tolaria/docs/adr/0041-filekind-all-files-in-vault-scanner.md

type, id, title, status, date

type	id	title	status	date
ADR	0041	fileKind field — scan all vault files, not just markdown	active	2026-04-02

Context

Laputa vaults often contain non-markdown files alongside notes: images, PDFs, YAML configs, JSON exports, scripts, etc. Previously the vault scanner only indexed .md files — all other files were invisible to the app. This made the Folder view incomplete: navigating a folder containing a config.yml or photo.png showed nothing, even though the file was physically there.

The need arose when adding a Folder tree view that is meant to mirror the actual filesystem structure. Users expect to see all files in a folder, as any file manager would show.

Decision

The vault scanner now indexes all files (not just .md). Every VaultEntry carries a fileKind field ("markdown", "text", or "binary") that controls how the frontend renders and opens it.

• "markdown": full Laputa behavior — frontmatter parsing, BlockNote editor, title sync, type system.
• "text": filename as title, no frontmatter, opens in raw CodeMirror editor. Covers .yml, .json, .ts, .py, .sh, etc.
• "binary": filename as title, grayed out, non-clickable. Covers images, PDFs, binaries.
• Hidden files (starting with .) are skipped regardless of extension.
• Non-folder views (All Notes, type sections, Custom Views) still show only "markdown" entries.
• Folder view shows all file kinds.

Options considered

• Option A (chosen): Single VaultEntry model with a fileKind discriminator. All files go through the same pipeline; rendering is gated by fileKind. Simple, incremental — existing code paths untouched for markdown files.
• Option B: Separate data model for non-markdown files (e.g. AssetEntry). Cleaner type hierarchy, but requires duplicating list/filter/sort logic for two types across the codebase.
• Option C: Only scan .md + explicitly listed extensions (e.g. .yml, .json). Simpler initial implementation, but requires ongoing maintenance of an allowlist and still misses user files. Abandoned in favor of a deny-list approach (only .-prefixed hidden files are excluded).

Consequences

• Non-markdown files are visible in Folder view — the app now behaves like a file manager in that context.
• All views except Folder view continue to show only markdown files (the isMarkdown guard in filterEntries).
• countByFilter / countAllByFilter exclude non-markdown entries to keep sidebar counters accurate.
• The vault cache version was bumped to 11 to force a full rescan after this change.
• Binary files have no click action — clicking does nothing (no editor opened).
• Re-evaluation trigger: if users need to preview or edit binary files (e.g. images), a dedicated preview pane would need a separate ADR.