Attachments & Files

The macOS app supports rich attachments inside markdown pages — images, audio, video, PDFs, and arbitrary files. Attachments are stored in your vault and synced like any other content.

Attachments are a macOS app feature today. The web app reads existing attachments embedded in pages but does not currently handle uploads.

Where attachments live

Attachments are stored in a top-level _assets/ folder in your vault. When you embed an image or drop a file, MindWiki copies it into _assets/ and references it from the page that contains it.

The _assets/ folder is part of your vault and syncs across devices like any other folder.

How to attach a file

Three ways in the macOS app:

  • Slash commands. Type /attachment, /image, /audio, /video, or /pdf. A native file picker opens. Pick the file and it's embedded inline.
  • Drag and drop. Drag any supported file from Finder into the editor. Drop it where you want the attachment to appear.
  • Paste from clipboard. Paste an image you've copied from another app — Preview, browser, screenshot.

In every case the file is copied into _assets/, hashed for sync, and a markdown reference is inserted at the cursor.

Supported types

Attachments cover the common cases:

CategoryFormats
ImagesPNG, JPEG, WebP, GIF
AudioMP3, M4A, AAC, WAV
VideoMP4, MOV
DocumentsPDF, TXT, MD, CSV, JSON, YAML
OfficeDOC, DOCX, XLS, XLSX, PPT, PPTX
Apple iWorkPages, Numbers, Keynote
DesignPSD, AI, FIG, Sketch
ArchivesZIP, RAR, 7Z

Files outside the supported list can still be attached generically, but inline rendering may be limited to a download card.

What it looks like in a page

Attachments embed contextually based on type:

  • Images render inline at native size.
  • Audio files render as a player with play/pause and a scrub bar.
  • Video files render as a player.
  • PDFs render as a card with a clickable preview.
  • Other files render as a labeled link card.

You can resize images by dragging their corners. Players have native controls.

Sync and storage

Attachments sync the same way pages do — content-hashed, optimistic concurrency, and stored on the server. The hash means an attachment is only uploaded once even if you reference it from multiple pages.

Local copies live alongside your markdown files in the vault folder. If you point the macOS app at the vault on a new machine, the _assets/ folder syncs down with everything else.

Quick capture screenshots

A common workflow on macOS:

  • Take a screenshot with Cmd+Shift+4 (region) or Cmd+Shift+Control+4 (region to clipboard).
  • Click into a MindWiki page.
  • Cmd+V to paste.

The screenshot is added to _assets/ with a generated name, embedded in the page, and synced.

Web app behavior

When the web app opens a page that contains attachment references, it renders them using the synced _assets/ content — so you can read pages with attachments anywhere. Authoring attachments via upload from the web app isn't shipped today; do uploads from the macOS app.

Where to go next