Summary definitions let you control exactly how interaction data is aggregated. Instead of a fixed set of rollup tables, you define the dimensions, aggregates, and time windows that matter to your business. The platform materializes these summaries continuously as interactions flow in, so they are always ready for fast reads at decision time and in dashboards.Each summary definition is a named aggregation shape consisting of three parts:
Summary definitions use a daily bucket approach for rolling windows:
Interactions are bucketed by calendar day (UTC).
At read time, the system SUMs the daily bucket rows that fall within the requested window.
This approach is exact — no approximation or sampling.
Old daily buckets are retained indefinitely (no TTL), which means you can always redefine windows without losing data.
Because rolling windows are computed at read time by summing daily buckets, changing a window value (e.g. from 7d to 14d) takes effect immediately with no reprocessing required.
Every tenant is automatically provisioned with three default summary definitions. These cover the most common analytics needs and are used by built-in dashboards and contact policy evaluation:
Default Summary
Dimensions
Aggregates
Windows
Offer Interactions
offer_id, channel_id, outcome_key
count, sum_value, last_contact
1d, 7d, 30d
Category Outcomes
category_id, outcome_key
count, sum_value, distinct_offers
7d, 30d, 90d
Channel Performance
channel_id, direction, outcome_key
count, sum_value, last_contact
1d, 7d, 30d
System default summaries cannot be deleted, but you can modify their dimensions, aggregates, and windows if the defaults do not suit your needs.
Suppose you run creatives across multiple placement types (banner, inline, push notification) and want to understand which creative/placement combinations drive the most conversions:
Create a summary definition with dimensions creative_id, placement_type, outcome_key.
Select aggregates count and sum_value to track volume and revenue.
Choose windows 7d and 30d for weekly and monthly views.
The platform immediately begins materializing rows for this shape as new interactions arrive.
Query the data via dashboards or the interaction summary API, grouped by your chosen dimensions.
Summary definitions and behavioral metrics both aggregate interaction data, but they serve different purposes:
Summary Definitions
Behavioral Metrics
Purpose
Pre-materialized rollups for fast reads
Computed signals for rules and scoring
Configuration
Dimensions + aggregates + windows
Aggregation function + source field + filter conditions
Used by
Contact policies, dashboards, analytics
Qualification rules, contact policies, scoring
Computation
Daily buckets, summed at read time
Realtime or batch recomputation
Use summary definitions when you need flexible, high-performance rollups of interaction data. Use behavioral metrics when you need computed signals with filter conditions and complex aggregation logic.