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Every causal graph is a set of variables connected by edges. A variable is a measurable quantity in your domain.

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Variable types

  • Continuous — real-valued (temperature, price, latency).
  • Discrete — a finite set of categories (department, status, tier).
  • Binary — true/false (churned, approved, flagged).
  • Count — non-negative integers (visits, retries, staff on shift).
Nora picks a sensible default statistical treatment per type but you can override.

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Creating a variable

From the graph canvas:
  • Click + Variable and fill in:
    • Name — how you’ll refer to it (blood_pressure_systolic, refund_processed).
    • Display label — human-readable version shown on the node.
    • Type — continuous / discrete / binary / count.
    • Unit — for continuous (mmHg, USD, ms).
    • Description — one line. Shown in tooltips and used by extraction.
    • Values — for discrete, the allowed categories.

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Modeling advice

  • Prefer measurable variables. “Customer satisfaction” is too vague; “NPS score” or “days-to-resolution” is measurable.
  • One variable per concept. Don’t merge “temperature” and “pressure” into one node.
  • Name variables in the direction of measurement. refund_rate not no_refund. Positive framing avoids double-negatives when reasoning.
  • Split composite variables. “Cost” splits into labor_cost, materials_cost, etc. — clearer edges downstream.

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Attributes

Every variable can carry metadata:
  • Range — expected min/max for continuous.
  • Reference values — normal, warning, critical.
  • Source — where the variable was measured or estimated (link to a document or dataset).
  • Confidence — how confident you are in this variable’s role in your model.
Metadata surfaces in analysis and in verification (e.g., “the Agent claimed X = 200, but X’s range is 0-50”).

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Grouping

Group related variables into clusters (visual only — doesn’t affect causal semantics):
  • Drag variables into a group.
  • Give the group a name and color.
  • Collapse to hide detail; expand to work with individuals.
Great for large graphs — 50+ variables becomes navigable when grouped by subsystem.

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Renaming

Renaming a variable updates every edge, every attached document, and every stored analysis. No stale references.

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Deleting

Deleting a variable removes all incoming and outgoing edges. Nora warns you and shows the cascade. Deleted variables can be restored within 30 days from the graph history.

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Bulk import

Import variables from a CSV:
Then use extraction to propose edges among them (see Extract from documents).