Dench CRM: objects, fields, and queries

The Dench CRM is the shared database for agents and humans. Every list-shaped thing lives here, not in ad-hoc files.

Objects

Tables like people, company, task, or any custom object.

Fields

Typed columns: text, enum, relation, user, date, and more.

Entries

Rows, written one at a time or in batches up to 200.

Cells

Individual values, set, appended, or read per field.

Query

Filter, sort, paginate, search, and aggregate.

Statuses

Kanban columns with colors for any object.

people, company, and task are protected and cannot be deleted. Tasks are CRM entries on the task object, there is no separate dench tasks command.

Create an object

Inspect what exists

dench crm objects list --json

Create it with an icon

dench crm objects create lead --description "Sales leads" --default-view kanban --icon target --json

Add fields

dench crm fields create lead "Name" --type text --required
dench crm fields create lead "Email" --type email --indexed
dench crm fields create lead "Company" --type relation --related-object company --relationship many_to_one --indexed
dench crm fields create lead "Status" --type enum --enum-values '["New","Working","Qualified","Lost"]'

Optional: kanban statuses

dench crm statuses set lead --statuses '[{"name":"New","color":"#94a3b8"},{"name":"Qualified","color":"#22c55e"}]' --json

Field types

Common
Enum
Relation
User

text, email, phone, url, number, boolean, date, file, tags.

dench crm fields create deal "Amount" --type number
dench crm fields create deal "Close Date" --type date

Options with optional colors. Add --enum-multiple for multi-select.

dench crm fields create lead "Status" --type enum \
  --enum-values '["New","Working","Qualified","Lost"]'
dench crm fields enum-set-color lead Status Qualified "#22c55e"

Link to another object instead of flattening foreign keys to text.

dench crm fields create people "Company" --type relation \
  --related-object company --relationship many_to_one --indexed

Stores one workspace member userId or an array of member IDs. The default task user field is Assignee, not Owner; confirm the schema first. Preserve every assignee from the source instead of choosing only one.

dench members list --json
dench crm fields list task --json

# One assignee: the positional value is a JSON string.
dench crm cells set task <entryId> Assignee '"<userId>"' --json

# Multiple assignees: pass every member ID in a JSON array.
dench crm cells set task <entryId> Assignee \
  '["<userId1>","<userId2>"]' --json

Field type is immutable. To change a field’s type, create a new field and migrate. dench crm fields update changes name, options, indexing, and enrichment, but not the type.

The protected `Notes` field

Every object ships a protected Notes (richtext) field for free-form prose, meeting notes, summaries, task details. It is hidden from list views and shown only when an entry is opened. Do not invent parallel Description/Summary columns, write Markdown to Notes.

Write data

dench crm entries create people --data '{"Name":"Ada Lovelace","Email":"ada@example.com"}' --json

dench crm entries create-many people --data '[{"Name":"Jane"},{"Name":"Bob"}]' --json

dench crm cells set task <entryId> Status '"In progress"' --json

dench crm batch --file ops.jsonl --idempotency-key import-2026-06-01 --json

Read data

dench crm query lead --where '{"Status":"Qualified"}' --sort '-Score' --limit 100 --json

dench crm search --object people "jane" --json

dench crm aggregate deal --field Stage --json

Over the API, operator filters ($gt, $in, $contains, $and, $or) go in dslJson because the wire format rejects $-prefixed keys in nested objects. See the API playground.

Relation-first modeling

When to use a relation

If a field name matches or aliases an existing object (Company, Client, Deal, Owner), use a relation (or user) field, not text.

Auto-link defaults

people → company, deal → people/company, task → people/project, invoice → company/deal. Create the target object if it should exist.

Batch everything

Use entries create-many, entries update-many, cells set-many, or batch --file for three or more writes.

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Dench CRM: objects, fields, and queries

Objects

Fields

Entries

Cells

Query

Statuses

Create an object

Field types

The protected `Notes` field

Write data

Read data

Relation-first modeling

Objects

Fields

Entries

Cells

Query

Statuses

​Create an object

​Field types

​The protected Notes field

​Write data

​Read data

​Relation-first modeling

Create an object

Field types

The protected `Notes` field

Write data

Read data

Relation-first modeling