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Quick start

This guide walks you through the key concepts of MatStream with a practical example. By the end you will have a clear picture of how the platform works and be ready to start using it with your team.

The example we will use is creating and releasing a simple purchased part — a bearing. This touches all the core concepts: entities, properties, lifecycle states, and revisions.

Prerequisites

Before you can follow this guide you need a MatStream account and access to a workspace. See Create an account and Accessing a workspace if you have not done this yet.

Administrator setup required

Your workspace administrator needs to have configured at least one category, one lifecycle definition, and one numbering scheme. If you are the administrator, start with the Administration section first.

Step 1 — Open your workspace

When you log in to MatStream you land in your workspace. The main navigation gives you access to:

  • Library — the full catalogue of entities in your workspace
  • Explorer — a tree view of entities organised in folders and assembly structures
  • Administration — workspace configuration (administrators only)

Step 2 — Create a new entity

  1. Navigate to the Library
  2. Click New entity
  3. Select a category — for this example, select Purchased Part
  4. MatStream automatically assigns a unique number from the numbering scheme configured for that category (e.g. PP-2026-0001)
  5. Give the entity a name — for example, Deep groove ball bearing 6205
  6. Click Save

The entity is created in the Draft lifecycle state. It now exists in your workspace and is ready to be filled in.

Step 3 — Fill in properties

With the entity open, navigate to the General tab. This shows all the properties defined for the Purchased Part category.

Fill in the relevant fields — for example:

Property Value
Description Deep groove ball bearing, 25mm bore
Manufacturer SKF
Manufacturer part number 6205-2RS1
Material Chrome steel
Mass (kg) 0.085

Required properties are marked clearly — MatStream will not allow you to progress the entity until these are completed.

Click Save when done. MatStream creates a new internal version capturing all the values you entered.

Step 4 — Attach a file

If you have a datasheet or drawing for the bearing, you can attach it to the entity:

  1. Navigate to the Files tab on the entity detail page
  2. Click Upload file
  3. Select the file from your computer — for example, a PDF datasheet
  4. Click Save

The file is now linked to this specific version of the entity. If the entity is revised in future, the file attachment history is preserved.

Step 5 — Submit for review

When the entity is ready for approval, you trigger a lifecycle transition:

  1. On the entity detail page, look for the lifecycle action button — this shows the available transitions from the current state
  2. Click Submit for review — this moves the entity from Draft to In Review
  3. MatStream records the transition in the entity's history — who submitted it and when

The entity is now awaiting approval. Depending on your workspace configuration, the relevant users will be notified.

Note

The transition button you see depends on your user group permissions. If you do not see a transition option, your group may not have permission to trigger that transition. Contact your administrator.

Step 6 — Release the entity

A user with approval permissions — for example, a member of the Quality group — reviews the entity and approves it:

  1. Open the entity in In Review state
  2. Review the properties and attached files
  3. Click Release — this moves the entity from In Review to Released
  4. MatStream assigns a formal revision label — for example, revision A

The entity is now officially released. It becomes read-only to most users, and revision A is permanently recorded in the revision history.

Released parts are most useful when they are linked to the assemblies that use them. To link the bearing to an assembly:

  1. Open the assembly entity
  2. Navigate to its Uses tab
  3. Click Add link
  4. Search for and select the bearing entity
  5. Click Save

The bearing now appears in the assembly's Uses list. MatStream automatically adds the assembly to the bearing's Where-Used list — so you can always see which assemblies are affected if the bearing ever changes.

Step 8 — Make a change

Suppose the bearing specification needs to change. Because it is Released and read-only, you cannot edit it directly — you need to create a new revision:

  1. Open the released bearing entity
  2. Click New revision — MatStream creates a new Draft version of the entity, ready for editing
  3. The revision label will advance to B when this new revision is eventually released
  4. Make your changes, attach updated files, and repeat the review and release process

The full history is preserved — revision A remains permanently in the record, and revision B becomes the new current release.

What you have learned

In this walkthrough you have seen:

  • How entities are created and numbered automatically
  • How properties capture structured data about an entity
  • How lifecycle states control the approval process
  • How revision labels are assigned on formal release
  • How entities are linked to build BOM structures with where-used traceability
  • How changes are managed through new revisions rather than overwriting history

Next steps

  • Entities — a deeper look at the entity model
  • Workspaces — understand workspaces and what they contain
  • Administration — configure categories, lifecycle definitions, and numbering schemes for your workspace