Import and export

Moving in should be easy and moving out should be easier. Because a Scaffold vault is a folder of ordinary files, both are mostly a matter of copying a folder.

Open an existing folder

If you already have a folder of Markdown files, choose Open folder as vault and point at it. Scaffold indexes the files where they are, without copying or converting anything. Wikilinks, tags, frontmatter properties and .canvas files are understood.

Hidden configuration folders

Hidden folders such as .git and .trash, and the configuration folders other tools keep inside a notes folder, are never indexed or modified. Scaffold keeps its own settings in .scaffold and nowhere else, so other programs can keep working on the same files.

Import a copy

If you would rather bring notes into an existing vault, use the import command. You pick a source folder, and Scaffold copies its notes, canvases and attachments into a destination folder (by default Imported <name>).

• Nothing is overwritten. If a file already exists, you choose to skip it or to import it with an added “ (imported)” suffix.
• Hidden configuration folders are left behind unless you explicitly ask to copy them.
• You get a report: how many notes, canvases and attachments were copied, what was skipped or renamed, any warnings, and how many wikilinks do not resolve after the import.

Export

• Export vault as zip gives you a plain archive of every file.
• Create a backup copy writes a zip into the vault’s backups folder. See Vaults for restore modes.
• Publish as website produces a static HTML copy of selected notes.
• Or simply copy the folder. Notes are .md, boards are JSON Canvas, databases are frontmatter, and attachments are normal files.

Moving out for good

Nothing in Scaffold makes it hard to leave. Take the folder, ignore .scaffold, and open it with any Markdown editor. If your editor does not understand [[wikilink]] links, switch the vault’s link format to standard Markdown links and Scaffold rewrites existing links for you.