# Products, categories, and entities

How products, categories, and entities fit together.


A product is the item you protect. It is the one thing a team has to create.
A category and an entity are optional. You can run TAGBASE with products alone.

## Products

A [product](/docs/dashboard/products) owns the tags that go on the physical
items, and the content a customer sees after a scan. Open it from
**Products** in the sidebar.

## Categories

A [category](/docs/dashboard/categories) groups products. A product belongs to
one category at most, and assigning one is optional.

A category can have no fields. Assigning a product to it only records the
membership.

A category can also carry custom fields, such as a batch number, and it can
link to several entities you already keep, such as a partner and a clinic.
You fill those in when you create the product or assign the category. The
values are stored on the product's tags.

## Entities

An [entity](/docs/dashboard/entities) is a kind of record your team keeps,
such as a partner or a supplier. Each entity has its own records. A category
may link to entities that already exist. The entity and its records stay as
they are.

## How they fit

| | You have to create it | What it holds |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Product | Yes | The tags, and what a customer sees |
| Category | No | Optional membership, custom fields, and links to entities |
| Entity | No | Records the team keeps, such as partners |

A product with no category stores no category fields. A category with no
fields stores membership only. You fill entity links when you assign the
category, and each tag keeps the link.