Relationship attributes
Connect records with bidirectional relationships.
Relationship attributes in Attio let you show how records are connected. They’re useful for mapping real-world relationships, like which people work at a company, which deals are linked to which companies, or how custom objects relate to each other.
These attributes are not just for linking records. Once records are connected, you can display, filter, and sort by attributes from the linked records in any view. This gives you more context and flexibility when working with your data.
How relationship attributes work
Relationship attributes link records to each other. A relationship attribute consists of two attributes: one on each side of the relationship. When you add Record A to a relationship attribute on Record B, Record B is automatically added to the corresponding attribute on Record A.
For example, below when Prismex is added as Caleb’s Company, Caleb is automatically added to the Team for Prismex.
With custom relationship attributes, you can:
Connect records from two different objects (more common), or records from the same object.
Allow one or multiple records to be linked on each side of the relationship.
The value of relationship attributes in Attio goes beyond simply linking two records. They also give you access to the full set of attributes on the connected record. For example, when a company is linked added to a person via a relationship, you can also display any attribute on the company in views of people.
System relationship attributes
Attio has multiple system relationship attributes that connect records in your workspace. These system relationship attributes are available by default on all Attio plans, and they cannot be edited.
Company <> Team (People) - One to many
Associated deals <> Associated company - Many to one
Associated deals <> Associated people - Many to many
Associated users <> Person - Many to one
Workspaces <> Users - Many to many
Create a custom relationship attribute
To represent custom relationships between records in your workspace, you can create your own relationship attributes.
For a video walkthrough of creating relationship attributes, see Attio Academy.
Requirements for creating relationship attributes
Relationship attributes can only be created on objects only, not on lists.
You must be a workspace admin to create relationship attributes.
Relationship attributes are available on Pro and Enterprise plans. Learn more about Attio plans and pricing.
Create a new relationship attribute
Follow these steps to create a new relationship attribute:
Click your workspace name and go to Workspace settings.
Navigate to Objects, then select the relevant object.
Open the Attributes tab.
Click to create a new attribute and choose the Relationship attribute type.
Select the two objects you want to link. These can be:
Two different objects (e.g., Companies and Deals)
The same object (e.g., People and People)
Configure the relationship type
Next, choose from the following options to designate how many records can be linked on both sides.
One to many
Definition: One record of the first object links to many records of the second.
Example: Link one company to many deals.
One to one
Definition: One record of the first object links to only one record of the second.
Example: Link one company with one main point of contact (a person).
Many to one
Definition: Many records of the first object link to one record of the second.
Example: Link many invoices (custom object) to one company.
Many to many
Definition: Many records of both objects link to each other.
Example: Workspaces linked to multiple users, and users linked to multiple workspaces.
Name associated attributes
For each side of the relationship, you must define an Associated attribute name. This is the label that appears on records of the object it’s beneath to indicate the relationship to the connected object.
For example, we could create a custom relationship between Workspaces and Users to connect users with the workspaces they’ve referred.
Under Users, the attribute is called "Referred workspaces"
Under Workspaces, the attribute is called "Referred by user"
It’s a one to many relationship because one user can refer multiple workspaces, but each workspace can only have one referrer.
With the above setup, when you add a user you can designate workspace(s) they referred via the relationship. When you add a workspace record, you can designate the user who referred them. If you update the “Referred workspaces” attribute on a user, it will also update the “Referred by user” attribute on the workspace, and vice versa.
Use relationship attributes in views
You can use relationship attributes or attributes of records linked via relationships when adding attributes to your view, setting filters, or sorting records. Here’s how to work with them.
Select the relationship itself
To display, filter, or sort by the relationship attribute:
Search for and click the name of the relationship attribute.
Then, click the name of the relationship attribute again.
This will display or use the linked record itself, for example, the company linked to each deal.
Select attributes from linked records
The value of relationship attributes in Attio goes beyond simply linking two records. They also give you access to the full set of attributes on the connected record. For example, if you’ve linked Deals and Companies, you can display, filter, or sort by any company attribute in a view of Deals, and the same applies in reverse.
To display, filter, or sort by an attribute from a linked record:
Search for and select the relationship attribute that connects to the record holding the attribute.
Once selected, you’ll see all attributes from the linked record.
Search for and select the specific attribute you want to use.
For example, let’s say you want to include attributes in a Deals kanban view from each Deal’s associated company, such as Domains or Categories:
Open your Deals view.
Go to View settings.
Select Add card row.
Choose Associated company (or another relationship attribute).
Select the company attribute you want to show (e.g., Domains, Categories, Employee range)
This will display company information directly on each deal card.
Notes about multi-value relationships
There are a few important behaviors to be aware of when working with relationships that support multiple values (for example, one to many or many to many relationships).
Path limits when using multi-value relationships
When referencing attributes through relationships, only one multi-value relationship can be used in a single attribute path. If a path includes more than one, the system won’t be able to retrieve the data.
Let’s say you have this structure:
A company is linked to multiple people
Each person is linked to multiple projects (a custom object)
In this setup, if you're building a view of companies:
You can show all the people linked to each companies
You cannot show the projects linked to those people
That’s because the path from Company → People → Projects involves two multi-value relationships.
Filtering through multi-value relationships
When you filter using an attribute from a multi-value relationship, the filter checks for any matching records, not all.
For example, in a view of companies:
If you filter by Team > Primary location > City is London, you'll see any company that has at least one team member based in London.
If Team or an attribute on people is displayed in the view, this filter does not change the list of team members shown. All linked team members will still be displayed, regardless of location.
This can be surprising if you're expecting the filter to control the displayed values from the relationship itself. It only controls which parent records (in this case, companies) appear in the view.
Editing attributes for records linked via relationships
Whether an attribute shown through a relationship attribute can be edited depends on the type of relationship:
If the relationship allows multiple linked records, any fields you show through that relationship will be view-only. You’ll be able to see the values but not update them from the current view.
If the relationship allows only a single linked record, the fields you show can be edited directly from the view.
