Subscription Tier: Starter, Pro
Item Mappings connect free-text descriptions (like those found in Google Calendar event descriptions to your inventory items. When the system parses event text to figure out what equipment is needed, it uses these mappings to translate human-readable phrases into tracked inventory items.
An item mapping is a rule that says: "When you see this text, it means this inventory item in this quantity."
For example:
- Source Text: "8ft Banquet" → Target Item: Tables > 8ft, Default Quantity: 1
- Source Text: "White Padded Chairs" → Target Item: Chairs > White Padded, Default Quantity: 1
- Source Text: "40x80" → Target Item: Tents > 40x80, Default Quantity: 1
When the system encounters "8ft Banquet" in an event description, it knows to deduct from your "Tables > 8ft" inventory.
Mappings are used in several places:
- Google Calendar event parsing — When a Google Calendar event description mentions equipment, mappings translate that text into inventory items for availability tracking.
- Quote booking — When a quote is booked into an event, mappings help match quoted items to inventory items.
- Analytics — Revenue estimates from Google Calendar events use mappings to identify what equipment was rented.
- Availability calculations — The availability tracker uses mappings to parse event descriptions and calculate what's in use.
Navigate to Inventory > Mappings to view and manage your item mappings.
- Click Add Mapping.
- Enter the Source Text — the phrase to match (case-insensitive). This should be exactly how the item might appear in event descriptions.
- Select the Target Item — the inventory item this text refers to.
- Set the Default Quantity — how many of the target item one match represents (default: 1).
- Choose whether the mapping is Active — inactive mappings are ignored during parsing.
- Click Save.
Click the edit icon to change a mapping's source text, target item, default quantity, or active status.
Select multiple mappings and use the bulk update feature to enable or disable them all at once. This is useful for seasonal adjustments or when testing new mapping configurations.
Click the delete icon to permanently remove a mapping. This doesn't affect any existing events — it only changes how future text parsing works.
The mappings page includes a Debug tool that lets you paste in text (like a Google Calendar event description) and see exactly which mappings match and what inventory items they resolve to.
This is invaluable for:
- Testing new mappings before activating them
- Troubleshooting why an event isn't correctly tracking inventory
- Verifying that composite items (Build Kits) are expanding correctly
The debug output shows:
- Each mapping that matched, with the source text and target item
- How many times each mapping matched in the text
- For composite items, the expanded component breakdown
- The final parsed item counts after all mappings are applied
When you first set up your inventory, the system automatically generates seed mappings for your items. These are created as inactive by default — you need to review and activate the ones that are relevant to your workflow.
Auto-generated mappings include:
- The item name by itself (e.g., "8ft")
- The item name + category plural (e.g., "8ft Tables")
- The item name + category singular (e.g., "8ft Table")
- Case-insensitive matching: Mappings are case-insensitive. "40x80", "40X80", and "40x80 tent" will all match a mapping with source text "40x80".
- Word boundary matching: The system uses word boundary matching, so "40x80" won't accidentally match inside "140x80" or "40x800". However, this means your source text needs to be a complete word or phrase.
- Multiple matches: If an event description mentions "40x80" three times, the mapping is applied three times (quantity x3). This is usually correct for descriptions like "2 x 40x80 tent" but could lead to over-counting if the same term appears in different contexts in the description.
- Active vs. inactive: Only active mappings are used for parsing. Seed mappings start as inactive — don't forget to activate the ones you need.
- Composite expansion: If a mapping targets a composite item (Build Kit), the system expands it to the component level for availability tracking. Make sure your Build Kit definitions are correct.
- Mapping conflicts: If you have overlapping mappings (e.g., "table" and "8ft table"), both may match the same text. The system applies all matches, which could double-count items. Use specific source text to avoid overlap, or use the debug tool to check for conflicts.
- Mappings don't affect quotes directly: Mappings are primarily for parsing free text (like Google Calendar descriptions). Quote items are matched to inventory by their quote item ID, not by text parsing. Mappings come into play when a quote is booked into an event.