Understanding lists
Learn how lists work in Attio.
The power of lists
Lists give you the power to organize records in whatever way works best for you. By adding records to a list, you can include additional data for each one. This data can be tailored to a specific workflow or business process, like customer onboarding or managing sales pipelines, without altering the original records themselves.
This flexibility is what makes lists so powerful. You can work with the same records in multiple contexts, customizing them for the needs of different projects or teams. All the while, the underlying records remain untouched, serving as a consistent single source of truth that keeps everyone aligned.
For a video walkthrough, see Lists in Attio Academy.
List-specific data
Let’s look at this Recruiting list as an example, which Basepoint has built to manage their candidate pipeline. They can view the records in their list in either a table format or kanban format. In this case, we’ll focus on the table format.
In this list, there is an attribute called Applying for with corresponding data. This attribute and data exists only within the list. It's not part of the People object.
For example, George shows Applying for the Account Executive role. When accessing George's record directly, this attribute and data point appear as related information in the right sidebar under Lists, referencing the list name. However, this data isn't embedded in the core record itself, which is found in the Record Details section.
This feature makes lists incredibly valuable, as it allows teams to analyze, organize, and track records in ways that suit their specific needs without disrupting each other's workflows or data. Team members can add extra data points without modifying the core record data.
Types of list views
Attio offers two list views to suit your workflow: table and kanban.
The table view presents your list data in a familiar spreadsheet-like format:
The kanban view allows you to visualize your records as cards on a board, organized into columns that represent stages in your workflow:
These columns are based on your list's Status attribute, which allows you to define the steps or stages in a process. You can customize these status values to match the stages of your workflow (e.g., for a recruiting pipeline these stages may be "New," "Screening," "Interviewing," etc.).
As records progress through your workflow, you can update their status, moving the corresponding cards to the appropriate column. For this example list, our list columns are based on the following stages:
How to create a list
Creating a new list in Attio is a straightforward process that only takes a few clicks. In this guide, we'll walk through creating a sample list together so you can see exactly how it works. Here’s how to do it:
In the left sidebar, click the + next to Lists in the lists section.
You’ll now see options to start a list with a template or start from scratch. For this example, select Start from Scratch .
Now, choose the object that will form the basis of your list and give it a name.
Attio lists are designed to work with a single object type, which helps keep your data organized and focused.
In this case, we'll choose the People object and name our list Recruiting. Once you've made your selection and entered the name, click Create list to finish setting it up.
You’ll now have the option to start your list with a table or kanban view. In this case, we’re going to explore both.
Since we know this list will have a pipeline component to it, we’ll select Kanban for now.
Setting up your kanban view
Since a kanban view visualizes the progression of records, we are prompted to create a Status attribute before moving forward. That way our view knows which stages to track.
Let’s make the title of our view Candidate pipeline, and then click the dropdown under Status attribute and select + New Status Attribute. Let’s name our new Status attribute Status.
You’ll now see a blank canvas for your kanban view with a column that says No stage.
Adding stages to your pipeline
Click the + next to the No stage column and type New as a new stage name. Click the arrow on the left and choose any color your want, and hit enter.
Next click the + outside of the columns (the second +) and create Screening, Interviewing, Offered, Hired, Rejected, and Dropped out.
List attributes
Now that our kanban board is ready, the next step is defining what list-specific data we want to track in our list. In Attio, this information is stored in list attributes.
Before we create custom attributes for our strategic accounts process, let's see what attributes are available out-of-the-box via our People object.
Exploring the table view
We could do this in our kanban view by clicking View settings > Add card. However, in this case, let’s first explore attributes using a table view instead, as it is similar to a spreadsheet and will feel more intuitive:
Click the
Candidte pipelinedropdown at the top left of your list (under your list title) and selectCreate new view.Choose
Tableas the view type, name it All candidates, and clickCreate view.
In the table view, each attribute is displayed as a column. By default, there is a single column called Person. This column is always present because it identifies what type of data is being tracked in this list. Since we're working with a list based on the People object, Person is the key attribute that each row represents.
Adding object attributes
From here, we can add columns for any other information we want to track. Capturing the right data will help us manage our candidates effectively as they move through the pipeline.
For example purposes, let’s add a record to our list. Click Add Person and find a company in your records, or hit just e. In this case, we're adding a candidate named Benton. We won’t set a status for now.
Now let’s take a look and add some object attributes that we think would help us in our workflow to manage candidates. Click the outside (second) + next to the Person column and a drop down will appear with a list of every object attribute available.
You can add attributes by either exploring through each category or typing in the name of the attribute you’re looking for. For example, let’s add Description, City, Job title, Last Email Interaction > When, LinkedIn and Strongest Connection.
Renaming attributes
Now you’ll notice that the attribute headers look a little messy. This is because Attio shows the paths of your attributes. So in the case of Person > Primary Location > City, this is telling us that for each record, we’ll be showing the data point for the City attribute of the People object.
It’s nice to know the logic behind the structure, but it’s not really necessary to show the full path of the attribute each time. We can rename our attributes easily by clicking the attribute header and choosing Edit column label. Let’s call this attribute just City and click Save label.
If we ever want to remember the path of this attribute, we can click the column header and it will show the original path.
If we want to clear the label, we can click on the attribute header again, choose Edit column label and select Clear label.
Enriched attributes
You’ll also notice that all of these attributes have lightning bolt icons next to the headers, and the cells are a light purple to indicate they are enriched. For enriched attributes, Attio automatically pulls data from 100s of public sources, so you don’t have to. Learn more about enriched data.
Adding list attributes
Now let’s create some attributes that are specific to our list. Again, you use lists in Attio to manage any type of workflow. In this case, we’ve built this recruiting list to manage our process of tracking our candidates.
Let’s add and create a few attributes that will help us with that process. First, it’s important to note we already have one list attribute already built: Status. Let’s go ahead and add that in.
Let’s also move it closer to the main attribute column, right next to Job title. We can do that by dragging the attribute column over. From there, let’s select New as the stage.
Now if we switch back to our Candidate pipeline view, you’ll see that your record is now in the New column. We’ll dive into this later. For now, let’s go back to our All candidates table view and create some new attributes.
Example: Applying for
Let’s create a new attribute to track which role the candidate has applied for. There are two ways to do this: we can either scroll all the way right and hit the + > Create new attribute, or we can click View settings > Add new column > Create new attribute on the top right. Let’s do it this way.
We’ll want the attribute type to be Select, as we’ll be add a single role each person is applying for. We can call the attribute Applying for. Under Options, create an option for each open role. You can enter a description if you’d like, and if you want each record to have a default value, you can. In this case, we’ll leave it blank and click Create attribute.
A new column will be created at the right. Let’s add a role, and then drag our new Applying for column to in between Status and Job title.
Example: Hiring manager
We need another attribute to track the hiring manager for each candidate. This time, let’s scroll all the way right and click + > Create new attribute.
We’ll make the attribute type User, and give it a name of Hiring manager. Go ahead and click Create attribute. Let’s move this attribute to in between Status and Applying for.
Let’s add a user as the hiring manager.
Running sorts and filters
Just like when you access your object pages, you’re able to filter and sort your records as you see fit. For example, in this list, we can quickly filter by Status, Applying for, Hiring manager, or any attribute or data point.
Exploring the kanban view
Let’s explore kanban views next. Click the All candidates dropdown at the top left of your list and select Candidate pipeline again.
Adding card rows
The first thing you’ll immediately notice is that our kanban cards look a little bare.
That’s because we need to configure our cards to show the attributes we care about in our workflow. We can do this by clicking View settings > Add card row and choosing our attributes.
Let’s add Applying for, Hiring manager, LinkedIn, and Company.
You can also remove rows the same way by clicking the ⋮ icon next to a visible attribute, then Remove card row.
Tracking time in stages
One of the key advantages of kanban views is that they provide a visual representation of your workflow, making it easy to spot bottlenecks that might not be immediately apparent in a table view.
Attio takes advantage of this with our Track time in stage feature. Click on a stage name and select Track time in stage and specify the amount days, months or years:
By setting a target time (the maximum a record should be in a stage), you can instantly see which records are getting stuck in your process. Stagnant cards visually stand out with a red timer in the corner.
Hiding or deleting columns
In Attio, it’s easy to hide or delete columns in a kanban. Simply click on a stage name and click Hide stage or Delete stage.
If you’d like to hide the No stage column. Click View settings > Visible columns and unmark No status.
Bulk stage updates
You can easily move multiple cards between stages at once. Simply click the checkbox in the top right corner of each card you want to move (or select one card, hold shift, and select another to grab all cards in between), then drag and drop them to the next stage:
Learn more
For a deeper dive into all the things you can do with lists and views, see the Lists and Views pages of our Reference section.
Up next
Now that you've learned about objects, attributes, records, and lists, decide which objects, lists, and views you need for your workspace in Define your data model.