Vaults and folder access
What is a Vault?
Section titled “What is a Vault?”A vault is a folder that Baram treats as a first-class workspace. When a folder contains a .baram/config.json file, Baram recognizes it as a vault and enables additional features: vault-level settings, Journal integration, and cross-vault linking.
A regular folder opened in Baram works fine without being a vault — vaults simply unlock extra capabilities.
To initialize a folder as a vault, go to Settings > Vault and click Initialize as Vault. To revert back to a plain folder, click Revert to Folder (this removes .baram/config.json but leaves your files untouched).
Context Types
Section titled “Context Types”Baram has three context types, shown as tabs in the Context Tab Bar across the top of the window:
| Context | Icon | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Vault | 🏠 | A fully initialized vault folder (has .baram/config.json) |
| Folder | 📁 | A plain folder opened without vault initialization |
| File | 📄 | A single file opened outside any workspace folder |
Each context is independent — it has its own file tree, settings, and tab history.
Opening and Switching Vaults
Section titled “Opening and Switching Vaults”- Open a vault: Use File > Open Folder (
Cmd+Shift+O/Ctrl+Shift+O) and select a folder. If it contains.baram/config.json, it opens as a vault context. - Switch between contexts: Click the tabs in the Context Tab Bar across the top of the window. Each tab shows the vault/folder name and its context icon.
- Close a context: Right-click a context tab and select Close.
Multiple vaults can be open simultaneously, each as its own tab in the Context Tab Bar.
Journal and Vaults
Section titled “Journal and Vaults”The Journal feature integrates with vaults. Each vault can have its own journal directory configured in Settings > Vault > Journal Directory. When you switch to a vault context, the Calendar sidebar and date links ([[2026-02-27]]) create journal entries in that vault’s journal directory.
Folder Access Approval
Section titled “Folder Access Approval”Baram asks before it reads a location it has not been allowed into. The first time you open a folder or a file outside an already-approved location, a dialog appears — Allow Baram to read and write this folder and everything under it? — with Allow and Deny.
- An approved folder covers everything beneath it, so you are asked once per workspace, not once per file.
- An approved single file covers that file and images sitting in the same folder, so the pictures in it still render.
- Denying is not an error. The location simply does not open and a toast says so. Nothing is recorded, so you can pick the same folder again later and be asked again.
- Choosing a folder yourself through File > Open Folder is the approval — the act of picking it in the system dialog is what grants access.
- At startup, a saved context that is no longer approved is asked for again. If you deny it, only that context is skipped and the rest of your workspace still restores.
Approvals are recorded by Baram itself, in its application data directory — not inside your vault and not in any file the editor can write, so a document or plugin cannot approve locations on your behalf.
Settings > Vault > Approved locations lists everything you have approved and lets you Revoke any of it. Revoking removes the approval and closes that vault’s tab; it takes full effect after a restart.
On macOS this is separate from the system’s own Files and Folders permission prompt, which is macOS asking on behalf of every app. You may see both once: macOS deciding whether Baram may touch Documents or Desktop at all, and Baram deciding which folder you meant to open. See the FAQ if a folder opens but shows no files.