Entity Types

Entity Types define the different kinds of things you can track in Homebox. Out of the box, Homebox comes with two default entity types: Item and Location. Entity types control a key behavior — whether an entity acts as a container (like a room, shelf, or box that holds other things) or as a regular tracked item.

You can create custom entity types to better reflect how you organize your inventory. For example, you might create “Room”, “Shelf”, “Drawer” as location types, and “Electronics”, “Furniture”, “Tool” as item types. Each entity type can have a default template assigned, so creating a new entity of that type automatically pre-fills fields from the template.

Understanding Entity Types

Every entity in Homebox has a type. The type determines two things:

1. Container behavior — If the type has “Is a container / location type” enabled, entities of that type appear in the location tree and can have items placed inside them. If not, they appear as regular items.

2. Default template — When a type has a default template assigned, creating a new entity of that type automatically applies the template’s default values (name, description, quantity, tags, manufacturer, etc.).

Managing Entity Types

Entity types are managed per collection. You can find the entity types management page under your collection settings.

Viewing Entity Types

1. Navigate to your collection settings by clicking on “Collection” in the sidebar.
2. Click on the “Entity Types” tab.
3. You will see a list of all entity types for your collection, showing their name, whether they are a container type, and their default template (if assigned).

Creating an Entity Type

1. Navigate to Collection Settings → Entity Types.
2. Click the “Create” button.
3. Enter a name for the entity type (e.g., “Shelf”, “Electronics”).
4. Check “Is a container / location type” if this type should act as a storage location.
5. Optionally select a default template — entities created with this type will inherit the template’s default values.
6. Click “Create” to save.

Editing an Entity Type

1. Navigate to Collection Settings → Entity Types.
2. Click the edit (pencil) icon on the entity type you want to modify.
3. Update the name, container flag, or default template as needed.
4. Click “Update” to save your changes.

Deleting an Entity Type

1. Navigate to Collection Settings → Entity Types.
2. Click the delete (trash) icon on the entity type you want to remove.
3. Confirm the deletion when prompted.

Note

You cannot delete an entity type that is currently in use by any entities. You must first reassign those entities to a different type before deleting.

Using Entity Types During Creation

When you create a new item or location, Homebox will show an entity type selector if more than one type exists for that category (item types or location types). Selecting a type that has a default template will automatically pre-fill the creation form with the template’s values.

If only one type exists for the category (which is the default — one “Item” type and one “Location” type), the type is applied automatically and no selector is shown.

Locations as Full Entities

With the entity type system, locations now support all the same features as items:

• Photos — Upload images of your storage locations
• Tags — Organize locations with the same tag system used for items
• Custom fields — Add any additional metadata to locations
• Attachments — Attach documents, manuals, or other files
• Notes — Add detailed markdown notes to locations
• Asset IDs — Locations receive unique asset IDs just like items

To edit these fields on a location, navigate to the location detail page and click “Edit”.