sheets, but no Polish registries (GUS/KRS/CEIDG) switch.

• In the cell: before the first run the cell reads Ready to run; afterwards it shows the number of items, for example "12 items". Click it to open the nested sheet, or use Expand in place to open it right in the grid. An empty cell offers Create Sub-sheet.
• From the internet: with Internet as the data source, the sub-sheet is filled by live research, one verified item per sub-row (see Web research).
• Export: sub-sheet columns are left out of XLSX and PDF downloads.

A saved sub-sheet stays a sub-sheet: "A sub-sheet column stays a sub-sheet. To get another format, create a new column." An existing AI column whose answers are lists can become one with Convert to sub-sheet: "A new sub-sheet column with the same instruction is created next to it, and every answer is broken into rows. This column and its values stay as they are."

Work-item fields

Work items (keys like KAN-64, types, priorities, a hierarchy) are not separate types. They are roles given to ordinary columns when you turn on Track work items for a table or Track work on a Kanban board:

How to set them up and work with them is on Work items.

How types export

Exports follow the type (see The grid):

• Numbers stay real numbers in XLSX, with the column's format.
• Find a date values become date cells.
• People, tags and linked records are joined as plain text, for example "Anna, Bartek".
• Images export as the link of a pasted image or the file name of an uploaded one, never as the picture.
• A work-item key exports as KAN-64.
• File and Sub-sheet columns are left out of XLSX and PDF.
• Ghost columns are left out while your organization blocks exports (see Quanty Ghost).

Change a type later

A column's type can be changed after it is created.

1. Open the column's menu and click Edit column.
2. Click the type under Field type and pick another one.
3. Read the warning under the picker, then click Save.

On an AI column, a type change queues its cells to run again, which spends credits like any run, and the columns that read it are marked stale.

The exceptions:

• A Linked records column in a two-way link keeps its type while paired: "Paired with Vehicles: unpair it to change the field type."
• A saved Sub-sheet cannot switch to another output format. Create a new column instead.
• An existing AI column becomes a sub-sheet only through Convert to sub-sheet, which adds a new column next to it.
• Picking Full report (DOCX/XLSX) or File (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, text) on Find entities, Find a field or Structured data switches the column to Ask the AI.

Good to know

• Free settings. Number formats, decimal places, prefixes and suffixes, option colours and alignment only change the look. Saving them never re-runs a column.
• Values outside the list. A choice cell typed by hand can hold a value that is not one of the options (Use "…"). Add it to Options if it should get a colour and a place in the list.
• Names. The column window takes names up to 50 characters.
• Label language. A few labels are shown in English in every language: the rollup functions Sum, Average, Minimum, Maximum, Count of linked rows and Join into one text, the PY sub-column type, and the hint under a number's Date Format.
• The record window. Add field in the record window opens the same picker. A field of a kind the record cannot show is added to the table: "“Invoices” was added to the table. Fields of this kind are filled in there."

Related pages

• Columns and AI: adding, editing and running columns, and the AI settings.
• Formulas and totals: formula columns and PY sub-columns.
• Web research: AI columns and sub-sheets that read the internet.
• Files: the documents in file columns.
• Work items: keys, types and priorities on ordinary columns.
• KSeF: syncing the invoices that KSeF invoice data reads.