Context library

Every distillation, excerpt, and file manifest is written to a local payload store and listed in the Library view. Payloads are immutable and content-addressed, so re-running the same capture costs nothing and produces the same hash.

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The store

~/.config/threadle/payloads/
  ab/
    ab3f…d21.json    ← the payload
    ab3f…d21.md      ← human-readable sidecar (not written for kind "files")
  tags.json          ← hash → tags

The hash is sha256(kind ␀ provider ␀ sessionId ␀ content), sharded by its first two hex characters. Writes are atomic (temp file + rename) and skipped entirely when the file already exists.

A stored payload carries:

Field	Meaning
hash	Content address
kind	distilled-summary · transcript-excerpt · files
createdAt	Capture timestamp
source	Provider + session id it came from
content	The markdown itself
meta	Model (for distills), message range, token estimate (chars ÷ 4), source title

Listing a payload derives a preview: the first line that carries meaning — blanks, code fences, role headers, and tool-call lines are skipped.

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Browsing

Payload rows under their source session, each with kind, size, and age.

Library rows are grouped by source session, newest group first. The group header links back to that session (❯ session).

Control	Values
Source chips	all plus every provider that actually produced a payload
Kind	any kind · distilled · excerpt · files
Sort	recent first · largest first · title A–Z
Filter box	preview, tags, source title, or hash

Each row shows preview, kind, size, and age. The ⋯ menu holds Source blueprint, Lineage, and Download raw; the inline workflow button seeds a canvas with the payload.

The detail aside shows hash, created, source, the tag editor, and the full content, with actions: → workflow, ❐ copy, ⇓ raw, ⌗ source, ❯ session.

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Tags

Tags live in a sidecar (tags.json) so stored payloads stay byte-identical to their hash. Type into the tag box and press ⏎; the ✕ on a chip removes one.

Limits: up to 20 tags, each ≤ 40 characters. Duplicates and blanks are dropped; clearing every tag removes the entry.

curl -X POST http://127.0.0.1:4570/api/payloads/<hash>/tags \
  -H 'content-type: application/json' \
  -d '{"tags":["auth-refactor","handoff"]}'

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Onto the canvas

Palette → library lists the 15 most recent payloads. Drag one onto the canvas and you get a context node that is already materialized — its payloadHash is set, so it needs no source session and no Materialize press. Wire-dropping from a handle offers the same payloads under a library heading.

This matters for detached runs: a context node without a payload hash is a hard block there, because headless runs cannot materialize on the fly.

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API

Endpoint	Returns
GET /api/payloads	Metadata for every payload, newest first, tags merged in
GET /api/payloads/:hash	The full payload JSON
POST /api/payloads/:hash/tags	Replace a payload’s tags

Payload content is also indexed for search — filter type: context to search only captured context.

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Housekeeping

The store is listed under Settings → internals as Context payloads, with its size and file count, and can be cleared from there. Clearing removes captures only; sessions are untouched, since threadle never writes to provider storage.

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Related

• Cross-tool handoff — how payloads are produced and injected
• Lineage — which payload reached which session
• Search — full-text across payloads and transcripts