What is a Trackable?

Identifiers: format reference and examples

Trackables use several identifiers that look similar at first but serve different jobs. The short public code stays globally unique, the short secret code stays globally unique, and the system keeps those two spaces collision-free against each other so a short public code can never also be someone else's short secret code.

When someone types a generated short secret code or a generated public-code token by hand, lookup is forgiving about the most common smudges. Generated code lookup treats O like 0, I or L like 1, S like 5, and U like V. For system short secret codes, that replacement logic applies to the generated body, not to the literal prefix like LN or GT. Public codes use the same configured prefix plus a dash, so they are visually different from short secret codes at a glance.

The most important practical rule is that the public route is safe to share, while the short secret code and the private scan route are not. Secret codes and private scan URLs are shown only once during creation. After that one reveal, normal pages and normal API reads do not show them again. The one special exception is departure-oriented personal export, where strictly personal user-owned secrets can be included so the departing owner can recover them.

Because the short public code is globally unique, homepage lookup can safely accept a public token like LN-7K4V9T by itself and route to the correct public page without guessing between multiple trackables.

Activation and ownership

A newly created trackable may start activated or unactivated. Activation always happens at the individual item level. The activating user chooses the final title and description for items that require explicit activation-time identity.

• An unactivated trackable cannot log new journey activity and cannot receive comments.
• If activated to a user, that user becomes the ownership scope.
• If activated to a team, the team becomes the ownership scope.
• The creator and the owner are not always the same person.

Groups and fallback metadata

Trackables can be created one at a time or in groups of up to 100. A group can supply fallback item title and description values so a batch of items shares a common theme. A trackable can belong to only one group at a time.

• Some group-created items can safely inherit the group defaults when their own metadata is blank.
• Unactivated handoff items can require the eventual activator to choose their own title and description instead of inheriting the creator’s wording forever.
• Changing groups is a detach-first workflow: remove from the old group, return to the activator’s direct control, then associate with the new group.

Trackables and notes

The note relationship is what makes a trackable interesting. Trackables are not just item labels; they become movement history when they are associated with notes. Each note can reference many trackables, and each trackable can reference many notes.

Note attachment is intentionally deliberate. The website asks for one trackable code at a time, that field expects an existing short secret code, and a public code is meant for the public trackable page instead. If a third-party item is not registered yet, create it from the trackables page first. Reserved site prefixes such as LN and GT stay off-limits for bring-your-own codes.

• Every associated note can become a stop on the trackable journey map.
• The trackable page can preload the full route because these journeys are expected to stay human-scale.
• Map pins and the linked stop list both lead back to the note page when the viewer has permission.
• Private notes can still contribute coordinate-only journey points for viewers who are not allowed to read the note itself.

Trackables and browser sessions

Entering a secret code or scanning a valid private QR can create an active trackable session on the current browser. That remembered state lets the person continue learning the flow, sign in later, and attach the trackable from note pages without re-entering the secret every time.

This active browser session is not the same thing as permanent ownership and is not the same thing as authentication. It is simply remembered possession context on the current device until the person deactivates it or the session expires.

Comments and public pages

Trackable-page comments belong to the trackable itself and are separate from note-page comments. Public trackable pages are canonical journey views. Private profile pages, private team pages, and private trackable pages are route-level restrictions, not global secrecy for every label related to the item.

• Trackable names, user names, and team names can still appear in allowed listings and journey contexts.
• Owner labels can be shown as links when the route is available or as plain text with private-page hover text when it is not.
• Comments still require login even when the policy allows public participation.

Exports, recovery, and deletion

Trackables survive deletion differently from simple personal records because they can carry shared history from many people over time. The system tries to remove the deleted user’s removable personal activity without corrupting the remaining history for other users or teams.

• User exports can include strictly personal owned secret credentials.
• Team exports exclude those secrets unless the user owner is unavailable and the team needs a recovery copy.
• Deleting a user does not automatically eliminate a trackable that still matters to other people.
• Deleting a team can detach team ownership and hand control back according to the documented fallback rules.

Related guides

• What is a User?
• What is a Team?
• What is a Note?
• API documentation
• Privacy and Delete Data