[#entity-properties]
= Entity properties

The `properties` field is configured on each entity definition in `config.yaml`. It does not live in the entity data files themselves.

Use it to choose which fields from your entity data files are shown in the web UI and API. Property *values* come from the entity file on disk; `properties` only controls which of those values OliveTin exposes when listing or viewing entities.

== Configuration

Add `properties` under an entity definition alongside `file`, `name`, and `icon`:

[source,yaml]
----
entities:
  - file: /etc/OliveTin/servers.yaml
    name: server
    icon: ssh
    properties:
      - name: hostname
        title: Hostname
      - name: ip
        title: IP
----

Each entry has two fields:

[cols="1,3", options="header"]
|===
| Field | Description

| `name`
| The key to read from each entity instance in the data file. Matching is case-insensitive.

| `title`
| The column heading shown in the entity list table. If omitted, OliveTin uses `name`.
|===

The entity data file supplies the values. For example, with the configuration above and this data file:

[source,yaml]
.`/etc/OliveTin/servers.yaml`
----
- name: server1
  hostname: server1.example.com
  ip: 192.168.0.1
- name: server2
  hostname: server2.example.com
  ip: 192.168.0.2
----

OliveTin shows `server1` and `server2` as instance names (from the `name` field) and displays `hostname` and `ip` in the configured columns.

== Effects

=== Entity list in the web UI

When `properties` is configured, the Entities page shows a searchable, paginated table for that entity type. Columns are:

* **Name** — the instance title (derived from fields such as `name`, `title`, `hostname`, and so on)
* One column per configured property, labelled with `title`

When `properties` is omitted or empty, the Entities page shows a simple list of instance names and a total count instead of a table.

=== Entity details page

The entity details view shows only the fields listed in `properties`, plus type and title.

If `properties` is not configured, all top-level fields from the entity data file are shown.

=== API responses

`properties` controls which fields appear in `fields` on entity instances returned by the API:

* `GetEntity` — returns only configured property values in `fields` when `properties` is set; otherwise returns all top-level fields from the data file.
* `GetEntities` — always includes the property definitions on `EntityDefinition`. When `properties` is set, instance rows in list responses include only those configured fields. The unfiltered list request omits instance rows (it returns `totalInstances` only); use a filtered request with `entityType` to fetch paginated instances for the table view.

Search and pagination on the entity list operate over instance titles and the configured property values.

=== What `properties` does not affect

`properties` is a display and API filtering setting. It does **not** limit what you can use in action templates.

Actions bound to an entity still have access to the full entity record through `{{ .CurrentEntity.field }}`, including fields you did not list under `properties`. See xref:args/templates.adoc[Templates in actions] and xref:action_customization/enabledExpression.adoc[Enabled Expression].

Legacy template syntax such as `{{ server.hostname }}` is still migrated automatically to `{{ .CurrentEntity.hostname }}`.

== Example

This configuration pairs with the server data file shown above:

[source,yaml]
----
entities:
  - file: entities/servers.yaml
    name: server
    icon: ssh
    properties:
      - name: hostname
        title: Hostname
      - name: ip
        title: IP
----

An action can still reference any field from the data file, even ones not listed in `properties`:

[source,yaml]
----
actions:
  - title: Wake server
    shell: wakeonlan {{ .CurrentEntity.ip }}
    entity: server
----

== What's next?

* xref:entities/yaml.adoc[YAML entity files] — format for entity data files
* xref:entities/json.adoc[JSON entity files] — line-delimited JSON entity files
* xref:entities/icons.adoc[Entity icons] — configure an icon for each entity type
* xref:entities/intro.adoc[Entities] — overview of entities in OliveTin
* xref:dashboards/entity-directories.adoc[Entity directories] — generate per-entity dashboards