Models & categories

Models and categories let you describe your assets once at the type level instead of repeating the same facts on every unit. You manage both under Settings → Taxonomies.

Asset models

An asset model is a generic make/model — for example “Dell Latitude 7440” or “Cisco Catalyst 9300”. It holds the facts every unit of that model shares, so individual assets don’t have to repeat them.

A model has a name (required), a manufacturer (required), an optional SKU, an optional description, an optional category, and optional default specs.

• Default specs are key/value defaults — for example “ships with 16GB”. When you create an asset and pick this model, those defaults are copied into the new asset’s custom fields as a starting point. You can then change them for the individual unit before saving.
• A model’s specs are a snapshot at creation time: editing a model later does not rewrite the custom fields of assets already created from it, and an asset’s own values always win over the model’s defaults.
• SKU is unique among live models when set, the same way a serial is for assets.

Manage models under Settings → Taxonomies → Asset models. The model picker in the asset form is searchable, so a long catalog stays easy to use.

Asset categories

An asset category classifies your models — for example Laptop, Desktop, Server, Switch, Firewall. Categories drive grouping and the category filter on the Assets list.

• A category has a name (required, unique among live categories), an optional description and an optional icon.
• lazyit ships with a starter set seeded for you (Server, Switch, Router, Firewall, Laptop, Desktop, Mobile, Printer, Storage, UPS, Peripheral, Other). These are ordinary categories — rename, edit or remove them like any other; they are not special.
• A model points at a category, and an asset inherits its category through its model. The category filter on the Assets list matches an asset by its model’s category.

Manage categories under Settings → Taxonomies → Asset categories.

How they fit together

The relationship is a simple chain:

Category classifies a model, and a model is what an asset is an instance of.

All three are optional links — an asset can exist with no model, and a model with no category — but filling them in is what makes filtering, grouping and reporting useful.

Removing a model or category

Models and categories are soft-deleted, never destroyed. Removing one does not delete or break the assets that reference it — those assets simply keep their snapshot and become unclassified for that link. This keeps your history intact: lazyit favors auditability over strict tidiness.

What’s next

• Asset basics — register and edit the individual units.
• Locations — track where assets live.