---
title: "KindOfSignal"
description: "a kind of signal: what it means, its population, its sources, and a floor for each of the four numbers of strength"
section: concepts
address: /concepts/kindofsignal
contract: 0476e35e6e275db5
---

# KindOfSignal

a kind of signal: what it means, its population, its sources, and a floor for each of the four numbers of strength

[figure: KindOfSignal is a row at platform scope. The drawing shows its fields and the objects that they point at.]

| property | value |
|---|---|
| kind | row |
| scope | platform |
| key | its name |
| store | postgres |
| family | rules_engine |



## Fields


| field | type | required | note |
|---|---|---|---|
| `name` | `text` | yes |  |
| `meaning` | `text` | yes |  |
| `population` | [Population](/concepts/population) | no | required before the kind is ready; absent while it is not ready with that reason |
| `sources` | [Source](/concepts/source) | yes | the kinds of source that can show it |
| `floors` | [ProxyStrength](/concepts/proxystrength) | no | required before the kind is ready; absent while it is not ready with that reason |
| `stage` | [Stage](/concepts/stage) | no |  |
| `state` | [Readiness](/concepts/readiness) | yes | not ready when no ready monitor and no ready source can make it |
| `evaluation` | `one of an event lands \| a count over a window \| a change between readings \| a rate against a baseline \| made true by time passing \| an ordered sequence \| a meaning or phrase match \| an overlap between populations \| a join through a place or segment \| the tenant's own facts \| derived by a rule \| a membership or fit` | yes | the way it is evaluated, which decides the layout it needs |
| `aliases` | `[text]` | no | other names for the same kind, merged by the seed |
| `named_in` | `[text]` | no | the pages that name it |



## Routes that use it
No route takes or returns KindOfSignal directly. The record holds it, and the objects that point at it reach it.