--- title: Overview of cases url: https://www.tines.com/stories/docs/cases/overview/ updated: 2026-07-15T15:39:51+00:00 --- *[tines.com](https://www.tines.com/llms.txt) › [Docs](https://www.tines.com/stories/docs/llms.txt) › [Cases](https://www.tines.com/llm/stories/docs/cases.md)* # Overview of cases *[View on tines.com](https://www.tines.com/stories/docs/cases/overview/)* The case interface uses a visual hierarchy to help users naturally consume case information: high-level information appears at the top left, with detailed content toward the bottom right. When you open a case, start at the top-left to orient yourself with the case's context, then work your way down and to the right to review content and access tools. Tines cases blend two concepts to deliver a best-in-class experience: - **Case structure** – the layout of a case to optimize context gathering. - **Case elements** – the properties, primitives, content, and activity that fill the case structure. ## Case structure Every case follows a consistent, yet semi-configurable layout that ensures case details can be quickly referenced regardless of where that case originated. - **Navigation **– A table-of-contents outline which can be used to quickly scroll to, highlight, or re-order case content. - **Attributes** – The core classifiers of a case such as name, tags, priority, assignee, and details about the case lifecycle. - **Content** – A markdown-based content editor/viewer which contains a fixed "description" section, a configurable carousel of blocks, followed by a reference of attached records. - **Interaction sidebar** – A series of customizable and collapsible sections that serve as reference and interactivity points of a case. ![](https://www.datocms-assets.com/55802/1784086053-cases-structure-v7.jpg) --- ## Case elements The elements of a case are organized into a number of categories: 1. **Primitives** – The core, built-in structural elements that every case has by default. 2. **Properties** – The contextual, user-defined fields of the case. 3. **Content** – The customizable and formatted specifics of the case. 4. **Interactions **– The activities that have occurred within a case or actions that can be triggered from within a case. 5. **Relationships** – The links between a case and other cases, or with attached records. 6. **Controls **– The access, requirements, and controls of a case. Together, the structure and elements give you a flexible but predictable surface you can navigate, extend, and automate against. This page explains what each layer contains and links to detailed documentation for each component. ### Primitives Primitives are the core, built-in fields that every case has by default. They're native to the case object and can't be removed. - **Team:** the team the case belongs to ([learn more](https://www.tines.com/stories/docs/teams/)) - **Group**: the group within the team the case is currently assigned to ([learn more](https://www.tines.com/stories/docs/case-groups/)) - **ID:** globally unique identifier for the case - **Status:** the current state of the case using custom statuses you define - **Priority & SLA: **the importance of the case using `CRITICAL`, `HIGH`, `MEDIUM`, `LOW`, or `INFO` which also drives SLA timers - **Assignees:** select the user(s) assigned to work the case, or move a case to another team or group - **Subscribers: **users who have been mentioned in the case content or a comment, or have explicitly subscribed to a case to receive update notifications - **Name:** the title of the case - **Tags:** labels for categorization and filtering the case - **Author:** who created the case - **Timestamps:** describing when the case was created, last updated, and marked resolved ![](https://www.datocms-assets.com/55802/1784086234-cases-primitives.jpg) ### Properties Properties are user-defined or system-augmented layers that add context on top of primitives. Most can be defined manually within a case or updated via story automation. - **Fields:** customizable, typed, and searchable data fields attached directly to a case (via case inputs), for example IP address, hostname, or alert source ([learn more](https://www.tines.com/stories/docs/case-fields/)) - **Metadata**: untyped, user-defined key/value pairs (hidden by default) ![](https://www.datocms-assets.com/55802/1784086249-cases-properties.jpg) ### Content Primary content workspace where users or automation build and consume formatted markdown content. The content area consists of four components: 1. **Table of contents: **an outline of the case content with click-to-scroll, block highlighting, and drag-to-reorder functionality 2. **Description section: **a fixed-place, large text input that precedes content blocks 3. **Content blocks: **a collection of user-defined content containers with the following types: ([learn more](https://www.tines.com/stories/docs/case-blocks/)) - **Notes:** rich-text markdown content that consists of text, tables, code snippets, pasted images, and [dynamic mentions](https://www.tines.com/stories/docs/formatting-references/) of many properties and primitives - **Attachments:** files associated with the case with an option to add annotations - **HTML: **specify basic HTML markup to render non-markdown content - **Groups**: grouping of blocks to improve readability and co-locate related content 4. **Content toolbar: **build your case content by selecting any of the listed block types ![](https://www.datocms-assets.com/55802/1784086267-cases-content.jpg) ### Interactions Activities consist of two types: **monitoring** of activity happening within a case and **triggering** actions to run Tines stories, or open pages, apps, and external URLs #### Inbound activity Historical activities surface a timeline of everything happening on a case, from automated alerts to a full audit trail to human-triggered actions. - **Subscriber notifications:** alerts sent to case subscribers via email and in-app notification when something changes, for example a new comment, status update, or assignee change - **Activity:** a full chronological audit trail of every change, comment, file, and status update on the case - **Comments:** collaborative discussion thread that supports rich text markdown, references to case content, mentions, and file attachments (displayed within the "Activity" section) - **Tasks:** actionable checklist items with assignees ([learn more](https://www.tines.com/stories/docs/tasks/)), also displayed with a progress indicator at the top of the case #### Outbound actions - **Case actions: **customizable buttons that trigger Tines stories, open pages and apps in an embedded sidepanel, or open external URLs directly from a case ![](https://www.datocms-assets.com/55802/1784086297-cases-activity.jpg) ### **Relationships** Relationships can occur between two cases, or between a case and record. - **Case links: **add or view linked cases, along with their status and a hover-summary - **Records reference: **view records attached to a case, organized by record type ![](https://www.datocms-assets.com/55802/1784086309-cases-relationships.jpg) ### **Controls** Control how a case functions, the requirements for completing a case, or who has access to case content. - **Case options: **hide or show the TOC, interaction sidebar, expand the content to full page width, and set all blocks to expanded or collapsed - **Case requirements**: formulaic conditions that must be completed before a case can be closed (displayed within the "Tasks" section) #### Additional controls not shown - **Fields section: **select which fields are "sensitive" to [restrict view access](https://www.tines.com/stories/docs/sensitive-case-fields/) to users with the correct role, and define sort order - **Actions section: **option to open web URLs and Tines apps or pages in a separate tab - **Linked cases section**: option to group linked cases by status, and to open linked cases in a new tab ![](https://www.datocms-assets.com/55802/1784086327-cases-controls.jpg)