Metrics
A metric is a rollup over related records — count, sum, average, min, or max — delivered as one labeled number instead of the rows behind it. When the question is how many or how much, “Open Pipeline: $40,000” beats twenty-five rows the agent has to add up.
Create one
Two ways, both writing to the same shared element library:
- From the entity builder — click + Add Metric on the canvas. Pickers are scoped to the object you’re on.
- From the Metrics page — Studio → Metrics → New Metric. Use this for a metric that serves several entities, or to edit one already in use.
Unlike other builder edits, a metric created from the canvas saves to the library immediately; its use on the entity still rides your Save.
Define it
| Setting | Example |
|---|---|
| Over Related List | Opportunities |
| Label | Open Pipeline |
| Function | Sum |
| Field | Amount |
| Filters | IsClosed equals false |
| Instruction | Open, unweighted. Excludes closed-lost. |
Function is Count, Sum, Average, Min, or Max; Count needs no field. Filters make a metric meaningful — “Opportunity Count” is trivia, “Open Opportunity Count” is a signal. → Filters
Write an instruction for almost every metric — a number without its definition is ambiguous. → Instructions
The four tabs
On the Metrics page, a metric is edited across four tabs:
| Tab | What’s there |
|---|---|
| Details | Label, API name, instruction, minimum level |
| Definition | The relationship, function, field, and filters |
| Available For | Which objects this metric may be used on |
| Where Used | Which entities currently include it |
Available For constrains by object; Where Used then offers only entities on those objects. Naming exactly one object also lets the Definition tab offer relationship and field dropdowns from that object’s schema instead of free-text entry.
Set the minimum level
Metrics default to list and render at every level. Every metric on a payload is batched into a single aggregate query, so ten cost roughly what one costs. Raise the minimum when a metric only matters in depth, or lean payloads are getting crowded. → Levels
WARNING
Below its minimum level a metric is skipped silently — no warning, no logged issue. A missing metric is nearly always a level or Available For mismatch.
Edit a shared metric
A metric is defined once and added to any number of entities. Editing it changes every entity using it — the modal warns when more than one is affected. If two entities genuinely need different definitions, make two metrics with distinct names; don’t fork one by editing it back and forth.
Metric, related list, or formula?
| The agent needs | Use |
|---|---|
| To know how many, or how much | Metric |
| To reason about individual rows | Related list |
| Arithmetic over this record’s own fields | Formula — no query cost |
Pairing a metric with a related list is often the best shape: “Open Cases: 34” alongside the five most recent. And if a formula could produce the number, prefer it — Amount * Probability is a formula; SUM of child Opportunities must be a metric.
Unnamed relationships
Lookups without a named child relationship appear in the picker as “Children — via Field Name”; the metric stores the child object and foreign key explicitly. They work identically — they just can’t be addressed by relationship name.