Sync & Storage

Noust prioritizes data sovereignty. Your notes are yours, and you decide where they go.

Export & Import

Take your data with you in a standard format.

• Export: Generates a unified binary .noust package containing all notes, domains, settings, and environment variables. This format is highly optimized, compresses JSON metadata with Gzip, and embeds binary assets (like images) directly without Base64 overhead. We recommend encrypting the file with a custom password during export for maximum security (AES-256-GCM).
• Import: Restore notes directly from an .noust package, or from legacy .npad and .json files. Imported data will replace your current workspace notes or merge cleanly, depending on the import mode.

Automatic Local Sync (File System Access API)

In addition to manual exports, Noust supports automated disk mirroring using the browser's native File System Access API.

• Unified Binary .noust Format: When synchronizing or exporting without a custom password, Noust writes your workspace as an unencrypted, unified binary package using the .noust extension (magic bytes NOUS, Gzip-compressed structured metadata, and embedded binary assets). Exactly one .noust file is maintained per linked folder. Any script, external backup, or local AI agent can read and parse it directly.
• Background Auto-Export: IndexedDB remains the primary database for instantaneous UI interactions. Whenever you create or modify notes, Noust schedules a lightweight background export to your linked folder with a 5-second typing debounce, ensuring your local file is always up to date without interrupting your workflow.
• Embedded Media: Embedded images and media attachments are preserved inside the .noust file.
• Browser Compatibility:
  • Google Chrome & Microsoft Edge: Supported natively out of the box in secure contexts (localhost or https://).
  • Brave Browser: Supported, but requires manually enabling the flag at brave://flags/#file-system-access-api due to Brave's default privacy shields.
  • Firefox & Safari: Do not currently support the File System Access API. On these browsers, manual export remains fully functional.
• How to Link a Folder: Open Workspaces from the sidebar, click the Export icon on any workspace card, and click "Link Folder" in the Automatic Local Sync (Chromium) section. Once linked, you can also connect external AI assistants via the Model Context Protocol (MCP).

Storage Architecture

Noust uses a tiered, high-performance approach to local persistence to ensure maximum reliability and data sovereignty.

1. Primary Engine (IndexedDB): Our main local database. Workspaces are stored under isolated partitions (workspace_{id}), supporting large datasets and binary assets while enabling Local Encryption (At-Rest).
2. Native Background Auto-Save: Data persistence is continuous, automatic, and always-on. Every edit, note movement, and structural change is asynchronously saved to IndexedDB in the background without blocking the UI thread.
3. Fallback (LocalStorage): Used as a fail-safe recovery path only if the browser blocks IndexedDB access. Note: Local Encryption is not available in fallback mode due to storage limits.
4. Personal Automations Isolation (Noust_Automations_Personal): Rules and execution histories for scheduled automations and prompts are maintained in a dedicated IndexedDB partition. They are strictly bound to your local device and browser session: automations are never sent to cloud synchronization (even within shared workspaces) and are never included in .noust export packages, safeguarding your personal routines and schedules.

Multi-Workspace Partitioning & Cross-Tab Sync (Event Storage)

• Workspace Partitioning: Each workspace maintains its own isolated storage bucket. Switching or deleting a workspace cleanly loads or purges its canvas nodes, positional snapshots, and cloud workspace metadata without affecting other workspaces.
• Cross-Tab Sync Toggle: You can customize cross-tab synchronization in Settings > Behavior:
  • Enabled (Default): Edits and workspace switches propagate in real-time across all open browser tabs via Event Storage / BroadcastChannel.
  • Disabled: Turns each browser tab into an independent session, allowing you to work in different workspaces side-by-side in separate tabs without tab interference, while background auto-save continues to keep all workspaces safely stored on disk.

Cloud Synchronization

Our cloud synchronization is built on a Zero-Knowledge Architecture. We provide the storage without access to the plaintext content of your workspaces.

How it Works

1. Binary Packing: Your workspace data and assets are packed into a .noust binary envelope (magic bytes NOUS) to minimize data footprint and eliminate Base64 overhead.
2. Local Encryption: Data is encrypted in your browser using AES-256-GCM.
3. Encrypted Blob: Workspace content is sent as an encrypted "blob". Operational metadata required for synchronization is sent separately.
4. Key Retention: Your password and optional salt never leave your device in plaintext. For shared workspaces, they are transmitted and stored only inside E2EE Envelopes sealed for authorized collaborators.
5. Desynchronize: Collaborators or owners can desynchronize a shared workspace at any time. This severs the cloud link while preserving a fully accessible private copy in your local workspace.

Cloud Workspace Actions

• Sync (formerly "Save"): Sends and syncs your local workspace changes to the cloud. If you are creating a new workspace for the first time, this action is labeled Send (or Sync).
• Load: Opens and loads a workspace from your cloud list into your active session. If your Local Vault is configured and authorized, Noust automatically attempts to decrypt the cloud workspace using your Vault password. If it matches, the workspace is decrypted immediately; if not, Noust presents the password input interface smoothly without displaying an error alert.
• Sync (formerly "Auto-Sync"): Toggles automated background synchronization for the active workspace.

Update Detection & Visual Indicators

Noust continuously verifies workspace freshness across your devices. Checks occur both manually (clicking Refresh in the workspace list or opening the Cloud Sync panel) and automatically (e.g., upon network reconnection, resuming after system sleep, or returning after an extended idle period).

When a newer version of your workspace is detected on the cloud, Noust alerts you in 3 distinct UI locations:

1. Global Header Icon: The Sync icon in the main app toolbar displays an update notification badge.
2. Workspace List Badge: A hollow indicator dot appears next to the workspace item in My Cloud Workspaces or Shared with Me.
3. Cloud Form Notice: An "Updates Available" action button appears inside the active Cloud Workspace management panel.

Intelligent 3-Way Line Merge & Conflict Protection

When pulling updates from another device, Noust performs an automated 3-way line-level merge across notes, domains, objectives, and topology metadata:

• Conflict Prevention: To protect you from accidentally overwriting changes made on another device, Noust blocks manual Sync operations whenever remote updates or unresolved conflicts are detected. You must pull and resolve the latest remote changes before pushing local updates.
• Granular Conflict Resolution: If changes collide on the exact same line, Noust opens an interactive conflict resolution modal allowing you to select line-by-line which version (Local vs. Cloud) to preserve.

Auto-Update (Paid Subscription Tier)

Users on paid subscription tiers gain access to Auto-Update, which automates background synchronization without interrupting your workflow:

• Automated Pull & Merge: When a remote update is detected and no structural conflicts exist, Noust automatically pulls and merges the remote version in the background.
• Security & Password Verification: Auto-Update executes seamlessly provided Sync is enabled and your local session is decrypted using the same security password as the incoming cloud workspace.
• Typing Idle Safety: To prevent typing collisions or cursor jumps while you write, Auto-Update waits for a brief period of editor typing inactivity before applying the background merge.
• Blocking Merge Fallback: If an unresolvable structural merge conflict occurs during an automated update, Noust safely pauses automatic merging to protect your data, flags the workspace with an update notice, and prompts you to resolve the conflict manually.

Visual Indicators

The Cloud icon appears in the global header to indicate that the current active workspace is synchronized with the cloud.

• When the cloud icon is filled, Auto-Update is activated for this workspace.
• Auto-Sync Feedback: When local changes are synced outbound to the cloud, the icon gently pulses and flashes with a soft glow upon completion.
• Auto-Update Feedback: When remote updates are pulled in the background, the icon displays an animated downward arrow (↓) with a subtle neon glow.

Cloud Version History & Retention

Paid subscription tiers include automated cloud version history, providing time-travel recovery and protection against accidental edits or overwrites:

• Time-Based Retention: Rather than enforcing arbitrary revision count limits, versions are retained based on configurable retention windows matching your subscription tier:
  • Pro: 30-day version history.
  • Advanced: 365-day (1-year) version history.
  • Business: 365-day (1-year) version history per organization member.
• Zero Storage Quota Consumption: Cloud version history does not consume your cloud storage quota (e.g., your 5 GB or 15 GB allowance). Your storage quota is calculated exclusively from active cloud workspaces, allowing you to retain version history throughout your retention window without storage penalties.
• Zero-Knowledge Version Encryption: Each version is encrypted locally with your workspace's AES-256-GCM key before upload. The server cannot inspect or decrypt version contents.
• Point-in-Time Restoration: Inspect versions with exact timestamps in the History tab of the Menu Shell and restore any previous version with a single click.

Decryption Requirements

To restore your data from another device, you must provide:

• Your Encryption Password.
• Your Custom Salt (if used).

Vault Integration on Load

If your Local Vault is configured and currently unlocked, Noust automatically attempts to decrypt incoming cloud workspaces using your active Vault password upon loading. If the Vault password matches the workspace key, decryption succeeds immediately without prompting. If the passwords differ, Noust smoothly opens the password decryption interface so you can enter the specific workspace password manually, without showing an error dialog.

Important

Noust never stores your password or salt in plaintext and cannot recover or reset them for you. Keep a secure copy. In shared workspaces, E2EE Envelopes may allow already-authorized collaborators to retain access, but they are not a server-side recovery mechanism.

Collaboration & Shared Workspaces

Noust allows you to share specific cloud workspaces with other users.

• Selective Sharing: Share only the workspaces you choose.
• Discovery Protection (Username Basis): Sharing is intentionally restricted to exact usernames only. We strictly avoid searchable emails or public user lists to ensure that your presence on Noust is never discoverable or "enumerable" by third parties.
• Collaborator Roles: Each collaborator can be assigned one of two roles:
  • Reader: Can sync and read the shared workspace in read-only mode.
  • Editor: Can sync the workspace and submit local changes for the owner to review.
• Manage Roles and Revoke Access: As workspace owner, you can change collaborator roles (Reader/Editor) or revoke access at any time.

Collaborator Updates & Owner Review

When an Editor collaborator submits changes, the workspace owner receives a pending update notification in the Collaborators panel.

• Pending Updates Panel: The owner can see how many updates are pending, who submitted them, and their size and timestamp.
• Provisional Review: Clicking Review loads the collaborator's changes into the workspace for visual inspection. The owner sees the merged result directly in the editor before making a decision.
• Accept or Discard: After reviewing, the owner can:
  • Accept All: Applies and saves the merged changes to the cloud workspace.
  • Discard All: Instantly restores the workspace to its original state, with no changes applied. No data is lost.
• Delete Without Review: The owner can also delete a pending update directly from the panel without opening it.

Conflict Handling

If both the owner and a collaborator edited the same note or line, Noust automatically attempts a 3-way merge. When a conflict cannot be resolved automatically, conflict markers are shown inline so the owner can make an informed decision before accepting or discarding.

Zero-Knowledge Sharing (E2EE)

Shared workspaces maintain the same Zero-Knowledge guarantee as personal workspaces. The workspace password is delivered to collaborators as an encrypted E2EE Envelope — sealed with the collaborator's personal E2EE public key.

• Collaborator Authorization & Password Requirement: When authorizing a collaborator, the workspace owner is prompted to provide the workspace's exact encryption password (and salt). The browser encrypts these credentials into an E2EE Envelope using the recipient's public key.
• Envelope Delivery: The server never has access to the workspace password, private keys, or plaintext content.
• Updating Collaborator Keys (Update Keys): If the owner changes the encryption password or salt of a cloud workspace that has already been shared, existing collaborators will lose access because their existing envelopes were encrypted with the old credentials. The owner can restore access at any time using the Update Collaborator Keys button (the key icon in the Collaborators card or the "Update collaborator keys on sync" checkbox in the Sync panel) to re-encrypt envelopes for all collaborators at once.
• Vault Unlock Requirement: Collaborators must have their E2EE Vault unlocked (in Profile > Security) to decrypt envelopes and access shared workspaces. If the Vault is locked, access is safely blocked until unlocked.

Cryptographic Transparency

• Zero-Knowledge Scope: Workspace content and encryption credentials remain inaccessible to the server in plaintext, and no password-verification hash is stored. The server still processes the operational metadata required for synchronization and sharing, such as document identifiers, titles, sizes, timestamps, and collaborator relationships. When sharing, credentials are transmitted and stored only inside E2EE Envelopes that authorized recipients can decrypt on their devices.
• Owner-Controlled Client-Side Review: When an Editor submits changes, the update is stored in an encrypted staging area (.nous format via AES-GCM). The application authorizes only the workspace owner to retrieve and review the pending update. The update is encrypted with the workspace password, not with a separate owner-only key. If it cannot be decrypted, the owner can reject and discard it.

Security Auditing (Advanced Tier)

Advanced Tier users gain access to a transparent, privacy-focused audit trail.

• Access Logs: Track your own critical events (Sign-ins, Data Pushe, Deletions).
• Privacy Protection: Logs identify the device family/Operating System and action type, but never expose your public IP address in the user-facing interface.
• Verification: Use these logs to monitor for unauthorized access across your devices.

Account Management & Deletion

Noust provides a secure end-of-life process for your data.

• Immediate & Irreversible Purge: When you request account deletion, access is terminated immediately and all associated cloud workspaces, backups, history versions, and shared documents are permanently deleted from our servers.
• Confirmation Mechanism: To prevent accidental loss, account deletion requires a deliberate confirmation.
• Data Sovereignty: Your identity and cloud data are permanently purged, though minimal encrypted technical logs may be retained solely for legal compliance (LGPD/GDPR) before final disposal. Local offline notes remain securely stored on your local devices.