Files and Folders

The Files tab gives you a full view of your vault’s contents. Think of it as a lightweight file explorer that lives right inside Atlas.

The file tree

Open the Files tab to see your vault’s folder structure. Each folder shows a count of the files inside it, and you can expand or collapse folders by clicking them. Click any file to open it in the editor.

Tip

You don’t need to use the Files tab to work with notes. You can ask Atlas in chat to create, read, update, or find notes — it will use the same files behind the scenes.

Creating files and folders

To create a new note:

1. Click the + button in the Files tab toolbar
2. Choose a note type (note, idea, meeting, journal, reference)
3. Give it a name and optional folder location
4. Click Create

To create a folder:

1. Click the folder icon or right-click in the file tree
2. Enter the folder name
3. Press Enter

You can also ask Atlas: “Create a new note called Project Ideas in my Work folder.”

File operations

Right-click any file or folder in the tree to see available actions:

Action	What it does
Rename	Change the file or folder name
Move	Move the file to a different folder
Delete	Move the file to atlas/trash/ (not permanently deleted)
Duplicate	Create a copy in the same folder

Caution

Deleting a file moves it to atlas/trash/ inside your vault — it is not immediately removed from your disk. You can recover files from there if you change your mind. To permanently delete, empty the trash folder manually.

File watcher

Atlas watches your vault for changes made outside the app. If you edit a file in VS Code, add notes through Obsidian, or sync new files via Dropbox, Atlas will detect those changes automatically — no manual refresh needed.

The file watcher also triggers re-indexing so your search results stay current with any external edits.

Note

The file watcher runs while Atlas is open. If you add or edit files while Atlas is closed, the changes will be picked up the next time you open the app.

Supported file types

Atlas is built around Markdown (.md) files. These are the files it creates, indexes, and understands best.

Other files you may see in your vault:

• .json — Atlas internal data (index metadata, session info, CRM records)
• .jsonl — Append-only logs (session transcripts, action logs)
• .png, .jpg, etc. — Image files (visible in the tree, not indexed for search)
• .pdf, .docx, etc. — Other documents (visible but not indexed)

Atlas only reads, writes, and searches .md files for your notes and knowledge. Binary files and other formats are left untouched.

Navigating large vaults

If your vault has hundreds of notes, the file tree can get deep. A few tips:

• Use search (Files tab search bar or ask Atlas in chat) to jump directly to a file
• Keep related notes in folders — for example, Work/Projects/, Personal/Journal/
• Use the daily notes folder for date-organized notes instead of a flat file list
• Atlas’s hybrid search finds notes by meaning, so you often don’t need to remember exactly where a file lives