Projects and nodes

The project folder

A Layertrail project is a folder:

Lab B/
  Layertrail.layertrail   # the project itself: every node, inline, as JSON
  .git/                   # snapshot storage, managed by Layertrail
  .layertrail/            # history timeline and recovery points, plus a search index and logs

Projects made with Manifest

Releases up to 0.1.0-alpha.1 were published under the app’s earlier name, Manifest. Those builds create Manifest.manifestproject and .manifest/ instead of the names above. Layertrail can’t open a Manifest project; see Coming from Manifest.

The .layertrail folder matters: the search index and logs in it are rebuilt when needed, but its history file holds snapshot descriptions, revert records, and recovery points that Git alone can’t reconstruct. Don’t delete it.

Layertrail.layertrail is the source of truth for the project’s contents. It is plain, readable JSON, so you can inspect it, back it up with your usual tools, or read it from a script. Layertrail saves it automatically as you edit.

Why a single readable file? It keeps the promise that your data isn’t locked inside the app. If Layertrail disappeared tomorrow, your project would still be a file you can open.

If another program changes the file while Layertrail has the project open, Layertrail notices, keeps both versions, and asks you which to use rather than overwriting either.

Nodes

A project is a tree of nodes. Each node has a name, an order among its siblings, optional properties, and children. Names must be unique among siblings, not across the whole project, so two racks can each contain a “Shelf 1”.

You can add, rename, reorder, move, and delete nodes, and duplicate a node together with everything beneath it. Duplicates get fresh internal IDs, and references inside the copied subtree are pointed at the copies.

Undo and Redo cover project edits, template changes, and imports for the current session.

Properties

Properties are key/value pairs on a node: serial_number, firmware, location, owner. Without a template, values are free text.

To set the same property on many nodes at once, select them (Cmd/Ctrl-click or Shift-click) and choose Edit properties… in the selection pane. Layertrail previews which nodes have different current values before applying, and the whole batch undoes in one step.

For typed fields, choice lists, required values, and links between nodes, see Templates.