Tolaria's abstractions follow the **convention over configuration** principle: standard field names, types, and relationships have well-defined meanings and trigger UI behavior automatically. This makes vaults legible both to humans and to AI agents — the more a vault follows conventions, the less custom configuration an AI needs to navigate it correctly.
Relationship fields are detected dynamically — any frontmatter field containing `[[wikilink]]` values is treated as a relationship (see [ADR-0010](adr/0010-dynamic-wikilink-relationship-detection.md)). Tolaria's own default relationship vocabulary uses snake_case on disk, but labels are humanized at render time and existing user-authored keys are left untouched.
**This convention is universal** — apply it to all future system-level frontmatter fields. When a new feature needs to store configuration in a note's frontmatter (especially in Type notes), use `_field_name` to keep it hidden from normal user-facing surfaces while still stored on-disk as plain text.
The frontmatter parser (Rust: `vault/mod.rs`, TS: `utils/frontmatter.ts`) must filter out `_*` fields before passing `properties` to the UI.
Git is a per-vault capability, not a prerequisite for the document model. A vault can be:
| State | Meaning | UI behavior |
|---|---|---|
| Git-backed | The vault path contains a Git repository | History, changes, commits, sync, conflict resolution, remotes, AutoGit, and auto-sync are available according to remote/config state |
| Non-git | The vault path is a plain folder | Markdown scanning, editing, search, and navigation work; Git-dependent status-bar controls and command-palette entries are replaced by `Git disabled` + `Initialize Git for Current Vault` |
Plain folders become Git-backed only when the user explicitly runs Git initialization from the setup dialog, status bar, or command palette. Features that depend on Git must check this capability instead of assuming every vault has `.git`.
Git initialization is intentionally scoped to dedicated vault folders. When the current non-git folder looks like a broad personal root such as Documents, Desktop, or Downloads and does not already carry Tolaria-managed vault markers, `init_git_repo` refuses to run Git and asks the user to select or create a dedicated subfolder instead.
Mounted workspace provenance is renderer-owned metadata attached to `VaultEntry.workspace` when entries are loaded through the registered workspace set. It is not parsed from note frontmatter and is not written into vault files.
```typescript
interface WorkspaceIdentity {
id: string
label: string
alias: string // Stable prefix used in cross-workspace wikilinks
path: string // Absolute workspace root
shortLabel: string // Compact note-list badge text
The status-bar workspace manager edits installation-local identity and mount state. The alias is the durable user-facing namespace for cross-workspace links such as `[[team/projects/alpha]]`; labels and colors are display affordances only. The default workspace controls where new notes and Type files are created; it is not a claim that only one vault is active. When multiple workspaces are enabled, every mounted available workspace participates in the graph and the active Git repository set.
Git-facing renderer code must pass an explicit repository path instead of assuming a single active vault. Changes and Pulse/history display one selected repository at a time, manual commit selects one target repository, and AutoGit checkpoints iterate every active repository. Diff, file history, note saves, and discarded changes resolve the repository from the note's workspace provenance or from the selected Git surface.
| `binary` | Images, audio, video, PDFs, archives, other non-text files | Stays a normal vault file; previewable media and PDFs open in `FilePreview`, unsupported or broken binaries show an explicit fallback |
Asset previewability is inferred in the renderer from the filename extension (`src/utils/filePreview.ts`) rather than stored as a new persisted kind. Supported images render through `<img>`, supported audio/video render through native HTML media controls, and supported PDFs render through the webview's PDF object renderer, all backed by Tauri asset URLs. Runtime asset access is accumulated only for vault roots Tolaria has loaded in the current app session, because Tauri directory forbids cannot be safely reversed after a vault switch. The "open in default app" action re-enters the active-vault command boundary through `open_vault_file_external` before delegating to the native opener. This keeps the filesystem as source of truth and avoids converting assets into proprietary objects.
The renderer may cache recently opened or preloaded markdown content, but cached content is only a performance hint. `useTabManagement` can reuse cached text immediately when it carries the same `modifiedAt` and `fileSize` identity as the current `VaultEntry`; otherwise it validates the cached string with the `validate_note_content` Tauri command. That command re-enters the same vault path boundary checks as `get_note_content` and compares the cached text against the current on-disk file bytes. A mismatch, missing file, or unreadable file falls back to the normal fresh-read path and existing missing/unreadable recovery. Background note prefetch is bounded to a small number of concurrent native reads, and a note opened while queued is promoted to foreground instead of waiting behind the prefetch backlog. Note-open entry objects are re-normalized at the tab boundary, so transient reload or bridge payloads with missing display metadata fall back to filename/title defaults before editor chrome renders; entries without a usable path are ignored instead of opening a broken tab.
`useEditorTabSwap` may reuse BlockNote blocks that were already opened successfully or warmed from prefetched raw content, keyed by vault, path, and exact source content. Background warming is limited to likely next large Markdown notes and defers while the editor is unmounted, raw mode is active, or recent typing/navigation is still inside the foreground idle window. Every async editor swap carries a generation and source-content token so stale conversion results cannot overwrite newer file content or dirty editor state.
The editor Table of Contents is derived from the live BlockNote document, not from saved Markdown text. `src/utils/tableOfContents.ts` reads structural `heading` blocks with stable ids and levels, extracts inline text from nested BlockNote content, and nests headings by level while preserving document order. `TableOfContentsPanel` receives a document revision from `Editor`, so rich-editor edits refresh the outline immediately without waiting for autosave or a vault reload. Selecting a heading focuses BlockNote and moves the cursor to that block id, while nested headings can be collapsed independently in panel-local UI state.
Entity type is stored in the `type:` frontmatter field (e.g. `type: Quarter`). The legacy field name `Is A:` is still accepted as an alias for backwards compatibility but new notes use `type:`. The `VaultEntry.isA` property in TypeScript/Rust holds the resolved value.
Type is determined **purely** from the `type:` frontmatter field — it is never inferred from the file's folder location. All notes live at the vault root as flat `.md` files:
New notes are created at the vault root: `{vault}/{slug}.md`. Changing a note's type only requires updating the `type:` field in frontmatter — the file does not move. Moving a note into a user folder is a separate filesystem concern: the folder path changes, but the note keeps the same filename and `type:` value. Legacy `type/` and `types/` folders are still scanned like other non-hidden vault folders, so existing type documents in those folders continue to work, but new type documents created by Tolaria are written at the vault root. Legacy `config/` content is still recognized during migration and repair, but Tolaria's managed AI guidance now lives at the vault root.
Each entity type can have a corresponding **type document**: any markdown note with `type: Type` in its frontmatter. Tolaria creates new type documents at the vault root (e.g., `project.md`, `person.md`) and still reads existing type documents from subfolders. Type documents:
| `color` | string | Accent palette key (`red`, `purple`, `blue`, `green`, `yellow`, `orange`, `teal`, `pink`, `gray`) or a valid CSS color value such as `cyan`, `#22d3ee`, or `rgb(34, 211, 238)` |
| `sort` | string | Default sort: "modified:desc", "title:asc", "property:Priority:asc"; bare custom-property form such as "Priority:asc" is accepted and normalized in the UI |
**Type relationship**: When any entry has an `isA` value (e.g., "Project"), the Rust backend automatically adds a `"Type"` entry to its `relationships` map pointing to `[[project]]`. This makes the type navigable from the Inspector panel while keeping location as an implementation detail.
**Instance schema/defaults**: Custom scalar properties and relationship fields on a type document define the expected shape for notes of that type. Existing instances do not get mutated when a type changes; the Inspector enriches their real frontmatter with gray placeholders for missing type-defined properties/relationships. Valued type fields are copied into frontmatter only when Tolaria creates a new instance of that type. Blank type fields stay as placeholders.
The Rust parser scans all frontmatter keys for fields containing `[[wikilinks]]`. Any non-standard field with wikilink values is captured in the `relationships` HashMap:
This enables arbitrary, extensible relationship types without code changes.
### Outgoing Links
All `[[wikilinks]]` in the note body (not frontmatter) are extracted by regex and stored in `outgoingLinks`. Used for backlink detection and relationship graphs.
- **Display title resolution** (`extract_title` in `vault/parsing.rs`): first `# H1` on the first non-empty body line, then legacy frontmatter `title:`, then slug-to-title from the filename stem.
- **Opening a note is read-only**: selecting a note does not inject or auto-correct `title:` frontmatter.
- **Explicit filename actions** (`rename_note`): breadcrumb rename/sync actions stage crash-safe note renames through a hidden `.tolaria-rename-txn/` transaction directory, recover unfinished renames on the next vault scan, update wikilinks across the vault, and surface any failed backlink rewrites instead of silently reporting partial success. The editor body remains the title editing surface.
- **Unicode-aware note stems** (`src/utils/noteSlug.ts`, `vault/rename.rs`): frontend and backend slugging preserve Unicode letters/digits in note filenames, untitled-rename detection, and fallback wikilink targets while still collapsing symbol-only titles to `untitled`.
- **Portable filename validation** (`vault/filename_rules.rs`): note filenames, folder names, and custom view filenames all reject Windows-reserved device names, invalid characters, and trailing dot/space suffixes so a vault created on macOS/Linux still clones and syncs cleanly on Windows.
- **Recoverable save failures** (`useEditorSave`, `vault/file.rs`): invalid platform path syntax is reported as a clear retryable save error, while transient access-denied writes are retried briefly before surfacing failure. The editor keeps the unsaved buffer intact for another attempt.
- Legacy no-H1 notes whose display title differs from the filename show that title as read-only breadcrumb context beside the editable filename, so referenced notes remain identifiable without raw mode.
-`FolderTree` keeps the folder interaction surface decomposed into `FolderTreeRow`, `FolderNameInput`, `FolderContextMenu`, and disclosure/context-menu hooks so nested row rendering, inline rename, and right-click actions stay isolated. The UI wraps backend folder nodes in a synthetic vault-root row with `path: ""` and `rootPath` set to the opened vault so root-level files can be listed without turning the vault root into a mutable folder. Non-mutating reveal/copy-path menu items stay callback-driven from `App` so filesystem convenience actions do not leak into folder mutation hooks.
-`src/components/sidebar/sidebarHooks.ts` owns the shared sidebar interaction primitives for menu positioning/dismissal and inline rename input behavior. Folder, Type, and saved View rows keep their domain-specific actions local, but use those primitives so right-click menus and rename fields have the same outside-click, Escape, focus, blur, and submit semantics.
-`useFolderActions()` composes `useFolderRename()` and `useFolderDelete()` to keep folder mutations selection-aware while the rest of `App.tsx` only wires the resulting callbacks into `Sidebar` and the command registry.
-`useNoteRetargeting()` is the shared retargeting abstraction for note drops and command-palette actions. It owns the "can drop here?" checks, updates `type:` via frontmatter when a note lands on a type section, and delegates folder moves through the same crash-safe rename pipeline used by the backend rename commands.
- A successful folder rename reloads the folder tree plus vault entries, rewrites any affected folder-scoped tabs, and updates `SidebarSelection` to the new relative path when the renamed folder stays selected.
- Folder deletion clears pending rename state, confirms destructive intent, drops affected folder-scoped tabs, reloads vault data, and resets folder selection if the deleted subtree owned the current selection.
Saved Views live as YAML files under `views/`. Their definition includes user-visible fields (`name`, `icon`, `color`), note-list preferences (`sort`, `listPropertiesDisplay`), filters, and an optional top-level `order` number. The `sort` value accepts built-in sort forms such as `"modified:desc"` and custom-property forms such as `"property:Priority:asc"` or bare `"Priority:asc"`; the renderer keeps configured custom-property sorts visible even when the current result set has no populated values for that property. The `order` value is stored directly in the YAML document, not in Markdown frontmatter, and lower values render earlier in every saved-View list. Views without an explicit order sort after ordered views by filename for stable fallback behavior.
The renderer uses `viewOrdering` helpers to convert drag or command-palette move intent into dense order updates before saving each affected view file through `save_view_cmd`. The sidebar treats saved View rows like Type rows for direct customization: double-click starts inline rename, right-click opens edit/rename/icon-color/delete actions, and keyboard users can open that same menu from the focused row while command-palette actions remain responsible for saved View ordering.
`src/shared/appCommandManifest.json` is the cross-runtime source for stable app command IDs, menu structure, display labels, accelerators, deterministic shortcut QA metadata, and native menu enablement groups. The renderer imports it through `src/hooks/appCommandCatalog.ts`, which derives `APP_COMMAND_IDS`, shortcut lookup maps, Linux titlebar menu sections, native-menu command membership, and test helpers. Tauri includes the same JSON in `src-tauri/src/menu.rs` and uses it to build custom menu items, emit overridden menu item IDs such as the quick-open alias as their primary command IDs, register the Windows main-window menu event bridge, and toggle state-dependent menu items from manifest groups.
Domain command builders still own context-sensitive command-palette entries, availability, and execution callbacks. The manifest owns metadata that must stay identical across native menus, renderer shortcuts, deterministic QA bridges, and the Linux fallback menu; OS-native menu items such as Undo, Copy/Paste, Services, Quit, and Window controls remain local to the native menu implementation.
All Notes starts from Markdown notes and excludes Markdown files under `attachments/`. `src/utils/allNotesFileVisibility.ts` resolves the installation-local PDF, image, and unsupported-file toggles from app settings; `noteListHelpers` applies that policy only to All Notes filtering and counts. Folder/root browsing continues to show files from the selected folder independently of those All Notes toggles.
The folder tree hides the legacy `type/` directory, since those type documents already appear through the Types sidebar section. Default vault folders such as `attachments/` and `views/` remain visible alongside user-created folders under the synthetic vault-root row.
Command-facing vault content is filtered through `vault::filter_gitignored_entries`, `vault::filter_gitignored_folders`, and `vault::filter_gitignored_paths` when the app setting `hide_gitignored_files` is enabled. The cache still stores the complete scan; `list_vault`, `reload_vault`, `list_vault_folders`, and search apply the visibility filter at the boundary before React consumes entries. The filter batches paths through `git check-ignore --no-index --stdin`, drains stdout while stdin is still being written, and short-circuits root `.gitignore` detection before walking for nested ignore files, so large ignored folder sets cannot deadlock the native UI while preserving Git semantics as closely as the app can reasonably support.
A `vault_health_check` command detects stray files in non-protected subfolders and filename-title mismatches. On vault load, a migration banner offers to flatten stray files to the root via `flatten_vault`.
Command-layer path access is fenced to the active vault before file operations reach the vault backend. `src-tauri/src/commands/vault/boundary.rs` canonicalizes the configured/requested vault root, rejects `..` escapes and absolute paths outside that root, and validates writable targets through the nearest existing ancestor so note reads, saves, deletes, view-file edits, folder mutations, and image attachment writes cannot step outside the active vault. If the active root itself cannot be canonicalized, the renderer treats `Active vault is not available` the same as no active vault: it clears stale vault state, drops prefetched note content, and shows the missing-vault recovery screen instead of continuing note/view requests against the disappeared path. Image attachment commands add the current vault root to the runtime asset scope after saving so files created under a previously missing `attachments/` directory can render immediately.
Renderer attachment paths are normalized through `src/utils/vaultAttachments.ts`. That module is the single owner for converting between portable markdown references such as `attachments/image.png`, Tauri asset URLs, and absolute active-vault filesystem paths. Editor markdown rendering, raw-mode serialization, image upload/drop handling, file-block open actions, and parsed image cleanup all call this primitive instead of carrying their own asset URL prefixes, Windows path normalization, or `attachments/` join rules.
UI-only file actions operate on paths that are already selected or indexed in React state. Reveal-in-Finder routes through the Tauri opener plugin, external-open routes through the `open_vault_file_external` command and active-vault boundary before invoking the native opener, and copy-path uses the browser clipboard API. Plain-text paste reads the desktop clipboard through `read_text_from_clipboard` in Tauri so macOS WKWebView clipboard permissions do not block the command; browser/mock mode falls back to the Web Clipboard API or mock handlers. None of those actions mutate vault contents or bypass the backend write boundary.
The local MCP WebSocket bridge follows the same active-vault boundary. `useVaultSwitcher` calls `sync_mcp_bridge_vault` after the persisted selection loads and after each vault switch; the desktop command starts/restarts the bridge with that vault's canonical path, or stops it when there is no selected vault. App exit uses the same child cleanup path and waits for the bridge process after killing it. MCP Node entrypoints require `VAULT_PATH` and fail clearly instead of falling back to `~/Laputa`. Manual MCP config export uses the same packaged `mcp-server/` resolver as registration and app-managed AI agents, including Windows executable-adjacent installs under `%LOCALAPPDATA%\Tolaria`, so the copied snippet remains scoped to the active vault without writing third-party config files. Desktop snippet copy goes through the native `copy_text_to_clipboard` command, while browser/mock mode keeps using the Web Clipboard API. External-client stdio MCP processes also exit when stdin closes; their UI-bridge reconnect timers and WebSocket are canceled during shutdown so disconnected clients do not leave extra Node processes behind.
6. Replaces the cache with a temp-file write + rename only if a short-lived writer lock and cache fingerprint check show another scan has not already refreshed it
Git operations live in `src-tauri/src/git/`. All operations shell out to the `git` CLI (not libgit2). Path-producing commands use `core.quotePath=false` so Unicode note filenames stay as UTF-8 paths across status, history, cache invalidation, and rename detection.
External vault mutations are any disk writes Tolaria did not just perform through its own save path: Git pulls, AI-agent writes, filesystem watcher events, and edits from another app. These changes must route through `refreshPulledVaultState()` rather than calling `reloadVault()` in isolation. The shared refresh abstraction reloads entries, folders, and saved views together, preserves unsaved active-editor content, reopens a clean active note only when the changed-path list includes that note, and closes the active tab if the file disappeared. Unknown or unrelated watcher updates refresh vault-derived state without remounting the active editor. `useVaultWatcher` supplies changed filesystem paths to this abstraction after debouncing and after filtering recent app-owned saves. Overlapping entry reloads and modified-file polls are coalesced with a single trailing rerun so watcher and sync bursts do not stack native vault scans or Git status processes.
- Tracks the last meaningful editor activity plus app focus/visibility transitions
- Triggers `useCommitFlow.runAutomaticCheckpoint()` only when the vault is git-backed, pending changes exist, and no unsaved edits remain
- Shares the same deterministic automatic commit message generator with the bottom-bar Commit button, so timer-driven checkpoints and manual quick commits produce the same `Updated N note(s)` / `Updated N file(s)` messages
- Tolaria keeps `defaultLanguage: "text"` so unlabeled code blocks do not silently become JavaScript at creation time. Parsed unlabeled code blocks then run through Tolaria's lightweight language inference, while explicit fence languages and user dropdown choices still win.
- Inline-code chip styling remains scoped to `.bn-inline-content code`, so fenced `pre > code` nodes keep the dedicated code-block shell instead of inheriting the muted inline surface.
Defined in `src/utils/mathMarkdown.ts`, `src/components/editorSchema.tsx`, and styled in `src/components/EditorTheme.css`:
-`$...$` becomes a `mathInline` schema node and line-owned `$$...$$` / multiline `$$` blocks become `mathBlock` nodes.
- The rich editor renders both node types through KaTeX with `throwOnError: false`, so malformed formulas keep their source visible instead of breaking the note.
-`serializeMathAwareBlocks()` converts math nodes back to Markdown delimiters before save, raw-mode entry, and editor-position snapshots.
- Raw CodeMirror mode always shows the plain Markdown source, so imported technical notes stay editable outside Tolaria.
Defined in `src/utils/durableMarkdownBlocks.ts`, `src/utils/editorDurableMarkdown.ts`, `src/utils/mermaidMarkdown.ts`, `src/components/MermaidDiagram.tsx`, `src/components/editorSchema.tsx`, and styled in `src/components/EditorTheme.css`:
- Fenced `mermaid` blocks become `mermaidBlock` schema nodes before BlockNote sees the Markdown body.
- Each `mermaidBlock` stores the original fenced Markdown plus the diagram body, so raw-mode entry and saves can restore the canonical source instead of serializing generated SVG.
- The rich editor renders diagrams with the `mermaid` package and uses the original source as an inline fallback when rendering fails.
-`serializeDurableEditorBlocks()` wraps the math-aware serializer so math, wikilinks, Mermaid diagrams, and whiteboards share the same Markdown-first save path.
- The `/mermaid` slash command inserts a placeholder rectangle diagram using the same schema-backed Markdown storage path, avoiding an invalid empty diagram state.
Defined in `src/utils/durableMarkdownBlocks.ts`, `src/utils/editorDurableMarkdown.ts`, `src/utils/tldrawMarkdown.ts`, `src/components/TldrawWhiteboard.tsx`, `src/components/editorSchema.tsx`, and styled in `src/components/EditorTheme.css`:
- Fenced `tldraw` blocks become `tldrawBlock` schema nodes before BlockNote sees the Markdown body.
- Each `tldrawBlock` stores a stable `boardId` plus the tldraw document snapshot JSON. Session state such as camera, selected tool, and current selection is not persisted into the note.
- The rich editor renders the block with the `tldraw` package and saves debounced document snapshot changes back into the block props, so normal Tolaria autosave writes the board into the `.md` file.
- Whiteboard prop writes re-resolve the live BlockNote block by id before mutating it, and disappear as no-ops if a note reload or mode switch has already removed that block.
- The tldraw runtime receives Tolaria's resolved light/dark mode as its user color scheme, so embedded whiteboards follow the app appearance and update while mounted.
- Mermaid and tldraw both register small codecs with the shared durable fenced-block pipeline; scanner, token, block injection, and mixed serialization mechanics live in one owner.
- The `/whiteboard` slash command inserts an empty tldraw block using the same Markdown-durable storage path. Preview images are intentionally omitted; thumbnails can be added later as derived cache artifacts.
-`SingleEditorView` disables BlockNote's default formatting toolbar, `/` menu, and side menu, then mounts Tolaria-owned controllers so the visible formatting surface matches Tolaria's markdown round-trip guarantees.
-`SingleEditorView` owns a whitespace mouse-selection bridge around BlockNote and its rich-editor scroll area: drag starts that land outside the editable text DOM are remapped through the ProseMirror view with clamped coordinates, while drags below the rendered document fall back to the document end. Drags that begin inside BlockNote's contenteditable surface, toolbars, side menu, dialogs, or non-primary mouse buttons stay on BlockNote/native handling.
- The formatting toolbar only exposes inline controls that persist through `blocksToMarkdownLossy()` in Tolaria's save pipeline: bold, italic, strike, nesting, and link creation. Controls that BlockNote can render temporarily but Tolaria cannot faithfully persist, such as underline, color, alignment, and the block-type dropdown, are hidden instead of appearing to work and later disappearing.
- Tolaria's formatting-toolbar controller also keeps file/image actions mounted across the tiny hover gap between an image block and the floating toolbar, and while the toolbar itself is hovered, so image controls remain usable instead of collapsing mid-interaction.
-`useEditorComposing` tracks editor-owned IME composition events and closes the floating formatting toolbar during composition plus a short post-composition settle window, keeping CJK candidate windows unobstructed without changing normal selection toolbar behavior.
-`createImeCompositionKeyGuardExtension()` intercepts composing `Enter` keydown events before BlockNote's list shortcuts see them, so Korean/Japanese/Chinese IMEs can commit text at the start of list items without Tolaria splitting the current bullet. It stops editor shortcut propagation only; it does not prevent the browser/IME default composition action.
-`useImageLightbox` listens for `dblclick` on the rich-editor container and opens `ImageLightbox` only when the event target resolves to a viewable BlockNote image. The target resolver handles media wrappers, ignores image captions/resize controls, missing sources, and tiny tracking-style images, preserving BlockNote's ordinary single-click image selection path.
- The `/` slash menu remains the supported path for markdown-safe block transformations such as headings, quotes, list blocks, Mermaid diagrams, and whiteboards. Tolaria filters out BlockNote's toggle-heading and toggle-list variants because those do not map cleanly to the markdown note model.
- The block-handle side menu keeps only actions that survive Tolaria's markdown round-trip. Delete and table-header toggles remain available; BlockNote's `Colors` submenu is removed because block colors are not part of Tolaria's supported markdown surface. Tolaria renders the add-block button outside the drag handle so the handle stays next to the block content. The side menu aligns itself to the first rendered text line for the hovered block, so H1/H2 typography, line-height, wrapping, and theme changes do not need per-heading offsets. Block reordering uses a Tolaria-owned pointer gesture and direct BlockNote block moves instead of HTML5 `DataTransfer`, keeping it independent from Tauri's native file-drop system. Block-handle actions re-resolve the current live BlockNote block before mutating or dragging, so note reloads and sync churn cannot leave controls acting on stale block references.
- BlockNote's table row/column handles are patched so stale or missing hovered-table state cancels the drag and hides handles instead of throwing. Add/remove row and column actions also validate the table position and cell indexes before resolving a ProseMirror `CellSelection`, so reloads or menu lag cannot turn stale handles into invalid table-selection positions. Checklist checkbox handlers also re-resolve the live block before updating `checked`, making delayed clicks after note reloads a no-op instead of a stale block mutation. Browser and native table regressions should exercise row and column dragging plus add-menu actions because the state is tracked per orientation.
-`SingleEditorView` wraps the BlockNote surface in a narrow render-recovery boundary for BlockNote's transient `Block doesn't have id` node-view failure. The boundary retries the BlockNote view once, records `editor_render_recovered`, and marks the recovered error so the React root handler does not send that handled case back to Sentry. Other render errors still propagate through the normal root error path.
-`useNoteWikilinkDrop()` is the shared editor-drop abstraction for dragging note rows into either editor mode. It reads the existing note-retargeting drag payload, resolves the vault-relative stem, and inserts a canonical `[[wikilink]]` without hijacking unrelated plain-text drags.
-`plainTextPaste.ts` is the shared plain-text paste target registry. Rich BlockNote and raw CodeMirror surfaces register focused insertion targets, while ordinary focused text controls use DOM selection replacement, so the `Cmd+Shift+V` command can preserve caret/selection behavior without each surface inventing its own clipboard reader.
-`useTauriDragDropEvent()` owns the shared Tauri window drag/drop subscription and duplicate-unlisten cleanup used by native drop features.
-`useNativePathDrop()` is the shared Tauri file/folder-drop abstraction for text inputs that need filesystem paths instead of attachment import. It consumes native window drag/drop events, gates them to the target element bounds or focused text selection, and lets AI composer / command-palette inputs insert formatted paths at the current cursor.
Rich-editor change events are coalesced before this serialization runs. `useEditorTabSwap` keeps the latest BlockNote state in the editor, schedules one Markdown serialization for a short idle window, and exposes an explicit flush hook for save, note switch, raw-mode entry, and destructive note actions. This keeps long notes from paying full-document Markdown serialization on every keystroke while preserving the disk-first save path.
Autosave then waits for a 1.5s idle window before invoking `save_note_content`. If an older save resolves after the user has already typed newer content, the older save is treated as stale and cannot clear the newer pending buffer or repaint tab state over it; the latest pending content remains scheduled for its own save.
Wikilink resolution (`resolveEntry` in `src/utils/wikilink.ts`) uses multi-pass matching with global priority: path suffix for path-style targets, filename stem, alias, exact title, then humanized title (kebab-case -> words). In a mounted-workspace graph, unprefixed links prefer the source note's workspace, while links prefixed by a known workspace alias resolve inside that workspace (`[[team/projects/alpha]]`). Cross-workspace canonical link insertion prefixes the target alias only when source and target workspaces differ; same-workspace links stay vault-relative.
Toggle via Cmd+K → "Raw Editor" or breadcrumb bar button. Uses CodeMirror 6 (`useCodeMirror` hook) to edit the raw markdown + frontmatter directly. Changes saved via the same `save_note_content` command.
While the user types, `useEditorSaveWithLinks` derives a transient `VaultEntry` patch from parseable frontmatter so the Inspector, relationship chips, and note-list-visible metadata stay in sync with the raw editor before the next vault reload. Temporarily invalid or half-typed frontmatter is ignored until it becomes parseable again, which avoids clobbering the last known good derived state.
Current-note find/replace is intentionally backed by raw CodeMirror mode. `Cmd+F`, "Find in Note", and "Replace in Note" switch the active Markdown/text note to raw mode, show the compact find bar above CodeMirror, and operate on the current note only. Plain text matching is case-insensitive by default, `Aa` toggles case sensitivity, `.*` toggles JavaScript-regex matching, and regex replacement supports capture groups through JavaScript replacement syntax.
Rich Markdown editing supports `normal` and `wide` note widths. The effective mode is resolved in `App.tsx` from, in order, the current session's transient note-width cache, `VaultEntry.noteWidth` parsed from `_width`, and the installation-local `settings.note_width_mode` default. The breadcrumb toggle calls the same setter exposed through the command palette.
Per-note width is persisted as hidden `_width` frontmatter only when the note already has a valid or empty frontmatter block. Notes without frontmatter use the transient cache for the current session, so toggling width never creates frontmatter solely to store UI state. The width class is applied around `SingleEditorView` only; raw CodeMirror mode stays outside `.editor-content-wrapper` and remains full-width.
Typed ASCII arrow sequences are normalized consistently in both editor modes:
- Rich editor input mounts `createArrowLigaturesExtension()` (`src/components/arrowLigaturesExtension.ts`) into BlockNote and intercepts typed `beforeinput` events before ProseMirror commits the character.
- Raw editor input uses the CodeMirror `inputHandler` path in `useCodeMirror` so the same ligature rules apply while editing markdown source directly.
- Both paths delegate to the shared `resolveArrowLigatureInput()` helper in `src/utils/arrowLigatures.ts`, which prioritizes `<->` over partial matches, keeps paste literal, and lets escaped forms such as `\\->` and `\\<->` remain ASCII.
- The rich-editor extension treats stale, disconnected, or mid-reload ProseMirror views as a no-op. It never blocks the native input path unless it has already built and dispatched a valid ligature transaction.
The app uses internal light and dark themes owned by Tolaria, with System as an installation-local preference that follows the OS appearance (see [ADR-0081](adr/0081-internal-light-dark-theme-runtime.md) and [ADR-0112](adr/0112-system-theme-mode.md)). The previous vault-authored theming system remains removed.
1.**Global CSS variables** (`src/index.css`): Semantic app colors, borders, surfaces, and interaction states via `:root` / `[data-theme]`, bridged to Tailwind v4
3.**Runtime theme bridge**: Resolves the selected preference to `light` / `dark`, applies `data-theme` and `.dark` for shadcn/ui, and subscribes to `prefers-color-scheme` while System is selected
4.**Theme mode commands**: Command-palette actions for Light, Dark, and System call the same `saveSettings` path as the Settings panel and persist only `settings.theme_mode`
App UI strings are resolved through `src/lib/i18n.ts`, with flat JSON catalogs in `src/lib/locales/*.json` (see [ADR-0087](adr/0087-json-catalogs-and-lara-cli-localization.md)):
`App.tsx` owns the effective locale and passes it to localized app chrome through props. Settings and command-palette language commands call back into `saveSettings`, so UI language changes update the current session without touching vault content or reopening the vault.
- **Editable properties** (top): Type badge, Status pill with dropdown, number fields, boolean toggles, array tag pills, text fields. Click-to-edit interaction.
- **Property display modes**: `text`, `number`, `date`, `boolean`, `status`, `url`, `tags`, and `color`. Numeric frontmatter values auto-detect as `number`, and custom scalar keys can be explicitly switched to `Number` through the property-type control.
- **Present empty properties**: A top-level frontmatter key with a blank scalar value (for example `start date:`) is treated as present and renders as an editable empty row. Only absent keys are omitted.
- **Type-derived placeholders**: For typed instances, missing custom properties declared on the type document render as gray editable placeholders. Editing one writes the value to the instance frontmatter; merely displaying it does not backfill the note.
2.**RelationshipsPanel**: Shows `belongs_to`, `related_to`, `has`, and all custom relationship fields as clickable wikilink chips. Relationship labels are humanized for display, but stored keys remain unchanged. For typed instances, missing relationship fields declared on the type document render as gray editable placeholders without copying any default relationship targets into existing notes.
Mounted workspaces are loaded together by `useVaultLoader` for note-list, quick-open, keyword search, and wikilink navigation. Workspace switching remains a focus operation for per-vault capabilities (Git status, folders, saved views, AutoGit, watchers, and repair commands), not a graph isolation boundary.
- Missing, null, and unknown AI agent permission modes normalize to `safe`; the AI panel can switch modes per vault, preserving the transcript and applying the new mode only to the next agent run
Installation-local layout state that should not sync through a vault stays in localStorage. `useLayoutPanels` stores the clamped sidebar, note-list, and inspector widths under `tolaria:layout-panels` so pane sizing survives app relaunches on the same machine.
-`useVaultAiGuidanceStatus` reads `get_vault_ai_guidance_status` and normalizes the backend state into four UI cases: `managed`, `missing`, `broken`, and `custom`
-`restore_vault_ai_guidance` repairs only Tolaria-managed files and creates the optional Gemini shim on explicit request; user-authored custom `AGENTS.md` / `CLAUDE.md` / `GEMINI.md` files are surfaced as custom and left untouched
Vault guidance is intentionally short and vault-specific. General Tolaria product behavior is delivered through the bundled agent docs resource instead:
-`scripts/build-agent-docs.mjs` compiles the public `site/` Markdown into `src-tauri/resources/agent-docs/`
-`src-tauri/resources/agent-docs/AGENTS.md` orients agents to the generated docs bundle, while `index.md`, section bundles, `all.md`, `search-index.json`, and `pages/` provide fast local lookup
-`get_agent_docs_path` exposes the resolved resource folder to the renderer, and `buildAgentSystemPrompt()` tells every app-managed CLI agent to read vault `AGENTS.md` first, then search the bundled docs for Tolaria behavior
- User can create a new empty vault, open an existing folder, or clone the public Getting Started vault into a chosen parent folder; Tolaria derives the final `Getting Started` child path before cloning
- Uses `get_ai_agents_status`, whose backend treats the app process path, login-shell path, and supported local/toolchain/app install locations, including nvm-managed Node installs plus Windows `.exe` and npm/pnpm/Scoop shim paths, as valid CLI-agent sources
- On macOS, system-git commands prefer the user's login-shell `git` and `PATH`, and `git_add_remote` preflights HTTPS remotes through `git credential fill` so Keychain can prompt/grant access before the first fetch or push
- On Linux AppImage launches, every system-git command removes AppImage loader overrides such as `LD_LIBRARY_PATH`, `LD_PRELOAD`, and `GIT_EXEC_PATH` before spawning `git`, so helpers like `git-remote-https` bind against the host git/library stack instead of Tolaria's bundled WebKit/AppImage libraries
- On Linux AppImage Wayland launches, startup environment safeguards also set `GTK_IM_MODULE=fcitx` when common input-method variables already indicate fcitx and the user has not explicitly chosen a GTK IM module, allowing WebKitGTK editor input to reach fcitx5 on compositors such as niri without overriding deliberate `GTK_IM_MODULE` choices.
Managed by `useSettings` hook and `SettingsPanel` component. `theme_mode` is installation-local because it controls device comfort rather than vault structure; the Settings panel and command-palette Light/Dark/System actions both update that same value. `system` remains a stored preference, while the runtime resolves it to `light` or `dark` for `data-theme` and app consumers. `ui_language` is also installation-local: `null` follows the supported system language with English fallback, while explicit values pin the UI language for this installation. Stored legacy aliases such as `zh-Hans` are normalized to canonical locale codes before the setting reaches React state. `date_display_format` is installation-local and controls rendered dates in note rows, property chips/cells, note info, table-of-contents metadata, and search result subtitles; date picker text input remains ISO for predictable manual entry and storage. `note_width_mode` is the installation-local default for rich-editor note width; individual notes can override it with `_width` when they already have frontmatter. `sidebar_type_pluralization_enabled` is installation-local and defaults to `true`; when false, type rows use exact type names unless the type document defines an explicit `sidebar_label` override. `default_ai_agent` remains the legacy installation-local CLI fallback. `default_ai_target` is the active AI target used by the AI panel and status bar; it can point at a coding agent or a configured direct model. `ai_model_providers` stores non-secret provider metadata for local/API model targets, while hosted API keys live in Tolaria's local app-data secrets file or user-managed environment variables instead of being persisted in app settings. Provider defaults and local/API grouping come from the shared `src/shared/aiModelProviderCatalog.json` catalog used by both renderer settings and the Tauri direct-model runtime. `hide_gitignored_files` is also installation-local and defaults to `true`; changing it reloads entries, search, saved views, and folders without restarting. The `all_notes_show_pdfs`, `all_notes_show_images`, and `all_notes_show_unsupported` flags are installation-local All Notes category toggles that default off and update the list/counts without changing vault files. The AutoGit fields are also installation-local: `useAutoGit` consumes them to schedule automatic checkpoints, while `useCommitFlow` and the status bar quick action reuse the same checkpoint runner and deterministic automatic commit message generation.
- **`TelemetryConsentDialog`** — First-launch dialog asking user to opt in to anonymous crash reporting. Two buttons: accept (sets `telemetry_consent: true`, generates `anonymous_id`) or decline.
- **`TelemetryToggle`** — Checkbox component in `SettingsPanel` for crash reporting and analytics toggles.
### Hooks
- **`useTelemetry(settings, loaded)`** — Reactively initializes/tears down Sentry and PostHog based on settings. Called once in `App`.
- **`src/lib/telemetry.ts`** — `initSentry()`, `teardownSentry()`, `initPostHog()`, `teardownPostHog()`, `trackEvent()`. Path scrubber via `beforeSend` hook. DSN/key from `VITE_SENTRY_DSN` and `VITE_POSTHOG_KEY`; `VITE_SENTRY_RELEASE` is treated as the build version and only becomes Sentry's `release` for stable calendar builds (`YYYY.M.D`). Alpha/prerelease/internal builds tag `tolaria.build_version` and `tolaria.release_kind` without creating normal Sentry Releases entries.
- **File previews** — `file_preview_opened`, `file_preview_action`, and `file_preview_failed` report only preview/action categories such as `image`, `pdf`, `unsupported`, `open_external`, `copy_path`, and `reveal`.
- **Inline image lightbox** — `inline_image_lightbox_opened` records that a rich-editor inline image was opened from double-click, without sending note paths, image URLs, alt text, or file names.
- **Code block copy** — `code_block_copied` records that the rich-editor code-block copy action was used, without sending note paths, languages, or code content.
- **AI agent sessions** — `ai_agent_message_sent`, `ai_agent_message_blocked`, `ai_agent_response_completed`, `ai_agent_response_failed`, and `ai_agent_permission_mode_changed` use only agent ids, permission modes, counts, and coarse status categories.
- **All Notes visibility** — `all_notes_visibility_changed` records only the toggled category and enabled state.
- **`useUpdater(releaseChannel)`** — Channel-aware updater state machine. Checks the selected feed, surfaces checking/available/downloading/ready states, and delegates install work to Rust.
- **`useFeatureFlag(flag)`** — Returns boolean for a named feature flag. Checks `localStorage` override (`ff_<name>`), then falls back to telemetry-backed evaluation. Type-safe via `FeatureFlagName` union.
### Frontend helpers
- **`src/lib/releaseChannel.ts`** — Normalizes persisted channel values so legacy or invalid settings fall back to Stable, while Stable serializes back to `null`.
- **`src/lib/appUpdater.ts`** — Thin wrapper around the Tauri updater commands. Keeps the React hook free of endpoint-selection details.
- **`src-tauri/src/app_updater.rs`** — Chooses the correct update endpoint and adapts Tauri updater results into frontend-friendly payloads. Stable uses the public `stable/latest.json` feed. Alpha first resolves the newest non-draft `alpha-vYYYY.M.D-alpha.NNNN` GitHub Release asset named `alpha-latest.json`, then falls back to the public `alpha/latest.json` feed if the release lookup is unavailable.
- **`src-tauri/src/commands/version.rs`** — Formats app build/version labels for the status bar, including calendar alpha labels and legacy release compatibility.
- **`.github/workflows/release.yml`** — Alpha prereleases from every push to `main` using calendar-semver technical versions (`YYYY.M.D-alpha.N`) and clean `Alpha YYYY.M.D.N` release names. GitHub alpha tags zero-pad the prerelease sequence (`alpha-vYYYY.M.D-alpha.NNNN`) so GitHub release ordering stays chronological while the shipped app version remains `YYYY.M.D-alpha.N`. Publishes `alpha/latest.json` with macOS Apple Silicon/Intel, Linux x64, and Windows x64 updater entries, then refreshes the legacy `latest.json` / `latest-canary.json` aliases to the alpha feed. The docs/release Pages job reads the stable manifest from the latest stable release asset instead of copying the live Pages URL, uploads the built site as a Pages artifact, and deploys it with GitHub's official Pages action so the public updater JSON changes as part of the release workflow. macOS release assets use `Tolaria_<version>_macOS_Silicon` and `Tolaria_<version>_macOS_Intel` base names. Packaged builds pass the computed version as `VITE_SENTRY_RELEASE`, which is retained as a diagnostic build-version tag but not registered as a normal Sentry release for alpha builds.
- **`.github/workflows/release-stable.yml`** — Stable releases from `stable-vYYYY.M.D` tags. Publishes `stable/latest.json`, macOS Apple Silicon and Intel DMG/updater artifacts, Windows x64 installers/updater bundles, Linux x86_64 `.deb` / AppImage artifacts, and a static public download page that starts the selected installer without replacing the page with a blank download navigation. The Pages job reads the alpha manifest from the latest alpha release asset instead of copying the live Pages URL, uploads the built site as a Pages artifact, and deploys it with GitHub's official Pages action so stable and alpha manifests stay fresh. Stable macOS DMG/updater assets use the same `Tolaria_<version>_macOS_Silicon` and `Tolaria_<version>_macOS_Intel` base names. Packaged builds pass the computed stable version as `VITE_SENTRY_RELEASE`, which is registered as Sentry's release.
