---
title: "Create and edit items"
description: "The Items tab of Inventory is the catalog of everything you stock. This page covers browsing it, the All, Purchased, Manufactured and Tools segments, searching by name or SKU, the card and list modes, creating an item, every field an item carries and whether it can be changed later, marking an item as a reusable tool, and editing or deleting one. Creating and editing items takes an Owner or Administrator role, and the catalog is the same on the web, iOS and Android."
category: "Manage stock"
source_url: "https://www.iotflows.com/docs/inventory/manage-items/"
---
# Create and edit items

The catalog and every field on an item.

An *item* is one line in the catalog: a part you buy, a part you make, or a tool you own. The catalog lives on the **Items** tab of Inventory, at `/inventory?select=items`. Stock, locations and the ledger all hang off items, so this is where a part starts.

Creating, editing and deleting items takes an [Owner or Administrator role](/docs/admin/roles-reference/). Every other member can browse, search and open items, but the **Add Item** button is hidden for them and the per-item menu is disabled. If you only need one part set up end to end, the shorter path is [Quickstart: add an item and set its stock](/docs/inventory/quickstart/).

## Browse the catalog
Open **Inventory** and stay on the **Items** tab. Each row or card is one item, with its name, its *SKU* (your own code for the part, unique in your catalog), its tool chip if it carries one, and its quantities.

The count beside the **Inventory Items** heading is what the current segment and search return, not how many items you own. Pieces are not listed here. A *piece* is one individually tracked physical unit of an item, and it is managed on that item's detail, covered on [Track serialized pieces and tools](/docs/inventory/serialized-pieces/).

Select any item to open its detail drawer, where stock by location, per-piece stock, reservations and the item's own fields live.

![The Inventory Items tab in card mode, showing a grid of item cards with the toolbar above them](/images/inventory/inv-items-01.webp)

*The Items tab of the Inventory page in card mode, with the segment filter, the search box and the Add Item button in the toolbar.*

**On mobile.** The catalog is a tab of its own in the iOS app and sits under **More** on Android. Both carry the same segments, the same search and the same create and adjust actions. Barcode scanning is a mobile-only extra that this documentation does not cover.

![The Inventory item list on Android, showing the segment filter above a list of items](/images/inventory/inv-items-06.webp)

*The item catalog on Android, reached from the More tab. It carries the same segments and the same search as the web.*

## The segments
The pill above the list narrows the catalog. It holds four segments, and only one is active at a time. The catalog opens on **All**.

**Purchased** and **Manufactured** are the item's *type*, which is what it is to you: something you buy in, or something you make. **Tools** is a different axis. A tool is still purchased or manufactured, so **Tools** narrows the list to the items ticked as a *reusable tool*, equipment a job takes and gives back rather than uses up.

On a narrow screen the pill becomes a dropdown labeled with the active segment, for example **All types**.

| Segment | Contains | Appears in Low Stock |
|---|---|---|
| **All** | Every purchased and manufactured item, tools included. The default. | Each item follows its own type |
| **Purchased** | Items typed Purchased. Everything created on the web starts here. | Yes |
| **Manufactured** | Items typed Manufactured. | No |
| **Tools** | Items ticked as a reusable tool, whichever type they carry. | Only the purchased ones |

Get the type right. Only purchased parts are fetched for the **Low Stock** tab, so a manufactured item never appears there however low it runs. See [Monitor low stock and reorder points](/docs/inventory/low-stock/).

![Close crop of the Inventory segment pill with All, Purchased, Manufactured and Tools, numbered one to three on the last three](/images/inventory/inv-items-02.webp)

*The segment filter above the catalog: All, Purchased, Manufactured and Tools. Only purchased items are fetched for the Low Stock tab.*

## Search by name or SKU
Type into **Search name or SKU...** under the toolbar. The search runs on the server a fifth of a second after you stop typing, and it matches the item name and the SKU, so `FLT` and `Hydraulic filter` both find `FLT-2004`.

Search and the segment combine. Searching `bar` with **Tools** active returns only reusable items matching `bar`, and an empty result reads **No items match your search**.

The query is held in the address bar as `?q=`, so a search is a link you can send to someone. Select **×** in the field to clear it.

## Card and list modes
The pair of buttons to the right of the segment pill switches between list and card. The catalog opens in list, and your choice is remembered in the browser for the next visit.

**List mode** gives every item a row with four quantity columns: **On hand**, **Reserved**, **Incoming** and **Available**. Available is on hand minus what open work orders have reserved, which is the number the reorder point is measured against. [Adjust stock and track locations](/docs/inventory/adjust-stock/) explains where each of the four comes from.

**Card mode** shows the item's picture, its stock pill reading **In stock**, **Low stock** or **Shortage**, and **Available** alone.

Choose list mode when you are reconciling counts or looking for what is short, because it is the only mode showing reserved and incoming side by side. Choose card mode when you are browsing a catalog you do not know by SKU. A narrow window stacks the list into rows that read like cards.

![The Inventory Items tab in list mode, showing item rows with On hand, Reserved, Incoming and Available columns](/images/inventory/inv-items-05.webp)

*The catalog in list mode, which it opens in, with On hand, Reserved, Incoming and Available as columns.*

## Create an item
1. Select **Add Item** in the toolbar.
2. Add an **Item Image**. It is optional, and it is what makes a part recognizable to whoever is sent to fetch it.
3. Enter a **Name**, for example `Hydraulic filter, 10 micron`.
4. Enter a **SKU**, for example `FLT-2004`.
5. Enter a **Description**, optionally. One line, for example `Spin-on, replaces Parker 925039`.
6. Enter a **Unit**. A *unit* is what one of the item is measured in. It is free text, it defaults to `each`, and `box`, `L` and `kg` are all valid.
7. Enter a **Reorder point**, or leave it empty for 0.
8. Leave both checkboxes clear unless the item is a tool or is stocked as pieces. Both are covered below.
9. Select **Add Item**. IoTFlows confirms with **Item added**, or **Tool added** if you ticked the tool box.

**Add Item** stays disabled until both **Name** and **SKU** carry text. Submitting an empty one raises **Name and SKU are required**. If the save fails for another reason, the toast carries the reason the server gave and the modal keeps what you typed.

![The Add Item modal with numbered callouts on Name, SKU, Unit and Reorder point](/images/inventory/inv-items-03.webp)

*Every field on the Add Item modal. Name and SKU are required, and there is no type control: everything created here starts as Purchased.*

![The New item sheet in the mobile app, with fields for item picture, name, SKU, unit and reorder point above the reusable-tool and stocked-as-pieces toggles](/images/inventory/inv-items-07.webp)

*Creating an item in the mobile app. Name and SKU are required here exactly as they are on the web.*

## Item fields
The **Add Item** modal offers no type control. Everything created on the web is created as **Purchased**, and a part you make has to be re-typed afterwards on its detail.

| Field | Required | Accepts | Effect | Editable later |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| **Name** | Yes | Text | Identifies the item everywhere it is listed, reserved or ordered | Yes, from **Edit Item** or the name on the item's detail |
| **SKU** | Yes | Text, your own code | The second thing search matches, and what the delete dialog quotes back to you | Yes, from **Edit Item** or the SKU on the item's detail |
| **Description** | No | Text | Shown on the item's detail. Use it for the cross-reference a buyer needs | Yes, from **Edit Item** or the description on the detail |
| **Type** | Not offered on create | `Purchased` or `Manufactured` | Decides the segment it sits in, and whether it is ever fetched for Low Stock | Yes, from the **Type** field on the item's detail only |
| **Unit** | No, defaults to `each` | Free text: `each`, `box`, `L`, `kg` | Labels every quantity on the item. Changing it relabels the numbers, it does not convert them | Yes, from **Edit Item** or the **Unit** field on the detail |
| **Reorder point** | No, defaults to 0 | A number, in the item's unit | The available quantity at or below which the item is flagged low. 0 is never flagged low | Yes, from **Edit Item** or the **Reorder point** field on the detail |
| **Item Image** | No | An image you crop in place | The picture on the item's card | Yes, from **Edit Item** |
| **This is a reusable tool** | No | Checkbox | Adds the **Tool** chip, puts the item in the **Tools** segment, and means the quantity comes back when a work order closes | **No.** Set it at creation |
| **This item is stocked as pieces** | No | Checkbox | The item holds no stock of its own. Its pieces do, and every count on it is a count of pieces | **No.** Set it at creation |

The two checkboxes exclude each other. Ticking the tool box clears the pieces box and disables it, because a tool is already one object that comes back whole, while pieces exist to divide a quantity of material.

> **Warning:**
> **Can you change the two checkboxes later?** No. Neither the **Edit Item** modal nor the item's detail offers them, so an item created as ordinary material cannot be turned into a tool, and an item created as material cannot be switched to piece tracking. Delete the item and create it again, or [contact IoTFlows](/docs/get-started/get-support/) if it already carries stock history you need.

## Mark an item as a reusable tool
Tick **This is a reusable tool** in the **Add Item** modal to create one: a torque wrench, a fixture, a rack, a tube.

Mark an item as a reusable tool when it comes back. Tools are checked out and in rather than consumed, which is a different ledger and a different question at the end of the month. A work order reserves a tool exactly as it reserves material, but closing the work order returns the quantity instead of spending it.

A tool reads differently across the product. Its list row and card carry a sky **Tool** chip, its modals say **Edit Tool** and **Delete Tool**, and its incoming quantity reads **coming back** rather than **incoming**.

Serializing a tool has a scheduler consequence. Each piece is a capacity-1 resource, so two jobs needing the same physical fixture show as a conflict without anyone writing a rule. See [Find and fix problems in the schedule](/docs/production/schedule-issues/).

![Close crop of the Add Item modal showing the This is a reusable tool checkbox ticked, with its helper text below](/images/inventory/inv-items-04.webp)

*The reusable tool checkbox on the Add Item modal. A tool is stocked and reserved like any material, but the quantity comes back when the work order closes.*

## Edit or delete an item
Two paths edit an item, and they cover different fields.

**The Edit Item modal** takes the picture, name, SKU, description, unit and reorder point in one pass. Select the **⋮** menu on an item's row or card, then **Edit Item**, then **Save changes**. IoTFlows confirms with **Item updated**, and clearing the name still raises **Name and SKU are required**.

**The item's detail** edits one field at a time. Select the item to open it, then select the name, SKU, description, **Type**, **Unit** or **Reorder point**: each is click-to-edit and saves on its own. A save that fails reverts the field and raises **Could not update item**.

Use the detail when you are changing the **Type**, because that is the only place it can be changed. Use **Edit Item** for everything else, since it saves the whole set in one request.

To delete, select **Delete Item** in the same **⋮** menu. The dialog names the item and its SKU: the item leaves the catalog and its stock history is retained. Deleting is not undoable here, so an item a work order still reserves is better left in place with its stock set to zero.

> **Info:**
> **Stock is not edited here.** Neither path changes what is on the shelf. Quantities move only through **Adjust stock** or through a work order, so that every change writes a ledger row. See [Adjust stock and track locations](/docs/inventory/adjust-stock/) and [How work orders move stock](/docs/inventory/how-work-orders-move-stock/).

## See also
- [Track serialized pieces and tools](/docs/inventory/serialized-pieces/)
- [Adjust stock and track locations](/docs/inventory/adjust-stock/)
- [Transaction types](/docs/inventory/transaction-types/)
- [Link required and created parts to an operation](/docs/production/bind-materials/)