Record Types are the categorical structure for all entities (Records) that will be integrated into Smarter Drafter. Every Record you create must be associated with a Record Type when assigning them to a matter, which dictates its purpose and function within a matter.

The key distinction for any Record Type is its category: it must be categorised as either a Role or Matter Details.

Roles, which is used for people, companies or entities whose data may appear in other matters e.g., Client, Debtor, Purchaser, Applicant
Matter Information, which is used for data that is unique to a single matter . e.g., contract information, key dates specific to a transaction or court information

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How Field Aliases and Record Types Work Together
Field Alias describes the type of data (e.g. “name_full”), whereas the Record Type describes whose data it is (e.g. “Client”, "Trial Information"). Together they create a structure:
Record Type → Field Alias → Answer
(Client) → (name_full) → (“Sarah Johnson”)
If a Field Alias is an individual piece of data (like first_name), a Record Type is the container that gives that data context (like Client).

API Reference: Managing Record Types

Use the following endpoint to define the categories (Roles or Matter Details) for the Records you will integrate from your source system.

Create a Record Type

Smarter Drafter provides the ability to update field alias values and also delete a field alias from your tenant.

Update a record type by ID

Deprecate a record type by ID

For more information, see Record Types full list of APIs.

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Alternatively, Record Types can be created in the Smarter Drafter interface. For details on how to see the following help article: Creating and Managing Record Types