Custom entities (EAV)

Beyond module-defined MikroORM entities, Open Mercato ships an Entities module that implements an Entity-Attribute-Value (EAV) store. It powers runtime configurable objects—think CRM-style records, dynamic forms, or metadata catalogs.

Definitions

• ce.ts – each module can export an entities array describing custom entities and their fields.
• Fields support core types (text, textarea, integer, float, boolean, date, select, relation, attachment) and you can add more via the field registry.
• Generators compile definitions into modules.generated.ts so runtime registries know which modules supply which custom entities.

src/modules/example/ce.ts

import { defineFields, cf } from '@open-mercato/modules/dsl';

export const entities = [
  {
    id: 'example:todo',
    title: 'Example Todo',
    fields: defineFields([
      cf.enum('priority', {
        label: 'Priority',
        options: ['low', 'medium', 'high'],
      }),
      cf.boolean('blocked', { label: 'Blocked' }),
    ]),
  },
];

Values

• Custom field values are stored in the shared entities module tables. Each record is scoped by entity_id, record_id, organization_id, and tenant_id.
• The data engine persists values and emits events after updates.
• The query engine can project custom fields using the cf:<key> syntax (e.g., cf:priority).

Admin experience

• The admin UI reads definitions to render configuration pages where operators can add/remove fields.
• CRUD forms detect custom fields automatically and render the right input components.

Use custom entities when you need flexible data structures without shipping a new migration for every customer request.