Activity type configuration controls how activities are created, named, and organized in your workspace. A well-configured activity type ensures that every activity gets a consistent name, carries the right metadata, and makes it easy for users to generate documents with the correct naming and content.

This article walks through the full setup process: creating subtypes, defining naming conventions, configuring metadata fields, tagging, and linking document templates.

All activity type configuration lives in two places in Settings:

To get to subtype configuration, go to Settings > Workspace Settings > Activity Settings, use the Activity Type dropdown to select the type you want to configure, then click Configure [Activity Type].

Kivo includes five activity types, each designed for a specific use case:

Each activity type has subtypes that represent the specific kinds of activities within that category — for example, a Quality Activity type might have subtypes like "CAPA", "Deviation" and "Audit".

Subtypes define the specific categories of activity within each type. Every activity a user creates is assigned a subtype at creation time.

Subtypes can be reordered by dragging the handle on the left side of each row. The order here determines the order users see when creating a new activity.

Each subtype has a Code field — a short identifier used in naming and reporting. The code is typically an abbreviation of the subtype name (for example, CAPA for Corrective and Preventive Action, or DEV for Deviation).

The code is used via the {{Subtype Code}} token in Name Formats and document template display names, and appears in activity references and exports.

To set the code, expand a subtype and click the Code field to edit it in place.

Tags on a subtype are used to organize and filter activities in views and reports, and to link document templates to specific subtypes (see Linking Activity Document Templates below).

Tags must contain only lowercase letters, numbers, and hyphens. Enter multiple tags separated by commas: quality, capa, critical.

To edit tags, expand a subtype and click the Tags field.

The Name Format field controls how activities of this type or subtype are automatically named when they are created. A well-designed name format gives every activity a consistent, meaningful identifier without requiring users to type it manually.

Name formats support three kinds of dynamic content:

Name Format can be set at the activity type level (applies to all subtypes that do not have their own format) or at the individual subtype level. You cannot set it at both levels simultaneously — if any subtype has its own format, the type-level field becomes read-only, and vice versa.

Use the type-level format when all subtypes follow the same naming pattern. Use subtype-level formats when different subtypes need different conventions.

Sequences automatically assign an incrementing number to each new activity, so every activity gets a unique identifier without manual input.

To configure a sequence, expand the sequence fields within a subtype (or at the type level):

Like Name Format, sequences can be configured at the type level or the subtype level, but not both.

Prerequisites let you require that one subtype be completed before another can be started. For example, you might require that a "Root Cause Analysis" subtype be completed before an "Action Plan" subtype can begin.

To set prerequisites, expand a subtype and click Prerequisites. Check each subtype that must be completed before this one can begin.

Project Modes control which project categories this subtype is available in. Each mode must have at least one category assigned, or the subtype will show a validation warning and users will not be able to create activities of that subtype until it is resolved.

To configure, expand a subtype and click the eye icon next to Project Modes. Check each applicable mode, then check which categories within that mode apply.

Metadata fields are the structured data points collected on each activity. They appear on the activity record and can be referenced in name formats, document names, and reporting.

To add a metadata field to an activity type:

Fields scoped to a specific subtype only appear on activities of that subtype. Fields scoped to an activity type (without a subtype selection) appear on all subtypes of that type.

One of the most powerful features of activity configuration is the ability to pull metadata field values automatically into activity names and document names using {{curly brace}} tokens.

When a user creates a new activity, Kivo evaluates the Name Format and prompts them to fill in any {{Field Name}} tokens that are not date codes. The entered values are then substituted into the name.

For example, if the Name Format is REG-{{Country}}-{{YYYY}} and the user types "US" for Country, the activity is named REG-US-2026. The field name in the token must match the metadata field name (matching is not case-sensitive).

When users generate a document from an activity using the Generate Document button, Kivo applies metadata values to the document name automatically. To enable this, include {{Field Name}} tokens in the document template's display name.

For example, a document template display name of Protocol-{{Control Number}}-v{{Version}} will automatically fill in the activity's Control Number metadata value when the document is created. The special token {{Subtype Code}} pulls in the subtype code.

If you name your metadata fields consistently and use matching tokens in your document template display names, documents generated from activities will be named automatically without any user input.

Activity document templates are the file templates (Word, Excel, PDF, etc.) that users can generate directly from within an activity. Setting these up means users can create the right document with one click, with the name pre-filled from activity metadata.

The display name is what users see when selecting a template in the Generate Document dialog. Include {{Field Name}} tokens in the display name to have the document named automatically from the activity's metadata values.

Template tags on a document template control which activities the template appears for. Click Edit Mode, then click the tags field for a template and enter the subtype tags that should see this template.

The tags you enter here must match the tags assigned to the activity subtypes. A template only appears in the Generate Document dialog for activities whose subtype has a matching tag.

For example: tag the "CAPA" subtype with capa, and tag the document template with capa. The template then appears only for CAPA activities.

Once templates are configured, users can generate documents from any activity record:

A cabinet template defines the standard folder structure that is applied when an activity is linked to a new cabinet. This ensures every activity of a given type starts with the same folder structure.

When a user links an activity to a cabinet, the system uses the matching cabinet template to pre-populate the folder structure.