> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.mauvely.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# The library

> Snap's library is an ordinary folder. Collections, filters, search, sorting, renaming and exporting — and what the .snap.json sidecar is.

## Where it lives

By default, a **Mauvely Snap** folder inside your Pictures directory. Change it in
**Settings ▸ Library**.

The folder is created if it does not exist, and Snap always points at a real directory — a missing
library is created rather than reported, because there is nothing useful you could do about it.

## The structure

```
Mauvely Snap/
├── snap-20260731-142201.png
├── snap-20260731-142201.snap.json     ← annotations for the image above
├── Onboarding/                        ← a collection
│   ├── snap-20260731-150310.png
│   └── Step 3/                        ← a nested collection
└── Release notes/
```

* **A collection is a directory.** Nesting works.
* **A capture is an image file.** Nothing is imported and nothing is converted.
* **A `.snap.json` sidecar** holds the annotations for the image it sits beside.

Drop an image into the folder from anywhere and it appears in Snap without a manual refresh —
Snap watches the tree.

<Warning>
  If you move an image outside Snap, take its `.snap.json` with it. On its own, the sidecar is
  meaningless; without it, the image loses its annotations and nothing else. Renaming and moving
  **inside** Snap always moves both together.
</Warning>

## The sidebar

### Filters

Four rows, which are filters over your whole library rather than places:

| Filter              | Shows                            |
| ------------------- | -------------------------------- |
| **All captures**    | Everything                       |
| **Screenshots**     | Images                           |
| **Recordings**      | Video                            |
| **Sent to Compose** | Captures flagged as already sent |

### Collections

Below the filters, your folder tree, with a count on each. Selecting a collection shows that
collection **and everything nested inside it**.

Picking a collection widens the filter back to everything — "recordings in this folder" is a
combination that reliably shows nothing and looks broken.

### Search

Matches file names, case-insensitively, and combines with whichever filter or collection is active.

## Viewing

**Grid** or **list**, toggled in the library view and remembered. Sort by newest, oldest, name, or
largest first.

Double-click a capture to open it in a tab. `Ctrl` `W` closes the tab; the Library tab is permanent.

<Note>
  An open capture is currently a **viewer**. The annotation tools — numbered steps, callouts,
  spotlight, crop — are [not built yet](/snap/roadmap).
</Note>

## Working with captures

| Action                | Shortcut           |
| --------------------- | ------------------ |
| New collection        | `Ctrl` `Shift` `N` |
| Import an image…      | `Ctrl` `O`         |
| Rename                | `F2`               |
| Delete                | `Del`              |
| Export a copy…        | `Ctrl` `E`         |
| Copy to the clipboard | `Ctrl` `C`         |
| Show in file manager  | `Ctrl` `Shift` `E` |

All are also on the right-click menu, the **Edit** menu, and the inspector.

**Rename** changes the base name and keeps the extension, moving the sidecar with it. **Import an
image…** copies an existing file into the library. **Delete** asks for confirmation by default —
turn that off in **Settings ▸ Library** if you prefer.

## Performance on a big library

A folder has no index, so answering "how many captures, how big, sorted by date" means walking the
tree. Three things keep that quick:

* The scan runs in the background, so a large or network-mounted folder never freezes the window.
* Per-file details — size, dimensions, annotation count — are cached and re-read only when the file
  actually changes.
* A file added from outside triggers a rescan automatically.

## Settings

**Settings ▸ Library**

| Setting                         | Default                   |
| ------------------------------- | ------------------------- |
| Library folder                  | `<Pictures>/Mauvely Snap` |
| Collection new captures land in | The root                  |
| View mode                       | Grid                      |
| Sort order                      | Newest first              |
| Confirm before deleting         | On                        |

## Backing it up

It is a folder of ordinary files — any backup tool covers it. Include the `.snap.json` sidecars,
or you keep the images and lose the markup.

Cloud backup of the library is [planned](/snap/roadmap) and will mirror the folder rather than
replace it.