# Home & workspaces

Home is your saved-workspace library. Each workspace points to a real folder. Several documents, bibliography databases, figures and datasets can live in that folder, while VersoFold keeps project settings and research records alongside them.

## Create, add and reopen

Choose **New workspace** to create a folder from a template. Choose its parent location and a new folder name. **Add a folder** registers an existing folder. On desktop, the native folder picker and folder dropping are available; browser mode can use the folder browser provided by the local server.

Open a workspace card or list row to resume writing. Click the VersoFold mark in the writing workspace to return Home. **Back to editor** returns to the currently open project. Opening a PDF creates a reading workspace labelled as a reading copy.

Use the card menu to rename the library entry, edit tags, make a copy, download the latest compiled PDF, or remove the entry. A download is the latest available PDF; compile first when you need recent edits included.

## Find and organize projects

Search by workspace name, choose tag filters and sort by last opened, saved date or name. Grid and compact-list views use consistent tag colors. Your choice of view is remembered.

Tags describe projects; they do not move their folders. Good examples include a conference name, a collaboration, a research topic or a status such as “revision”. Keep folder names useful outside the app as well.

**Make a copy** creates an independent folder containing sources, assets, notes and available compiled PDFs. Existing destination folders are not overwritten. Copies containing symbolic links are rejected so that the copy does not silently depend on files elsewhere.

## Understand where things live

| Information | Location and meaning |
| --- | --- |
| Manuscript and assets | Ordinary files in your chosen project folder. |
| Workspace names and tags | `~/.versofold/projects.json`, personal to this installation. |
| Project settings | `.versofold.json` in the project, including `collaboration.liveEditing` (see [live editing](sharing-export.md#turn-live-editing-off)). |
| Comments and tasks | `.versofold.comments.json`, `.versofold.comments.resolved.json` and `.versofold.tasks.json`. |
| Source history | `.versofold/history.git`, separate from your own Git repository. |
| Shared reference collection | `~/.versofold/references.json` and attached files in `~/.versofold/reference-files`. |
| Figure, table and results drafts | `.versofold.figures.json`, `.versofold.tables.json` and `.versofold.results.json`. |
| Device arrangements | Browser/device-local workspace memory. |
| Your name and cursor colour in shared workspaces | Browser/device-local, set from your chip in the workspace header. |

Project dotfiles are hidden from ordinary file browsing. Several older `versofold.*` metadata names are still readable; hidden files take precedence. Use the app's controls to maintain structured project records instead of editing their JSON during a running operation.

> **Backup:** copy the complete project folder, including hidden `.versofold` files, when preserving history and research records. A manuscript-only export is not a backup of your personal reference library or account settings.

## Preferences and appearance

Home and the editor provide Settings and a light/dark theme control. Home also has a motion toggle; reduced-motion preferences suppress decorative animation. Settings contains appearance and agent connection options. Changes to model settings do not connect an account automatically.

**Workspace memory** stores tabs, source cursors, PDF positions, panel widths, editor views and arrangements. Writing, Review and Focus presets are provided. You can save up to 12 named arrangements, disable automatic restoration, or clear saved positions. Layout memory is device-local. The same window also lists the notes the agent reads about the paper; those are saved with the project, not the device. See [workspace memory & procedures](memory-procedures.md).

## Several people, one workspace

A workspace can have several people in it at once: your own second window, collaborators on a share link, or members of a hosted workspace. Everyone with a file open edits the same document live, with each person's cursor in their colour; the header shows who is here, and the file tree marks files others have open. The folder on disk stays the one copy: what everyone types is written to the files a moment later, and "All changes saved" means it is there. Agents and other programs keep writing to the files as usual, and their changes reach every open editor. See [sharing and export](sharing-export.md#edit-together-live) for what collaborators can do at each level.

## Multiple documents and missing folders

A folder can contain a main paper, supplement and response letter. The compilation root determines which complete document builds. Opening a chapter in the editor does not make it the root. Select the intended document beside **Recompile**, and use **Compile all documents** when the workspace has multiple detected targets.

If a saved workspace becomes unavailable after moving its folder or disconnecting a drive, check its displayed path. Re-add the correct folder rather than creating an unrelated empty document with the same name. Keep relative paths within manuscripts so a copied project remains portable.

Related: [navigation](navigation.md), [versions and recovery](versions.md), [sharing and export](sharing-export.md).