Topics
A topic has six tabs: Overview, Definition, Updates, Usage, Access, and Activity.
Overview
The topic’s structured facts, each with its source. This is what workflows and chat read for specific answers.
Facts are typed by the topic’s type. An empty field means either no source has mentioned it, or Alma wasn’t confident enough to write it.
Coming soon. Per-fact markers for open questions aren’t produced yet. The open-question count in the topic header is live; the per-fact pins are not.
Definition
The topic’s governance settings:
- Type — which schema type it follows
- Sources — which connected sources feed it
- Refresh — automatic synthesis, or manual only
- New facts — Auto-apply writes confident facts live; Ask first holds them as proposals for someone to accept
- Compaction — how the narrative is condensed as it grows
Automatic synthesis is off by default. Turn it on for topics that need to stay current — active accounts, not every record you’ve created.
Sources are picked from your real connections, not typed as free text.
Updates
The topic’s narrative, newest first. Where Overview answers “what’s the renewal date,” Updates answers “what’s been going on with this account.”
Each entry is attributed to its source.
Usage
Where this topic is read — which workflows, chats, and spaces draw on it. Check this before archiving a topic that looks dormant.
Access
Topics use the same model as everything else in Alma: a baseline plus rules.
Baseline is the floor: Everyone, Admins & up, or Owners only.
Rules grant or block specific groups or people, with a capability:
| Capability | Means |
|---|---|
| Can view | Read the topic |
| Can edit | Change its facts and definition |
| Full access | Edit, plus manage access |
Resolution follows the same rule as elsewhere: an explicit Deny wins, and a more specific rule (person > group > baseline) overrides a broader one.
Saving replaces the whole rule list — make all your changes and save once.
Reserve topic-level access for sensitive cases — compensation, an acquisition, anything legal. A workflow that can’t read a topic can’t ground its work in it.
Activity
Coming soon. A topic’s Activity tab is always empty. For workspace-wide changes, use Activity.
Creating and archiving
Create a topic manually from the Memory list, or let a research campaign propose one. Proposed topics arrive as suggested and wait for you to accept them.
Archiving hides a topic without deleting it. Check Usage first.