Storage Modes

In the VS Code extension, Nouto supports two storage modes for collections. Global mode is the default and keeps collections in VS Code global extension storage. Workspace mode stores each request as its own file inside .nouto/collections/ in your project, which produces focused git diffs and avoids merge conflicts when working in a team.

Global (Default)

All data lives in VS Code’s global extension storage, outside your project:

<vscode-global-storage>/
  collections.json     # All collections in one file
  environments.json

No setup required. Works well for solo use when you don’t need to share collections via git.

Workspace

Each collection becomes a directory inside .nouto/ at your workspace root. Requests are individual JSON files, and folders become subdirectories:

.nouto/
  .gitignore
  environments.json
  collections/
    My API/
      _collection.json       # Collection metadata (auth, variables, etc.)
      _order.json            # Item ordering: ["Login", "auth", "users"]
      Login.json             # Request file
      auth/
        _folder.json         # Folder metadata (auth inheritance, headers, etc.)
        _order.json
        Register.json
      users/
        _folder.json
        _order.json
        Get User.json
        Create User.json
        admin/
          _folder.json
          _order.json
          Ban User.json
    Payment Service/
      _collection.json
      _order.json
      Create Payment.json    # Top-level request (no folder)

Each directory contains:

• _collection.json / _folder.json: metadata (name, id, auth, headers, variables, color, icon)
• _order.json: an array of slugs that controls the display order of items in the sidebar
• *.json files: individual saved requests (the type field is omitted on disk and re-added on load)

Benefits for teams:

• Fewer merge conflicts: editing different collections or requests modifies different files
• Cleaner diffs: only the changed request file appears in git diff
• Selective sharing: commit only the collections you want teammates to have
• Auto-detected: if a teammate clones a repo that already has .nouto/collections/, Nouto switches to workspace mode automatically

The Drafts collection and environments always stay in global storage regardless of mode.

Switching Modes

To Workspace Storage

Run Nouto: Switch to Workspace Storage (.nouto/) from the Command Palette. Nouto migrates all collections to .nouto/collections/ and creates a .gitignore in .nouto/ automatically.

To Global Storage

Run Nouto: Switch to Global Storage from the Command Palette. All individual request files are merged back into a single collections.json in VS Code global storage.

You can also set the mode directly in settings:

"nouto.storage.mode": "workspace"  // or "global"

File Watching

In workspace mode, Nouto watches .nouto/collections/ for external changes. If a teammate pulls changes that modify a collection directory, Nouto detects the update and reloads automatically.

Desktop App

The desktop app stores data in the app data directory by default. When you create or open a desktop project, the project uses the same .nouto/collections/ layout as VS Code workspace storage. Storage mode switching through the VS Code setting is only available in the VS Code extension.