Write notes about files

A file’s Page body gives you a Markdown writing surface beside its Workspace Folder properties. Use it for research, decisions, descriptions, or any context that belongs with the file rather than inside a property value.

Open the Page body

1. Select a regular file.
2. Open the Page panel if it is not already visible.
3. Write in the body beneath the file’s properties.

If the file is not ready for a Page, choose Open Page in the Page panel. When Workspace Folder data is needed, Phials explains what it will add and continues after you approve. You do not need to create a Workspace Folder as a separate preliminary task.

You can also open the file in a file tab and choose Page to give the body more room. The Page panel and Page mode use the same content; opening another surface does not create another note.

For Page navigation and property presentation, see Use Pages.

Know which content you are editing

The Page body has one source:

• For a Markdown file with an .md, .markdown, or .mdc extension, the body is the file’s own contents. Editing the Page changes that file.
• For any other indexed regular file, the body is a separate per-file note stored in the file’s Workspace Folder data. Editing it does not change the subject file.

An empty Page body is immediately editable. You do not need to add or enable a Note property.

Write and save

Use Editor for the visual block editor or Raw to edit Markdown source. The body uses the same Markdown authoring features as a Markdown file; see Edit Markdown files for formatting, links, and embeds.

Page bodies autosave after their Markdown source changes. There is no routine Save or Revert step. Command-S on macOS or Ctrl-S on Windows and Linux flushes pending changes immediately.

Closing a file tab or Phials waits for the latest Page-body change to finish saving. If saving fails, Phials keeps the document available and shows a recovery action instead of silently discarding the change.

Resolve an external-change conflict

If the same Markdown file or per-file note changes outside the active editor while you have local work, autosave pauses and shows a conflict banner:

• Choose Reload to replace the editor content with the externally changed version.
• Choose Overwrite to keep the editor content and replace the external version.

Choose carefully: either action discards one version. A temporary write failure instead shows Retry.

Keep a note with its file

When you rename or move a file within its Workspace Folder through Phials, its per-file note remains attached to that file. Markdown files move with their own contents as usual.

Per-file notes live with the Workspace Folder data. A portable Workspace Folder carries them in its hidden .phials bundle; a locally stored Workspace Folder keeps them in Phials Home. See Store Workspace Folder data locally or portably.