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Relations connect your objects together, creating a powerful network of data that reflects your business relationships.

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Understanding Relations

Relations link records between objects:
  • A Company has many People (employees, contacts)
  • A Person belongs to a Company
  • A Project has many Tasks
  • An Opportunity belongs to a Company
Relations help you:
  • Navigate between connected records
  • See all related information in one place
  • Build comprehensive reports
  • Create workflows that span objects

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Types of Relations

Twenty supports two types of relations:

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One-to-Many Relations

One record connects to multiple records in another object. Examples:
  • One Company → Many People
  • One Project → Many Tasks
  • One Account → Many Opportunities
Characteristics:
  • The “many” side can only link to one record on the “one” side
  • Most common relationship type
  • Creates parent-child hierarchies

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Many-to-Many Relations

Multiple records connect to multiple records. Examples:
  • Projects ↔ Team Members (people work on multiple projects)
  • Products ↔ Categories (products can be in multiple categories)
  • Opportunities ↔ Contacts (deals involve multiple people)
Characteristics:
  • Records on both sides can have multiple connections
  • More flexible but more complex
  • Creates network structures

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Creating a Relation

1

Navigate to object settings

Go to Settings → Data Model → Objects and select the object where you want to add the relation.
2

Go to Fields tab

Click the Fields tab to see all fields.
3

Create new field

Click + New Field and select Relation as the field type.
4

Choose related object

Select which object you want to connect to.Example: For a Projects object, you might relate to:
  • Companies (which client)
  • People (team members)
  • Opportunities (related deals)
5

Configure relation type

Choose the relationship type:One-to-Many:
Project → Company
(Each project belongs to one company)
Many-to-Many:
Project ↔ People
(Projects have multiple team members, people work on multiple projects)
6

Name the relation

Give the relation a clear name:From this object:
Field name: Company
(Shows "Company" field on Project records)
Inverse field (optional):
Field name: Projects
(Shows "Projects" field on Company records)
7

Save the relation

Click Save to create the relation field. Both objects now have relation fields.
When you create a relation, Twenty can automatically create the inverse field on the related object.

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Relation Field Settings

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Basic Configuration

Field Name

What you call this relation from this object’s perspective

Related Object

Which object this field connects to

Relation Type

One-to-many or many-to-many

Inverse Field

Name of the field on the related object pointing back

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Display Options

  • Icon - Visual identifier in the interface
  • Description - Explain what the relation represents
  • Position - Where the field appears in views

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Working with Relations

In a relation field:
  1. Click the relation field
  2. Search for existing records or create new ones
  3. Select the record(s) to link
  4. The relation appears on both records
In table views:
  • Relation fields show linked record names
  • Click to navigate to the related record
  • See count when multiple records are linked
In record details:
  • Related records appear in the sidebar
  • See all connections at a glance
  • Click to navigate or add more
In timeline:
  • Activity from related records can appear in timeline
  • Track changes across connected records

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Removing Relations

To unlink records:
  1. Open the record with the relation
  2. Click the relation field
  3. Click the X next to the linked record
  4. The relation is removed (records are not deleted)
Removing a relation only removes the link. Both records still exist.

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Example Scenarios

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Scenario 1: Company → People (One-to-Many)

Setup: 
Object: People
Relation Field: Company
Type: One-to-Many
Related Object: Companies
Inverse Field: Employees
Result:
  • Each Person record has a “Company” field
  • Each Company record has an “Employees” field showing all people
  • A person can only work for one company (in this model)
Use Case: Track which company each contact works for. View all employees when looking at a company record.

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Scenario 2: Projects ↔ People (Many-to-Many)

Setup: 
Object: Projects
Relation Field: Team Members
Type: Many-to-Many
Related Object: People
Inverse Field: Projects
Result:
  • Each Project can have multiple Team Members
  • Each Person can be assigned to multiple Projects
  • Both sides show all connections
Use Case: Assign people to projects. See all projects a person is working on from their record.

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Scenario 3: Multi-Level Relations

Connect multiple objects in a chain: 
Opportunity → Company → People
Setup: 
1. Opportunity → Company (one-to-many)
   Field: Account
   Inverse: Opportunities

2. Company → People (one-to-many)
   Field: Company
   Inverse: Employees
Result:
  • See which company an opportunity belongs to
  • See all people at that company
  • Create workflows that span all three objects

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Relation Best Practices

Think about your business logic:One-to-Many when:
  • Records have a clear parent-child relationship
  • The “many” side belongs to only one parent
  • Example: Tasks belong to one Project
Many-to-Many when:
  • Both sides can have multiple connections
  • No strict hierarchy exists
  • Example: Products can be in multiple Categories
Use names that make sense when viewing the record:✅ On Project record:
  • “Company” (which company owns this project)
  • “Team Members” (who’s working on it)
✅ On Company record:
  • “Projects” (what projects they have)
  • “Employees” (who works there)
Avoid generic names like “Related Items” or “Links”.
Always create the inverse field so you can navigate both directions:
Project → Company (shows company on project)
Company → Projects (shows projects on company)
This creates a true bidirectional relationship.
Use field descriptions to explain:
  • What the relation represents
  • When to use it
  • Any business rules
Example:
Field: Primary Contact
Description: "Main point of contact for this opportunity. 
              Must be an employee of the related company."
Many-to-many relations are powerful but can impact performance:
  • Use for legitimate many-to-many scenarios
  • Avoid if one-to-many would work
  • Consider if you need to track additional info about the connection
Sketch relationships before building:
Company
  ↓ (1-to-many)
People
  ↓ (1-to-many)
Opportunities
  ↓ (1-to-many)
Activities
Understanding the full structure helps avoid restructuring later.

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Advanced Relation Patterns

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Self-Referencing Relations

An object can relate to itself: Example - Organizational Hierarchy: 
Object: People
Relation Field: Manager
Type: One-to-Many
Related Object: People (same object)
Inverse Field: Direct Reports
Result:
  • Each person can have a manager
  • Each person can have direct reports
  • Creates org chart structure

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Junction Objects

For many-to-many relations with additional data: Example - Project Assignments: Instead of direct many-to-many, create a junction object: 
Project → Assignment ← Person

Assignment object includes:
- Role (on this project)
- Allocation (% of time)
- Start Date
- End Date
This lets you track more than just the connection.

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Cascading Relations

Chain multiple relations: 
Opportunity → Company → Account Manager
In workflows, you can access:
  • The opportunity details
  • The company information
  • The account manager’s info
All through the relation chain.

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Relation Filters

Use relations in view filters: 
Show me all Projects where:
- Company.Industry = "Technology"
- Team Members.Role = "Designer"
Relation filters let you query across objects.

Learn More

See the Filters guide for advanced filtering →

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Managing Relations

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Editing Relations

You cannot change a relation’s type or target object after creation. Create a new relation and migrate data instead.
You can edit:
  • Field name
  • Description
  • Icon
  • Display settings

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Deleting Relations

Deleting a relation field removes all links between records. The records themselves are not deleted.
To delete:
  1. Go to Settings → Data Model → Objects → [Object] → Fields
  2. Select the relation field
  3. Click Delete
  4. Confirm the action
Both sides of the relation are removed.

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Next Steps

Table Views

Work with related records in table views

Workflow Automation

Create workflows that use relations

Filters and Sorting

Filter by related record properties

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