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Workspaces

Virtual Workspaces

Workspaces let you organize notes without moving files. A note can belong to multiple workspaces, and workspaces can span multiple folders.

Defining Workspaces

Define workspaces in your strayfiles.toml:

version = 1

[settings]
roots = ["./notes", "./projects"]

[workspaces.work]
description = "Work-related notes"
include = ["projects/**"]

[workspaces.personal]
description = "Personal notes and ideas"
include = ["notes/personal/**"]

[workspaces.claude-code]
description = "Claude Code context files"
include = ["**/CLAUDE.md", "**/claude/**"]

Workspace Configuration

Each workspace supports these options:

[workspaces.example]
# Human-readable description
description = "Example workspace"

# Glob patterns to auto-include
include = [
  "docs/**",
  "notes/work/**"
]

# Glob patterns to exclude (overrides include)
exclude = [
  "**/*.draft.md"
]

# Color for UI (hex or named)
color = "#3B82F6"

# Icon (emoji or icon name)
icon = "📁"

Assigning Notes to Workspaces

Method 1: Auto-assignment via patterns

Notes matching workspace include patterns are automatically assigned:

[workspaces.ai-tools]
include = [
  "**/CLAUDE.md",
  "**/cursor/**",
  "**/copilot/**"
]

Method 2: Frontmatter assignment

Explicitly assign notes in their frontmatter:

---
title: Project Setup Guide
strayfiles:
  enabled: true
  workspaces: ["work", "documentation"]
---

Method 3: In-app assignment

Drag and drop notes into workspaces in the strayfiles UI.

Workspace Examples

AI Coding Tools

[workspaces.claude-code]
description = "Claude Code context files"
include = ["**/CLAUDE.md"]
icon = "🤖"

[workspaces.cursor]
description = "Cursor IDE rules"
include = ["**/.cursorrules", "**/cursor/**"]
icon = "⚡"

Project Organization

[workspaces.active]
description = "Currently active projects"
include = ["projects/active/**"]
color = "#22C55E"

[workspaces.archive]
description = "Archived projects"
include = ["projects/archive/**"]
color = "#6B7280"

Content Types

[workspaces.blog]
description = "Blog posts and drafts"
include = ["content/blog/**", "drafts/**"]
exclude = ["**/*.draft.md"]

[workspaces.docs]
description = "Documentation"
include = ["**/README.md", "**/docs/**"]

Workspace Queries

In the strayfiles search, filter by workspace:

workspace:work meeting notes
workspace:claude-code setup
workspace:personal,ideas brainstorm

Combine with other filters:

workspace:work tag:urgent created:today

Tips

  • Notes can belong to multiple workspaces
  • Workspace membership is non-destructive — files never move
  • Use descriptive names and icons for easy scanning
  • Color-code by project or priority