Data
Data is structured information the app remembers.
Plain English
Data is any fact your app keeps: a contact name, a task title, a message body, a price. It is not the button or the animation — it is what you still have tomorrow after you close the tab. Good data is labeled and typed (text, number, date, yes/no) so the app and your AI agents do not guess.
Index cards in a filing cabinet — each card has labeled lines, not a blob of scribbles.
Wedding name, task due date, and guest count are data. The pink Save button is not.
Contact phone, conversation status, and last message text are data.
Go deeper
Facts the app stores: names, dates, amounts, statuses.
Common mistakes
- Storing the same fact in two tables and letting them disagree.
- Saving huge blobs in one field when you need searchable pieces.
AI-agent trap
Summary
Data becomes useful when it has a shape: each piece has a field name and a type. A task might have title (text), dueDate (ISO string), done (boolean). Screens read data; mutations write it.