Where everything is saved

Array has project state, app state, and provider state. Preserving one does not automatically preserve the others.

Project files and tile contents

Project-scoped state lives under <project>/.array/.

Path	Contents
project.json	Project metadata
canvas.json	Project tile layout and metadata, including board references
boards/index.json	Board index
boards/<id>.json	Board columns, tasks, bodies, links, assignment, and ordering
boards/assets/	Board image assets
notes/index.json	Note index
notes/<id>.md	Markdown note body
browser/tiles.json	Browser tile records
file-tree/index.json	File-tree records
reviews/<id>.json	Review records
sessions/<id>.json	Session records
managed-sessions/<tile-id>.json	Managed-session records keyed by tile
backups/	Retained local state backups
lock	Exclusive project lock

An Editor tile points at the actual source document. Its contents remain at that document’s path rather than being copied into canvas.json. Moving a tile changes layout, not the file’s location.

App and workspace state

The production app uses ~/Library/Application Support/Array and the dev.arrayapp.macos preferences domain. The registry records projects, workspaces, and last-active pointers. Workspace documents live under workspaces/<workspace-id>/canvas.json in app support.

Development builds use a separate Array Dev app store and preferences domain. That separation does not extend to a project’s .array folder: two installations pointed at the same folder share project state. Use separate project roots for separate installs.

Provider state

The selected CLI owns its login and native session files. Array’s agent records and session references connect the UI to that provider state. A saved tile does not contain a portable copy of every provider credential, process, or transcript.

Do not copy authentication files into a project or commit them to share a workspace. Sign in through the CLI on the other machine.

Back up and recover

Preserve the project files and .array directory for project-local content. Preserve Array’s app-support state for the workspace registry and app-level records. Provider session recovery also depends on the CLI’s own data and compatibility.

Git only backs up files you track; a .gitignore rule may exclude .array. Decide explicitly whether project-local state should be versioned or handled by another backup system. Board bodies and notes can contain private information.

Treat retained local backups as recovery aids, not a replacement for an independent backup. Close the project before restoring state files so a running instance cannot overwrite the restoration.

Local does not mean offline

The workspace host and files are local. The selected CLI still sends model requests to its provider, and browser tiles contact the sites you open. See Privacy and the selected provider’s own policy for those data paths.