Facets

Facets are a part of Phaset’s metamodeling concepts.

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Facets are freeform metamodel concepts that let you classify Records using dimensions specific to your organization. Unlike Domains, Systems, and Groups—which are built into Phaset—Facets emerge naturally from how you tag your software.

They answer the question: “What organization-specific dimensions matter for categorizing our software?”

Facets work through a simple tagging convention: any tag formatted as facet_name:value automatically becomes a Facet. The left side defines the Facet type, the right side its value.

Examples:

• capability:payment-processing
• business-area:retail
• data-classification:pii
• compliance:gdpr
• lifecycle-stage:sunset

Each Facet appears on the dedicated Facets page and can be used for filtering in the Catalog—just like any other metamodel concept.

Why Facets Matter

Every organization is different. A financial services company might care about regulatory compliance while an e-commerce platform might be much more interested in tracking business capabilities.

Facets let you model what matters to you without waiting for Phaset to add new features. Your organization uses Business Capabilities? Create capability:* Facets. Need to track compliance requirements? Use compliance:* tags.

This flexibility means:

• No forced abstractions: Model your reality, not a generic template
• Natural evolution: Add new Facets as needs emerge without restructuring existing data
• Self-service classification: Teams can define and use Facets relevant to their context
• Organizational alignment: Use terminology that matches how your company actually works

How Facets Work in Practice

When you add tags to a Record, Phaset automatically detects Facets using the colon convention:

Tags on "Payment Gateway API":
- capability:payment-processing  ← Becomes a Facet
- compliance:pci-dss             ← Becomes a Facet
- critical                       ← Regular tag, not a Facet
- data-classification:pii        ← Becomes a Facet

Now you can:

• Browse discovered Facets on the Facets page
• Filter by Facet in the Catalog
• Combine with other filters: “Show all PCI-DSS compliant services in the E-commerce Domain”
• Track Facet usage across your organization

Facets vs Core Metamodel Concepts

Core concepts (Domain, System, Group) are built into Phaset’s UI and workflows. They have dedicated pages, special handling, and are designed for universal organizational needs.

Facets are emergent and flexible. They appear as you use them, require no setup, and adapt to your organization’s unique vocabulary.

Use core concepts for:

• Business areas (Domain)
• Technical capabilities (System)
• Team ownership (Group)

Use Facets for:

• Industry-specific classifications
• Compliance requirements
• Location information
• Custom lifecycle stages
• Any other dimension your organization needs

Getting Started

1. Identify organization-specific concepts that don’t fit into Domain, System, or Group
2. Use consistent naming conventions when tagging Records (e.g., always compliance:*, not mixing compliance:* and compliant-with:*)
3. Add Facet tags to Records using the facet_name:value format
4. Browse the Facets page to see what Facets have emerged
5. Filter by Facets in the Catalog to find Records matching specific criteria

Facets make Phaset’s metamodel yours. They let you extend the system to match your organization’s reality without forcing you into predefined boxes.