Feature Types

There are 3 different types of features in Schematic

• Boolean - A simple on/off feature.
• Event-based - A feature that is metered against events reported to Schematic (e.g. api calls, reports generated).
• Trait-based - A feature that is based off of information reported to Schematic. This can be usage (e.g. seats) or metadata (e.g. company size).

Boolean Features

Boolean features are the simplest type of feature. They are often used to represent features that are either available or not available to a user or company. They are the most commonly used type of feature and are the backbone of most plans.

Event-based Features

Event-based features are features that are metered against user events reported to Schematic. This can be usage (e.g. api calls, reports generated). Events are sent to Schematic via the track function provided by each SDK. Schematic automatically aggregates these events to dynamically determine whether a company has exceeded their entitlement.

Trait-based Features

Trait-based features are features based off of information reported to Schematic. This can be usage (e.g. seats) or metadata (e.g. company size). Traits can be updated via the POST /companies in the API or via the upsertCompany or identify functions provided by each SDK.

Usage-based Traits

Traits can be used to supply usage information that is more easily managed in your application: user seats are a common example. Whenever a company adds or removes a seat, the updateed value should be provided to Schematic. Unlike event tracking, the current value should be passed each time: this means usage of a trait based feature can increase or decrease (unlike event-based features).

While not necessary, there are a few advantages of tracking and managing these features in Schematic:

1. Centralize customer usage data as it pertains to monetization
2. Seamlessly leverage customer overrides for these features in your application

Metadata-based Traits

Metadata can be provided to Schematic for use in pricing and plan management. The most common example is to apply a plan to customers based off of a trait. This is commonly used when migrating from a legacy system of plan management.