Library / Data & backend / Schema
No. 046·noun·also called data model, data structure

Schema

The blueprint of an app's data: which tables exist, what fields each has, and how they connect.

SPECIMEN · DIAGRAM · FLOW
DataEventsname, date
DataAttendeesname, email
DataTicketstype, price
has manyhas many
Definition

What it is

A schema (or data model) is the plan for how information is organized: the tables, the fields in each, their types, and the relationships between them.

Getting the schema right early saves pain later. Adding a field is easy; discovering that one customer can actually have many addresses, after a hundred screens assume one, is not.

You don't need technical notation. A plain list of "things the app tracks, what we know about each, and how they relate" is a schema.

Say it like a builder

How to ask for it

Vague

“It's an app for managing events with people and tickets.”

Precise

“Schema: Events (name, date, venue, capacity), Attendees (name, email), and Tickets (event, attendee, type, price, checked in yes/no). An attendee can have tickets to many events; an event has many tickets.”

Why it works

"Events with people and tickets" leaves the structure to guesswork; a schema spells out every table, field, and relationship.

In the wild

You've seen this in

  • TThe structure behind any CRM
  • SShopify's products, variants, and orders
  • AAn Airtable base's linked tables
Usage note

Often confused with

SpecA spec describes the whole app; the schema describes only its data.DatabaseThe database holds the actual data; the schema is its blueprint.