Storing Data

An Octarine workspace is a normal folder on your file system. Your notes are Markdown files, so you can open and edit them in any text editor.

Octarine watches the workspace for changes made outside the app and updates its file tree and indexes. You can put the folder anywhere your device can read it, including inside iCloud Drive, Dropbox, OneDrive, or a Syncthing folder.

What Is Stored in a Workspace

A workspace can contain both visible notes and hidden folders managed by Octarine:

My Workspace/
├── Notes and folders/
├── Daily/
├── .attachments/
├── .files/
├── .templates/
└── .octarine/
    ├── inbox/
    ├── ai/
    ├── skills/
    ├── properties.json
    ├── themes.json
    ├── types.json
    ├── views.json
    └── embeddings.sqlite

Not every workspace uses every folder or file. Octarine creates them when the corresponding feature is used.

Location	What it contains
Markdown files and regular folders	Your notes. Properties and other frontmatter are stored inside each note.
Daily/	Daily notes, Weekly notes. Only accepts YYYY-MM-DD.md formats.
.attachments/	Images, video, and other media embedded in notes.
.files/	Non media file attachments added to the workspace.
.templates/	Note templates.
.octarine/inbox/	Markdown captures waiting in the Inbox.
.octarine/ai/slash_commands.json	Custom Writing Assistant slash commands.
.octarine/skills/	Custom AI skill instructions.
.octarine/properties.json	Property definitions and options.
.octarine/types.json	Note Type definitions.
.octarine/views.json	Saved Views.
.octarine/themes.json	Workspace theme definitions.
.octarine/embeddings.sqlite	A rebuildable local index used for AI features such as Related Notes, Ask Octarine

The contents of .octarine are part of the workspace. Include this hidden folder when copying or backing up a workspace if you want to preserve its Inbox captures, custom skills, properties, Note Types, Views, and themes.

Device Settings (.store.dat)

Octarine also keeps a device-specific .store.dat file outside your workspaces. It contains the workspace registry and paths, workspace settings, app preferences, Git configuration, license state, and AI provider configuration.

OS	Default folder
macOS	~/Library/Application Support/Octarine
Windows	C:\Users\username\AppData\Roaming\Octarine
Linux	~/.local/share/Octarine, or $XDG_DATA_HOME/Octarine when that variable is set

The .store.dat file can contain license details and API keys. Do not share or manually edit it. It is not inside a workspace, so copying a workspace or syncing it with Git or a cloud drive does not copy these device settings.

Deleting .store.dat does not delete your Markdown files, but Octarine will lose the device's workspace registrations and settings. Back it up before replacing or removing it.

Local Index and Session Data

Octarine uses a local IndexedDB database for each workspace so it can load and search quickly. It includes rebuildable indexes for files, frontmatter, content statistics, and other metadata. It also stores device-local state such as:

• Ask Octarine and Writing Assistant histories
• Recently viewed and recently searched notes
• Open tabs, pane layouts, and editor state
• Other workspace UI state and caches

Run Cmd/Ctrl + K → Refresh Workspace to delete this local database and rebuild it from the files in the workspace. Your Markdown files and workspace-owned .octarine data remain intact, but chat histories, recent items, tabs, layouts, and other device-local state can be lost and cannot be reconstructed from the workspace.

Sync and Backup Implications

• Cloud-drive tools sync whatever is inside the workspace folder, subject to that service's rules for hidden files and on-demand downloads.
• Git Sync follows the workspace's .gitignore. By default, media in .attachments, external documents in .files, templates in .templates, and the local embeddings database are ignored. Other workspace-owned .octarine data is included unless you ignore it yourself.
• .store.dat and IndexedDB are stored outside the workspace and are not synced with it.
• Backing up only Markdown files preserves your note text, but not necessarily attachments, external files, templates, or workspace-owned .octarine data. Back up the complete workspace folder, including hidden files, for a complete copy.

iCloud Workspaces After Restart

If Octarine remembers an iCloud-backed workspace but its notes do not appear after restarting your device, iCloud or macOS may not have made the folder readable yet.

Try the following:

• Wait for iCloud Drive to finish syncing, then reopen the workspace.
• In Finder, right-click the workspace folder and choose Download Now if it is available.
• On macOS, open System Settings → Privacy & Security → Full Disk Access, add Octarine, and turn it on.
• Fully quit Octarine and open it again.
• If the workspace still looks stale, run Cmd + K → Refresh Workspace to re-index it.

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