A Relationship field lets you connect data between two categories in Layer. It replaces the previous Related Element, Auto Lookup, and Spatial Relationship fields by combining all relationship types into one unified field. Relationships can be Manual, Automatic, or Spatial, depending on how you want data to connect across categories.
Manual relationships let you manually select and link items from one category to another. For example, you can link a Vendor from your Company Directory to a Product in your Furniture Specifications category, or connect Observation Notes to a Field Report.
When configuring a manual relationship, you can:
Enable or disable new item creation – Allow users to create new items in the related category (e.g., new vendors) while selecting one.
Enable or disable navigation – Choose whether users can click on related items in the table view to open them.
Select single or multiple records – Choose between allowing one related record or multiple selections.
Track quantities – Turn this on to specify item quantities within the relationship (useful for room or equipment planning).
Show specific fields – Choose which fields from the related category appear in the table display and element selection popover (for example, vendor email, phone number, and website).
Each relationship displays consistently across all items in the category. Clicking a related item takes you directly to the connected record, where you can view or edit its details. You can also edit visible fields anytime using the Edit Visible Fields button to control which properties display in the table or selection list.
Automatic relationships replace the older Auto Lookup functionality. These relationships automatically connect items from one category to another based on matching criteria you define. For example, you might want each Product in your Products category to automatically link to Revit Furniture Instances in your Model Furniture category where the Mark parameter matches the Item Tag field in the product record.
When setting up an automatic relationship:
Select a category to match from (e.g., Model Furniture).
Define matching criteria (e.g., Mark = Item Tag).
Choose which fields to display from the related items (for example, Level, Room, or Phase Created In).
Automatic relationships update continuously based on the matching rule, so you can’t manually add or remove related items. You can view or edit these settings using View Relationship Details, which shows the matching criteria and visible fields. You can also modify which fields appear in the related item table.
Spatial relationships are available only in Revit model categories. They automatically connect elements based on their physical location in the model—such as rooms, areas, or spaces. For example, in a Rooms category, you can create a spatial relationship to show all Furniture located within each room.
When creating a spatial relationship: