Understanding the Clevero Architecture

Before you dive into building your first solution on Clevero, it’s important to understand how the platform is structured. Clevero is designed to be modular, flexible, and scalable to create anything from simple apps to complex end-to-end business systems.

This guide breaks down the 10 core components of the Clevero architecture and shows how they fit together to form a complete solution.

Core Components

📦 1. Instances

An Instance is the starting point of every solution. Think of it as your client's private platform that is secure and houses their data. Each instance contains:

Its own database
Its own UI and architecture
Its own roles and permissions
Its own dashboards, reports, and automations

You can set up multiple instances for the same client, or one instance per client.

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Pro Tip
Use a consistent naming convention when setting up instances, especially if managing multiple client environments.

📋 2. Records

Records are the backbone of your database, similar to “tables” in traditional systems. Each record defines the type of data you want to track, such as:

Customers
Projects
Tasks
Invoices
Appointments

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Each record is fully configurable with fields, layouts, relationships, and automations.

🧩 3. Fields

Fields are the individual data points inside a record (like names, dates, amounts, statuses, or linked records). Clevero supports 25+ field types, including:

Text, number, percentage, date, dropdowns, multi-select
Relationships (one-to-many, many-to-many)
File uploads

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Fields can also be reused across different layouts and used in logic, filtering, and reporting.

🖼️ 4. Entry Layouts & Views

Once records and fields are defined, you’ll design how users interact with them. Each record comes with two essential design layers, Entry Layouts and Views.

Entry Layouts

These define how users create or edit a single entry (a single row of data within the record. ie John Smith would be a single entry for Customers). You can organise fields into sections, tabs, or groups—giving your users a clean, guided experience.

Views

Define how users see collections of entries. Clevero supports:

Table views
Kanban boards
Calendar views

All views are filterable, searchable, and configurable with different data to be displayed to the end user.

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Pro Tip
Views are dynamic and user-friendly. It's perfect for tracking, searching, and managing large datasets.

🧭 5. Navigation

Navigation is the high-level menu system that defines how users move through the app. With Clevero’s navigation, you can:

Group items into categories (e.g., Sales, Operations, Admin)
Add links to record views (tables, Kanban, calendar)
Create shortcuts to filtered views (e.g., Open Projects)
Customise labels and icons to match your client’s terminology and branding
Set role-based visibility so users only see what’s relevant to them

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Pro Tip
Well-structured navigation = better user experience, improved productivity, and a more intuitive app experience.

📊 6. Dashboards

Dashboards let you display high-level metrics, charts, and visual summaries. You can add:

KPI widgets (e.g., Open Deals)
Line or bar charts
Record lists (e.g., Last 5 Enquiries)

Each dashboard can be role-specific or context-based, giving different users the insights they need while ensuring key data can remain private.

📈 7. Reports

Reports give users the ability to slice and dice data with powerful filters, groupings, and aggregations. Great for:

Operational reporting
Financial summaries
Team performance tracking

⚙️ 8. Interactions

Interactions bring business logic into your solution without backend code. They let you:

Auto-fill fields
Trigger popups or alerts
Apply conditional visibility
Validate input before saving

This makes apps more dynamic, reducing manual effort, and user error.

🔄 9. Workflows

Workflows bring process flows and automation to life in Clevero. They allow you to trigger key automation actions using Clevero’s scripting language.

Examples of triggers include:

When a button is pressed
When a new entry is added
When an entry is edited
When a document is signed

Examples of actions include:

Sending an email or SMS
Creating another entry
Generating a document
Updating existing data in the system

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Workflows make Clevero highly configurable, enabling you to adapt your instance to meet any business requirements.

🔐 10. Roles & Permissions

Clevero uses role-based access control (RBAC) to secure solutions. You can define:

What users see (records, fields, views, dashboards)
What users do (view, create, edit, delete)

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Pro Tip
Start with broad roles (Admin, Manager, User) and refine permissions as your solution grows.