diff --git a/src/hooks/useAppSave.ts b/src/hooks/useAppSave.ts
index 9281866b..8821f8ef 100644
--- a/src/hooks/useAppSave.ts
+++ b/src/hooks/useAppSave.ts
@@ -452,7 +452,7 @@ interface EditorPersistenceOptions {
   resolveCurrentPath: (path: string) => string
   resolvePathBeforeSave: (path: string) => Promise<string>
   canPersist: boolean
-  persistenceScope: string
+  persistenceScope: string | readonly string[]
   locale: AppLocale
 }
 
diff --git a/src/hooks/useEditorSave.ts b/src/hooks/useEditorSave.ts
index f7dcf911..576098b7 100644
--- a/src/hooks/useEditorSave.ts
+++ b/src/hooks/useEditorSave.ts
@@ -243,7 +243,7 @@ function usePendingContentScopeReset({
 }: {
   cancelAutoSave: () => void
   pendingContentRef: MutableRefObject<PendingContent | null>
-  persistenceScope?: string
+  persistenceScope?: string | readonly string[]
 }) {
   const previousScopeRef = useRef(persistenceScope)
 
diff --git a/src/hooks/useEditorSaveWithLinks.ts b/src/hooks/useEditorSaveWithLinks.ts
index 8479dd51..13246cb6 100644
--- a/src/hooks/useEditorSaveWithLinks.ts
+++ b/src/hooks/useEditorSaveWithLinks.ts
@@ -98,7 +98,7 @@ export function useEditorSaveWithLinks(config: {
   resolvePath?: (path: string) => string
   resolvePathBeforeSave?: (path: string) => Promise<string>
   canPersist?: boolean
-  persistenceScope?: string
+  persistenceScope?: string | readonly string[]
   disabledSaveMessage?: string
   locale?: AppLocale
 }) {
diff --git a/src/hooks/useVaultLoader.ts b/src/hooks/useVaultLoader.ts
index 76dd43ee..75949e0d 100644
--- a/src/hooks/useVaultLoader.ts
+++ b/src/hooks/useVaultLoader.ts
@@ -60,7 +60,7 @@ async function loadInitialVaultChromeState(options: InitialVaultChromeOptions):
 
 async function loadInitialVaultEntriesState(options: Pick<
   InitialVaultLoadStateOptions,
-  'handleVaultAvailable' | 'handleVaultUnavailable' | 'isCurrentVaultPath' | 'path' | 'setEntries'
+  'defaultWorkspacePath' | 'handleVaultAvailable' | 'handleVaultUnavailable' | 'isCurrentVaultPath' | 'path' | 'setEntries' | 'vaults'
 >): Promise<boolean> {
   const { handleVaultAvailable, handleVaultUnavailable, isCurrentVaultPath, path, setEntries } = options
 
diff --git a/src/hooks/useVaultSwitcher.ts b/src/hooks/useVaultSwitcher.ts
index cad16ce8..993a7846 100644
--- a/src/hooks/useVaultSwitcher.ts
+++ b/src/hooks/useVaultSwitcher.ts
@@ -551,6 +551,7 @@ function usePersistedVaultState(onSwitchRef: MutableRefObject<() => void>): Pers
   return {
     defaultAvailable,
     defaultPath,
+    defaultWorkspacePath,
     extraVaults,
     hiddenDefaults,
     lastPersistedSnapshotRef,
diff --git a/src/utils/vaultMetadataNormalization.ts b/src/utils/vaultMetadataNormalization.ts
index afe134e7..397ce8c0 100644
--- a/src/utils/vaultMetadataNormalization.ts
+++ b/src/utils/vaultMetadataNormalization.ts
@@ -118,6 +118,27 @@ function normalizeFileKind(value: unknown): VaultEntry['fileKind'] {
   return undefined
 }
 
+function normalizeWorkspaceIdentity(value: unknown): WorkspaceIdentity | undefined {
+  const source = recordFrom(value)
+  const id = stringFrom(source.id).trim()
+  const label = stringFrom(source.label).trim()
+  const alias = stringFrom(source.alias).trim()
+  const path = stringFrom(source.path).trim()
+  if (!id || !label || !alias || !path) return undefined
+  return {
+    id,
+    label,
+    alias,
+    path,
+    shortLabel: stringFrom(source.shortLabel).trim() || label.slice(0, 2).toUpperCase(),
+    color: nullableStringFrom(source.color),
+    icon: nullableStringFrom(source.icon),
+    mounted: booleanFrom(source.mounted, true),
+    available: booleanFrom(source.available, true),
+    defaultForNewNotes: booleanFrom(source.defaultForNewNotes),
+  }
+}
+
 function normalizeFilterGroup(value: unknown): FilterGroup {
   const source = recordFrom(value)
   if (Array.isArray(source.all)) return { all: source.all as FilterNode[] }
@@ -146,7 +167,7 @@ function normalizeVaultEntryRecord({ rawEntry, vaultPath, index, workspace }: En
     path,
     filename,
     title,
-    workspace: workspace ?? (isRecord(source.workspace) ? source.workspace as WorkspaceIdentity : undefined),
+    workspace: workspace ?? normalizeWorkspaceIdentity(source.workspace),
     isA: nullableStringFrom(source.isA),
     aliases: stringArrayFrom(source.aliases),
     belongsTo: stringArrayFrom(source.belongsTo),
diff --git a/src/utils/vaultPathContainment.ts b/src/utils/vaultPathContainment.ts
index 0c0e0ee8..2c197ff8 100644
--- a/src/utils/vaultPathContainment.ts
+++ b/src/utils/vaultPathContainment.ts
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@ function compareVaultContainmentPath(path: string, vaultPath: string): [string,
 }
 
 export function canWritePathToVault(path: string, vaultPath: string | readonly string[]): boolean {
-  if (Array.isArray(vaultPath)) {
+  if (typeof vaultPath !== 'string') {
     return vaultPath.some((candidate) => canWritePathToVault(path, candidate))
   }
   const trimmedVaultPath = vaultPath.trim()
diff --git a/src/utils/workspaces.ts b/src/utils/workspaces.ts
index 1a821d3c..2abc68da 100644
--- a/src/utils/workspaces.ts
+++ b/src/utils/workspaces.ts
@@ -65,7 +65,7 @@ export function workspaceLabelForEntry(entry: Pick<VaultEntry, 'workspace'>): st
 }
 
 export function workspaceDisplayPrefix(entry: Pick<VaultEntry, 'workspace'>): string | null {
-  const workspace = workspaceForEntry(entry)
+  const workspace = entry.workspace ?? null
   return workspace ? `${workspace.label} / ` : null
 }