File Attachments

Glyph allows you to attach files to your notes with a content-addressed storage system. Files are deduplicated using SHA256 hashing and stored in your space’s assets/ directory.

Overview

Attachments in Glyph:

Content-addressed: Files are named by their SHA256 hash
Deduplicated: Identical files are stored only once
Persistent: Files remain available even if the source is deleted
Portable: All assets travel with your space
Efficient: No file size bloat from duplicates

Attaching Files

From the Editor

Open a note

Navigate to the note where you want to add an attachment.

Use the attach command

Click the attachment button in the editor toolbar or use the slash command /attach.

Select a file

Choose a file from your system using the file picker.

File is imported

Glyph copies the file to assets/, generates a hash-based filename, and inserts markdown.

Supported File Types

Glyph handles all file types but provides special treatment for:

Images (auto-embedded):

PNG (.png)
JPEG (.jpg, .jpeg)
GIF (.gif)
WebP (.webp)
SVG (.svg)

Other files (linked):

PDFs, documents, spreadsheets, etc.
Generic files use standard markdown links

Content-Addressed Storage

How It Works

File is selected

You choose a file to attach (e.g., screenshot.png).

SHA256 hash computed

Glyph computes the file’s SHA256 hash while copying it.

Hash becomes filename

File is saved as <hash>.<extension> in the assets/ directory.

Markdown inserted

A relative link to the asset is inserted in your note.

Example

Original file: ~/Downloads/diagram.png

SHA256 hash: a3b5c8d9e1f2... (64 hex characters)

Stored as: .glyph/assets/a3b5c8d9e1f2...png

Markdown: ![](../assets/a3b5c8d9e1f2...png)

Benefits

Deduplication

Attach the same image to 10 notes, it’s stored only once.

Integrity

File corruption is detectable—hash mismatch means the file changed.

Portability

Copy your space folder anywhere, all assets come with it.

No name conflicts

Hash-based names eliminate filename collisions.

Markdown Syntax

Images

Images use standard markdown image syntax:

![](../assets/a3b5c8d9e1f2...png)

Glyph renders these inline in the editor with preview support.

Other Files

Non-image files use standard link syntax:

[document.pdf](../assets/b4c6d8e0f3a1...pdf)

Clicking the link opens the file in your system’s default application.

Relative Paths

Asset links use relative paths:

Notes in root: ../assets/
Notes in subfolders: ../../assets/ or deeper depending on note location

Glyph automatically computes the correct relative path when inserting attachments.

Storage Location

All assets live in:

your-space/
  .glyph/
    assets/
      a3b5c8d9e1f2...png
      b4c6d8e0f3a1...pdf
      c5d7e9f1a2b3...jpg

Why `.glyph/assets/`?

Centralized: All assets in one place
Hidden: .glyph is a hidden directory (won’t clutter your file browser)
Protected: Separate from your notes, less likely to be accidentally deleted
Portable: Move .glyph with your notes, everything stays linked

File Preview

Glyph provides in-app preview for attachments:

Image Preview

Images display inline in the editor:

Click to expand full-size
Drag to reposition (markdown syntax)
Alt text supported for accessibility

File Info

Hover over a file link to see:

Filename (original extension preserved)
File size
MIME type

External Opening

Click non-image file links to open in your system’s default app:

PDFs → PDF viewer
Documents → Word/LibreOffice/etc.
Spreadsheets → Excel/Sheets/etc.

Managing Attachments

Finding Unused Assets

Glyph doesn’t automatically delete assets when you remove markdown links. To clean up:

Manual scan

Search .glyph/assets/ for files not referenced in any note.

Use a script

Write a script to compare asset filenames against all markdown files.

Delete manually

Remove unused files from the assets/ directory.

Note

Future versions may include automatic orphan detection and cleanup.

Renaming Assets

Don’t rename files in assets/ manually:

Hash-based names are computed, not arbitrary
Renaming breaks all markdown references
Re-attach the file instead to generate a new hash

Moving Notes

When moving notes between folders:

Glyph auto-updates relative asset paths
Links remain functional after the move
No need to manually fix ../assets/ paths

Backing Up Assets

Include .glyph/assets/ in your backup strategy:

Git: Add .glyph/assets/ to your repository
Cloud sync: Ensure .glyph is not ignored
Manual backups: Copy entire space folder including .glyph

File Size Considerations

Storage Limits

Glyph has no built-in file size limits, but consider:

Large files slow sync: If using Git or cloud sync, big assets increase sync time
Disk space: Assets accumulate over time
Performance: Massive image files may slow rendering

Recommendations

Optimize images: Use compressed formats (WebP, JPEG) over raw (PNG)
Limit file sizes: Keep individual files under 10 MB for best performance
Use external hosting for large media: Link to YouTube, Vimeo, etc. instead of embedding large videos

Advanced: Manual Attachment API

Attach files programmatically using the Tauri command:

import { invoke } from '@tauri-apps/api/core';

const result = await invoke('note_attach_file', {
  note_id: 'daily/2024-03-10',
  source_path: '/Users/you/Downloads/diagram.png'
});

// result.asset_rel_path: "assets/a3b5c8d9e1f2...png"
// result.markdown: "![](../assets/a3b5c8d9e1f2...png)"

Returns:

asset_rel_path: Path relative to space root
markdown: Ready-to-insert markdown syntax

Use Cases

Custom importers
Automation scripts
Plugin development
Batch attachment processing

Atomic Writes

File imports use atomic writes for safety:

Copy to temp file

File is copied to .glyph/assets/.import.tmp.<uuid>.

Compute hash

SHA256 is computed during the copy.

Rename atomically

Temp file is renamed to hash-based name in one operation.

Benefits:

Crash-safe: Interrupted imports don’t corrupt assets
Deduplication-aware: If hash already exists, temp file is discarded
No partial writes: File appears only when fully written

Deduplication Example

Scenario

You have the same screenshot in two places:

~/Desktop/bug-report.png
~/Downloads/bug-report-copy.png

Both are identical files (same bytes).

Attachment Process

Attach first file

Attach ~/Desktop/bug-report.png to notes/project-a.md.

→ Stored as assets/a3b5c8d9e1f2...png

Attach second file

Attach ~/Downloads/bug-report-copy.png to notes/project-b.md.

→ Same hash, file already exists, no new copy made

Result

Both notes reference the same asset:

notes/project-a.md:

![](../assets/a3b5c8d9e1f2...png)

notes/project-b.md:

![](../assets/a3b5c8d9e1f2...png)

Only one file stored in assets/, saving disk space.

Security

SHA256 Hashing

Collision-resistant: Virtually impossible to create two files with the same hash
Integrity checking: Verify file hasn’t been tampered with
Not encryption: Files are stored unencrypted (plaintext)

SSRF Protection

Glyph’s attachment system is local-only:

No URL-based attachments (prevents SSRF attacks)
All files come from your filesystem
No remote fetching or automatic downloads

Permissions

Attachments require:

Read permission on source file
Write permission on .glyph/assets/ directory

Glyph respects your OS’s file permissions.

Keyboard Shortcuts

Shortcut	Action
`/attach`	Open file picker
Click image	Expand preview
Click link	Open in default app

Best Practices

Optimize before attaching - Compress images to reduce space
Use descriptive alt text - Helps with accessibility and searchability
Don’t rename in assets/ - Always re-attach instead
Include assets in backups - Don’t ignore .glyph/assets/
Clean up orphans periodically - Prevent asset bloat over time
Use external hosting for videos - Embed YouTube/Vimeo instead of attaching large files
Test links after moving notes - Verify relative paths still work

Limitations

No built-in orphan detection (yet)
No automatic thumbnail generation
No image editing/cropping in-app
No direct camera/screenshot integration (use system tools, then attach)
No cloud asset hosting (files are local only)

AI Chat - Attach images to AI conversations with vision models
Tags & Search - Find notes containing specific images
Markdown Editor - Embed images in your notes
Space System - Learn about content-addressed storage