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Networks & plain files
Updated
A network is just a folder of markdown files on your disk – that's the whole trick. This page covers keeping separate worlds separate, what's actually in the folder, and how to sync or back it up.
Multiple networks
Work and personal don't have to share a map. Each network is its own folder with its own people, layout, workspace, and settings. Create as many as you like; switch with the network chip in the top-right corner or through the command palette (Ctrl+P). Handshake reopens where you left off.
What's in the folder
Every entity is one markdown file with YAML frontmatter – human-readable, greppable, yours:
- people/
- self.md
- elena-hart.md
- kevin-zhao.md
- handshakes/
- goals/
- interactions/
- attachments/
- .handshake/
The CEO, and the reason this works. We split it clean – she runs the room, I run product + eng with [[Kevin Zhao]].
people/ holds a file per person, handshakes/ one per connection, goals/ and interactions/ what they say, attachments/ the photos. The .handshake/folder is the app's managed sidecar – board positions, workspace layout, settings – and can always be regenerated.
Edit files outside the app
The folder is a valid Obsidian vault – open it there, or in any text editor, and change whatever you like. Handshake watches the folder: external edits flow back into the app live. Writes go the other way byte-stably, so your files never churn under version control.
Sync & backup
Handshake deliberately ships no cloud. Because a network is plain files, everything works: put the folder in iCloud, Dropbox, OneDrive, or Syncthing to sync it between machines; git init it (or just use the built-in Time Machine, which is already git) for history you can push anywhere.