Custom Objects allow you to extend Intercom's standard object data (People, Companies, Conversations etc.) and store data that represents your business in a more flexible way. References allow you to define how those objects are related to each other so that relevant data can be displayed to the right people.

This is a more common type of reference. For example, multiple orders might belong to the same person. So you could create a Custom Object called “Order” and create a reference that links it to “People” data and enable the 'Allow referencing to multiple people' toggle on.

Another type of reference is "one-to-one" reference. For example, you have lots of people in your system and you require them to provide passport details to book a flight. Assuming a person can only have one passport at a time, you would create a Custom Object for “Passport” with attributes for “passport_number” and “expiry_date” and then create a reference which links it to the person with the 'Allow referencing to multiple people' toggle off.

References can be edited once you've saved them. Please note that if you edit the toggle, all existing associations for this may be deleted. This means bots and Custom Actions that use this attribute might fail.