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Parley gives each kind of information an appropriate home. The most reliable system does not collapse them into one record type.

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The layers

Together these make a record useful without making any single layer carry every kind of information.

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Native properties

Built-in attributes that define the identity or basic structure of a record: a Project name, an Account name, a Contact’s name, an Account association on a Contact.

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Custom fields

Custom fields, also called resource fields, are organization-defined, typed attributes attached to Accounts, Contacts, or Projects. They’re for structured information that should be consistently captured, filtered, reported on, exported, or used to guide downstream work. See Field types.

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Notes

Narrative context attached to an Account, Contact, or Project. Use a note for information that’s important for future work but doesn’t fit naturally into a typed field: intake summaries, case strategy, relationship background, open questions, internal instructions, explanations of facts, meeting or call summaries. A note is durable context, not a replacement for a source document or a structured field.

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Files

Source artifacts: agreements, identity documents, correspondence, reports, pleadings, exhibits, templates. Each Account, Contact, and Project can own a file tree with folders and documents. Projects commonly hold matter-specific evidence and work papers, while Accounts and Contacts hold reusable or person-specific documents. Parley extracts text from supported documents, so agents can search and reason over the contents without every fact being copied into a note or field.

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A practical example

A firm handling an employment-based immigration filing:
  • The employer is an Account.
  • The employee is a Contact linked to that Account.
  • The filing is a Project linked to both.
  • Current Immigration Status belongs on the Contact, because it describes the person generally.
  • Case Status, Receipt Number, and Target Date belong on the Project, because they describe the filing.
  • The employment agreement and identity documents are Files.
  • A summary of the client’s explanation of a complicated travel history is a Note.
  • The consultation appointment is stored as a Calendar event.
  • The client’s instructions sent by email remain Email correspondence associated with the Contact.
  • A filing checklist or generated support letter is a Generated output organized in a Project as a Workflow.