Formulas

Formulas are computed columns in Bases. Use them to calculate values, combine fields, work with dates, and apply conditional logic — all from your note properties.

Formulas let you create calculated properties in Bases using data from other properties. A formula property doesn’t exist in your notes’ frontmatter — it’s computed on the fly from values that do.

What formulas can do

• Calculate values — add prices, compute totals, perform math operations.
• Manipulate text — combine strings, change case, extract substrings.
• Work with dates — calculate time differences, format dates, determine deadlines.
• Apply logic — use conditional statements to display different values.
• Process lists — filter, sort, map, or aggregate list data.

Create a formula property

1. Open the Properties menu

   In your base, click Properties in the toolbar.

2. Add a formula

   Click Add formula at the bottom of the menu.

3. Name and define the formula

   Enter a name for the formula property and type your formula expression in the Formula field.

4. Save

   Close the dialog. A green checkmark confirms the formula is valid.

Once created, a formula property works like any other property: add it to views, filter by it, sort by it, and more.

Write a formula

A formula is an expression that combines properties, operators, and functions.

Reference properties

You can reference three types of properties:

Type	Syntax	Example
Note property (frontmatter)	property_name or note.property_name	price, note.price
File property	file.name, file.size, file.mtime	file.mtime
Another formula	formula.formula_name	formula.price_per_unit

Examples:

price * quantity
file.name + " - " + description
formula.price_per_unit * 1.1

Operators

Arithmetic:

price + tax
price - discount
price * quantity
price / quantity
(part / whole) * 100

Comparison (return true or false):

price > 100
age < 18
status == "Done"
status != "Done"
file.mtime > now() - '7d'

Boolean:

!completed
price > 0 && quantity > 0
urgent || important

Functions

Functions perform operations on values. The available functions depend on the value type. See the full function list in Bases syntax.

Category	Examples
Global	if(), now(), today(), date(), link(), max(), min()
String	contains(), replace(), split(), lower(), title()
Number	round(), ceil(), floor(), abs(), toFixed()
Date	format(), relative(), date(), time()
List	filter(), map(), sort(), join(), unique()

Formula examples

Calculate a deadline

Set a project’s due date to 2 weeks after the start date:

start_date + "2w"

Display overdue status

Show “Overdue” if the due date has passed and the task isn’t done:

if(due_date < now() && status != "Done", "Overdue", "")

Format currency

Display a price with two decimal places and a currency symbol:

if(price, "$" + price.toFixed(2), "")

Count list items

Count the number of items in a list property:

tasks.length

Calculate a priority score

Combine multiple factors into a single score:

(impact * urgency) / effort

Combine text fields

Create a full name from first and last name properties:

first_name + " " + last_name

Calculate total cost

Multiply a monthly cost by the number of months, using another formula:

monthlyUses * formula.Owned.round()

Data types

Formulas work with these data types:

Type	Description	Examples
String	Text in quotes	"hello", 'world'
Number	Numeric values	42, 3.14
Boolean	True or false	true, false
Date	Date or datetime	Created with date(), today(), or now()
List	Ordered collection	[1, 2, 3]
Object	Key-value pairs	{"name": "value"}

The output type of a formula is determined by the data and functions used.

Reference other formulas

Formulas can reference other formula properties to build derived calculations:

// Formula: price_per_unit
price / quantity

// Formula: total_with_markup — references price_per_unit
formula.price_per_unit * 1.1

A formula cannot reference itself directly or indirectly through other formulas. Circular references will produce an error.