Mental Model

Your Portfolio = Everything You Own

There is no “Portfolio” entity or screen in Strata. The concept is simpler:

Your portfolio is the sum of all the assets you track.

Add assets → they become part of your portfolio automatically
Dispose of an asset → it is excluded from net worth calculations
Categories and tags handle all the grouping you need (see below)
PortfolioSnapshot records the total value at a specific moment in time — it is a global snapshot, not a sub-view of a named group

How Net Worth Works

All non-disposed assets
       ↓
Latest AssetSnapshot per asset  (you enter these manually)
       ↓
Sum → PortfolioSnapshot  (created via "Take Snapshot" in the UI or POST /api/v1/portfolio-snapshots)
       ↓
Net Worth Chart (shows your wealth over time)

Loans and liabilities are assets with negative snapshot values. They subtract from the total automatically — no special configuration needed.

Mental Model — WordPress-Style Classification System

Asset management system uses a two-layer approach inspired by WordPress:

Layer 1: Asset Type (Accounting Classification)

Purpose: High-level financial/accounting categorization
Cardinality: ~10/15 types maximum
Relationship: Many-to-one (each asset has exactly ONE type)
Examples:

CHECKING_ACCOUNT
SAVINGS_ACCOUNT
CASH
REAL_ESTATE
STOCKS
CRYPTO
BONDS
LOAN
VEHICLE
PERSONAL_PROPERTY
COLLECTIBLES
BUSINESS
OTHER

Think of it as: “What type of asset is this for accounting/tax purposes?”

Layer 2: Categories (WordPress-Style, Many-to-Many)

Purpose: Flexible, multi-dimensional organization
Cardinality: Unlimited, user-defined hierarchy
Relationship: Many-to-many (each asset can belong to MULTIPLE categories)
Structure: Hierarchical (parent/child relationships via parent_id)

Examples:

Hierarchical Categories

Clothing > T-Shirts > Summer T-Shirts
Real Estate > Residential > Apartments > Paris
Furniture > Dining > Wooden Chairs
Toys > Building Sets > LEGO > Star Wars

Cross-Cutting Categories

Income Generating Assets
Primary Residence
Athletic Wear
Collectibles > Investment Grade
Multi-Purpose Items
Office Equipment

Think of it as: “What organizational buckets does this belong to?” (Answer: potentially many!)

Layer 3: Tags (Flat Labels)

Purpose: Additional metadata and filtering
Cardinality: Unlimited, user-defined
Relationship: Many-to-many (each asset can have MANY tags)
Structure: Flat (no hierarchy)

Examples:

summer, cotton, breathable
paris, airbnb, sold
star_wars, vintage, unopened
wood, stackable, versatile

Think of it as: “What additional attributes describe this?”

WordPress Category Logic

Just like WordPress posts, your assets can belong to multiple categories simultaneously:

Example: Summer T-Shirts

✅ Clothing > T-Shirts (hierarchical path)
✅ Athletic Wear (functional category)
✅ Casual Wear (style category)

Example: Paris Apartment

✅ Real Estate > Residential > Apartments (hierarchical path)
✅ Primary Residence (legal classification)
✅ Income Generating Assets (financial classification)

Example: LEGO Set

✅ Toys > Building Sets > LEGO (hierarchical path)
✅ Collectibles > Investment Grade (purpose)
✅ Kids Room Items (location)

Why Many-to-Many Categories?

Scenario	Single Category (Old Model)	Multiple Categories (WordPress Model)
Apartment used as home + rental	Must choose ONE: “Primary Residence” OR “Rental”	BOTH: “Primary Residence” AND “Income Generating Assets”
T-shirts for sports + casual	Must choose ONE path	BOTH: “Clothing > T-Shirts” AND “Athletic Wear” AND “Casual Wear”
LEGO as toy + investment	Must choose ONE purpose	BOTH: “Toys > LEGO” AND “Collectibles”

Benefit: Assets can be organized from multiple perspectives without duplication.

How This Works in Practice

Creating an Asset

Asset: "Summer T-Shirts"
Asset Type: PERSONAL_PROPERTY (choose ONE)
Categories:
  ✓ Clothing > T-Shirts
  ✓ Athletic Wear
  ✓ Casual Wear
  (select as many as needed)
Tags: summer, cotton, breathable

Querying Assets

Filter by “Athletic Wear” → Returns:

Summer T-Shirts
Running Shoes
Yoga Mat

Filter by “Clothing > T-Shirts” → Returns:

Summer T-Shirts
Winter T-Shirts
Designer T-Shirts

Filter by “Income Generating Assets” → Returns:

Paris Apartment
Rental Property Barcelona
Vending Machine

Filter by both “Clothing > T-Shirts” AND “Athletic Wear” → Returns:

Summer T-Shirts (intersection)

Category Hierarchy

Categories can have parent/child relationships just like WordPress:

Real Estate (parent)
├── Residential (child)
│   ├── Apartments (grandchild)
│   └── Houses (grandchild)
└── Commercial (child)
    ├── Office Buildings (grandchild)
    └── Retail Spaces (grandchild)

An asset can belong to:

Just “Real Estate” (parent only)
“Real Estate” AND “Residential > Apartments” (parent + full path)
“Residential > Apartments” AND “Income Generating Assets” (hierarchy + cross-cutting)

Comparison Table

Feature	Asset Type	Categories	Tags
Control	Controlled vocabulary	User-defined	Complete freedom
Structure	Flat list	Tree hierarchy	Flat labels
Per Asset	Exactly 1	0 to many	0 to many
Purpose	Accounting/tax	Organization/navigation	Filtering/metadata
Relationship	Many-to-one	Many-to-many	Many-to-many
Hierarchy	No	Yes (parent_id)	No

Key Principles

Asset Type = Legal/Accounting classification (required, singular, stable)
Categories = Organizational flexibility (optional, multiple, hierarchical)
Tags = Descriptive metadata (optional, multiple, flat)

This gives you:

✅ Precision (Asset Type for accounting)
✅ Flexibility (Multiple categories per asset)
✅ Discoverability (Find assets from multiple angles)
✅ Simplicity (WordPress-familiar model)

WordPress Comparison

Feature	WordPress	Your Model
Posts/Assets	Posts	Assets
Post Type	Post, Page, Custom	Asset Type
Categories	Many-to-many + hierarchy	Many-to-many + hierarchy ✓
Tags	Many-to-many, flat	Many-to-many, flat ✓

Your model = WordPress categories + Asset Type for accounting structure

This is the most flexible approach while maintaining clear accounting boundaries via Asset Type.