---
title: "PlatformThing"
description: "one kind of thing a platform holds, in the platform's own words, and the registered kind it becomes: its key on the platform, the fields kept as long texts, the fields that are outbound links, and the counts it shows"
section: concepts
address: /concepts/platformthing
contract: 0476e35e6e275db5
---

# PlatformThing

one kind of thing a platform holds, in the platform's own words, and the registered kind it becomes: its key on the platform, the fields kept as long texts, the fields that are outbound links, and the counts it shows

[figure: PlatformThing is a value at none scope. The drawing shows its fields and the objects that they point at.]

| property | value |
|---|---|
| kind | value |
| scope | none |
| key | none |
| store | none |
| family | sources |



## Fields


| field | type | required | note |
|---|---|---|---|
| `name` | `text` | yes | the platform's word: user profile, organisation profile, repository, package, job posting |
| `becomes` | [KindOfEntity](/concepts/kindofentity) | yes |  |
| `key_namespace` | `text` | yes | the identifier namespace of the thing's own key on the platform |
| `key_prefix` | `text` | no | the prefix the key carries, such as github: |
| `key_field` | `text` | yes | the field that carries the key on its pages and in the API |
| `texts` | `[text]` | yes | the fields kept as long texts |
| `links` | `[text]` | yes | the fields that are outbound links |
| `measures` | [KindOfMeasure](/concepts/kindofmeasure) | yes | the counts the thing shows |
| `note` | `text` | no |  |



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