gistfile1.js

// list_app.js
Slick = require('slick');
listItem = require('./data/list_item');
list = require('./data/list');

var MyListApp = module.exports = new Slick.App({
  // init is called by the node after node starts up and hits addApplication which propagates the Node reference on this.node
  init: function() {
    // we register our data type containing field info and any custom logic
    this.addModel('listItem', listItem);

    // we create a chain to hold a list of our items
    this.addChain('list', list);
    
    ...
    
    this.chains.list.getUnread(function(unreadItems) {
      // do stuff;
    })    
  },
  
});

// data/list_item.js
var ListItem = module.exports = new Slick.Model({
  fields: {
    value: { type: 'string', short: 'v' },
    state: { type: 'integer', short: 's' },
    from: { type: 'string', short: 'f' }
  },
  
  // any default values can be set here
  getInitialState: function() {
    return {
      state: 'unread'
    };
  },

  // custom logic  
  markAsRead: function() {
    this.set({ state: 'read' });
  }
});

// data/list.js
var List = module.exports = new Slick.Chain({
  model: listItem,
  indexes: {
    { value: 'state', options: ['allowMulti'] },
    { value: 'from' }
  },
  getUnread: function(done) {
    // find is just finder.equals + range.all
    this.find('state', 'unread', done);
  }
});