Syncable Entity: Types & Constants (Step 1/6)

Purpose: Define all types, entities, and register in central constants. This is the foundation - everything else depends on these types being correct.

When to use: First step when creating any new syncable entity. Must be completed before other steps.

Quick Start

This step creates:

Metadata name constant (twenty-shared)
TypeORM entity (extends SyncableEntity)
Flat entity types
Action types (universal + flat)
Central constant registrations (5 constants)

Step 1: Add Metadata Name

File: packages/twenty-shared/src/metadata/all-metadata-name.constant.ts

export const ALL_METADATA_NAME = {
  // ... existing entries
  myEntity: 'myEntity',
} as const;

Step 2: Create TypeORM Entity

File: src/engine/metadata-modules/my-entity/entities/my-entity.entity.ts

import { Entity, Column, ManyToOne, JoinColumn } from 'typeorm';
import { SyncableEntity } from 'src/engine/workspace-manager/types/syncable-entity.interface';

@Entity({ name: 'myEntity' })
export class MyEntityEntity extends SyncableEntity {
  @Column({ type: 'varchar' })
  name: string;

  @Column({ type: 'varchar' })
  label: string;

  @Column({ type: 'boolean', default: true })
  isCustom: boolean;

  // Foreign key example (optional)
  @Column({ type: 'uuid', nullable: true })
  parentEntityId: string | null;

  @ManyToOne(() => ParentEntityEntity, { nullable: true })
  @JoinColumn({ name: 'parentEntityId' })
  parentEntity: ParentEntityEntity | null;

  // JSONB column example (optional)
  @Column({ type: 'jsonb', nullable: true })
  settings: Record<string, any> | null;
}

Key rules:

Must extend SyncableEntity (provides id, universalIdentifier, applicationId, etc.)
Must have isCustom boolean column
Use @Column({ type: 'jsonb' }) for JSON data

Step 3: Define Flat Entity Types

File: src/engine/metadata-modules/flat-my-entity/types/flat-my-entity.type.ts

import { type FlatEntityFrom } from 'src/engine/metadata-modules/flat-entity/types/flat-entity-from.type';
import { type MyEntityEntity } from 'src/engine/metadata-modules/my-entity/entities/my-entity.entity';

export type FlatMyEntity = FlatEntityFrom<MyEntityEntity>;

Maps file (if entity has indexed lookups):

// flat-my-entity-maps.type.ts
export type FlatMyEntityMaps = {
  byId: Record<string, FlatMyEntity>;
  byName: Record<string, FlatMyEntity>;
  // Add other indexes as needed
};

Step 4: Define Editable Properties

File: src/engine/metadata-modules/flat-my-entity/constants/editable-flat-my-entity-properties.constant.ts

export const EDITABLE_FLAT_MY_ENTITY_PROPERTIES = [
  'name',
  'label',
  'description',
  'parentEntityId',
  'settings',
] as const satisfies ReadonlyArray<keyof FlatMyEntity>;

Rule: Only include properties that can be updated (exclude id, createdAt, universalIdentifier, etc.)

Step 5: Define Action Types

File: src/engine/workspace-manager/workspace-migration/workspace-migration-builder/builders/my-entity/types/workspace-migration-my-entity-action.type.ts

import { type FlatMyEntity } from 'src/engine/metadata-modules/flat-my-entity/types/flat-my-entity.type';
import { type UniversalFlatMyEntity } from 'src/engine/workspace-manager/workspace-migration/universal-flat-entity/types/universal-flat-my-entity.type';

// Universal actions (used by builder/runner)
export type UniversalCreateMyEntityAction = {
  type: 'create';
  metadataName: 'myEntity';
  universalFlatEntity: UniversalFlatMyEntity;
};

export type UniversalUpdateMyEntityAction = {
  type: 'update';
  metadataName: 'myEntity';
  universalFlatEntity: UniversalFlatMyEntity;
  universalUpdates: Partial<UniversalFlatMyEntity>;
};

export type UniversalDeleteMyEntityAction = {
  type: 'delete';
  metadataName: 'myEntity';
  universalFlatEntity: UniversalFlatMyEntity;
};

// Flat actions (internal to runner)
export type FlatCreateMyEntityAction = {
  type: 'create';
  metadataName: 'myEntity';
  flatEntity: FlatMyEntity;
};

export type FlatUpdateMyEntityAction = {
  type: 'update';
  metadataName: 'myEntity';
  flatEntity: FlatMyEntity;
  updates: Partial<FlatMyEntity>;
};

export type FlatDeleteMyEntityAction = {
  type: 'delete';
  metadataName: 'myEntity';
  flatEntity: FlatMyEntity;
};

Step 6: Register in Central Constants

6a. AllFlatEntityTypesByMetadataName

File: src/engine/metadata-modules/flat-entity/types/all-flat-entity-types-by-metadata-name.ts

export type AllFlatEntityTypesByMetadataName = {
  // ... existing entries
  myEntity: {
    flatEntityMaps: FlatMyEntityMaps;
    universalActions: {
      create: UniversalCreateMyEntityAction;
      update: UniversalUpdateMyEntityAction;
      delete: UniversalDeleteMyEntityAction;
    };
    flatActions: {
      create: FlatCreateMyEntityAction;
      update: FlatUpdateMyEntityAction;
      delete: FlatDeleteMyEntityAction;
    };
    flatEntity: FlatMyEntity;
    universalFlatEntity: UniversalFlatMyEntity;
    entity: MyEntityEntity;
  };
};

6b. ALL_ENTITY_PROPERTIES_CONFIGURATION_BY_METADATA_NAME

File: src/engine/metadata-modules/flat-entity/constant/all-entity-properties-configuration-by-metadata-name.constant.ts

export const ALL_ENTITY_PROPERTIES_CONFIGURATION_BY_METADATA_NAME = {
  // ... existing entries
  myEntity: {
    name: { toCompare: true },
    label: { toCompare: true },
    description: { toCompare: true },
    parentEntityId: {
      toCompare: true,
      universalProperty: 'parentEntityUniversalIdentifier',
    },
    settings: {
      toCompare: true,
      toStringify: true,
      universalProperty: 'universalSettings',
    },
  },
} as const;

Rules:

toCompare: true → Editable property (checked for changes)
toStringify: true → JSONB/object property (needs JSON serialization)
universalProperty → Maps to universal version (for foreign keys & JSONB with SerializedRelation)

6c. ALL_ONE_TO_MANY_METADATA_RELATIONS

File: src/engine/metadata-modules/flat-entity/constant/all-one-to-many-metadata-relations.constant.ts

This constant is type-checked — values for metadataName, flatEntityForeignKeyAggregator, and universalFlatEntityForeignKeyAggregator are derived from entity type definitions. The aggregator names follow the pattern: remove trailing 's' from the relation property name, then append Ids or UniversalIdentifiers.

export const ALL_ONE_TO_MANY_METADATA_RELATIONS = {
  // ... existing entries
  myEntity: {
    // If myEntity has a `childEntities: ChildEntityEntity[]` property:
    childEntities: {
      metadataName: 'childEntity',
      flatEntityForeignKeyAggregator: 'childEntityIds',
      universalFlatEntityForeignKeyAggregator: 'childEntityUniversalIdentifiers',
    },
    // null for relations to non-syncable entities
    someNonSyncableRelation: null,
  },
} as const;

6d. ALL_MANY_TO_ONE_METADATA_FOREIGN_KEY

File: src/engine/metadata-modules/flat-entity/constant/all-many-to-one-metadata-foreign-key.constant.ts

Low-level primitive constant. Only contains foreignKey — the column name ending in Id that stores the foreign key. Type-checked against entity properties.

export const ALL_MANY_TO_ONE_METADATA_FOREIGN_KEY = {
  // ... existing entries
  myEntity: {
    workspace: null,
    application: null,
    parentEntity: {
      foreignKey: 'parentEntityId',
    },
  },
} as const;

6e. ALL_MANY_TO_ONE_METADATA_RELATIONS

File: src/engine/metadata-modules/flat-entity/constant/all-many-to-one-metadata-relations.constant.ts

Derived from both ALL_MANY_TO_ONE_METADATA_FOREIGN_KEY (for foreignKey type and universalForeignKey derivation) and ALL_ONE_TO_MANY_METADATA_RELATIONS (for inverseOneToManyProperty key constraint). This is the main constant consumed by utils and optimistic tooling.

export const ALL_MANY_TO_ONE_METADATA_RELATIONS = {
  // ... existing entries
  myEntity: {
    workspace: null,
    application: null,
    parentEntity: {
      metadataName: 'parentEntity',
      foreignKey: 'parentEntityId',
      inverseOneToManyProperty: 'myEntities',  // key in ALL_ONE_TO_MANY_METADATA_RELATIONS['parentEntity'], or null if no inverse
      isNullable: false,
      universalForeignKey: 'parentEntityUniversalIdentifier',
    },
  },
} as const;

Derivation dependency graph:

ALL_MANY_TO_ONE_METADATA_FOREIGN_KEY     ALL_ONE_TO_MANY_METADATA_RELATIONS
(foreignKey only)                        (metadataName, aggregators)
  │                                        │
  │ FK type + universalFK derivation       │ inverseOneToManyProperty keys
  │                                        │
  └────────────────┬───────────────────────┘
                   ▼
    ALL_MANY_TO_ONE_METADATA_RELATIONS
    (metadataName, foreignKey, inverseOneToManyProperty,
     isNullable, universalForeignKey)