Grist

Grist is a third-party open-source software we use for admin-editing birdd observations. Only observations made directly on a birdd community node can be edited with Grist. Observations from neighbors are not editable.

Note

Grist is a node-operator only capability. Your node-admin may give you credentials to use Grist and edit observations. That’s a conversation between you and your node-admin!

You might find the Grist documentation useful for general grist information.

Tables

Our_Observations

Shows observations made by your flock. Add one row or paste many rows to create observations in bulk. Edit a supported cell just like any other spreadsheet; birdd will record the change as a correction to the original observation.

You can edit:

• Subject - the name of the thing observed
• Observed At - a Unix timestamp; blank rows default to the current time
• Text - notes about the observation
• Tags - a comma-separated list of tags
• Editable extension fields exposed as columns by birdd
• Delete - check this box to delete the observation

For example, a node with the optional bird manifests installed may expose:

Subject: Common Loon
Count: 3
Tags: lake, migration
Text: Seen near the north shore

Columns such as Observation ID, Revision, Media, Origin, and Sync Status are managed by birdd; changes to them are not applied to the observation.

Extension columns depend on the manifests installed by the node operator. The read-only Extensions JSON column preserves the complete envelope map even when no dedicated column exists. See Grist integration for projection, conversion, and unknown-version behavior.

Note

Use the Delete checkbox rather than deleting the Grist row directly. Grist does not emit webhooks for row removal, so removing a spreadsheet row cannot delete its signed observation. The checkbox is an irreversible action, not an editable deleted state: once birdd receives it, a signed deletion is recorded and reconciliation removes the row from Grist. Unchecking the box cannot restore the observation. To recover its content, create a new row, which produces a new observation with a new ID.

Following_Remote

Shows remote observations retained by your node, including observations that Signal hides because their flock is not directly trusted. These observations are read-only because corrections must be signed by the flock that originally made them. See Trust, federation, and audiences for the difference between receiving and trusting an event.

Use this table to browse, sort, and filter observations from your neighbors.

Corrections

When you edit a supported field in Our_Observations, Grist sends the changed row back to your flock’s node.

If someone else corrected the same observation first, your edit may be rejected as stale. Refresh the table to get the newest revision, then make the correction again.

Syncing

Your node periodically reconciles Grist with its observation log. New local and remote observations appear automatically, and corrected values are updated in the spreadsheet. Sync Status shows the federation state reported by your node.