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Local Export is free for every Mac, iPhone, and iPad user as of v1.14.0. Cleft Plus lets you point exports at a custom folder: your Obsidian vault, a NotePlan project, a Logseq graph, or anywhere on disk. Free users get Cleft’s own Cleft Notes folder.

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What is Local Export?

Local Export writes every Cleft note to your device as a .md file. The note’s attachments go in a folder next to it, and with Save audio files on, the original recording sits beside it as an .m4a. Each file carries the whole note: its title, tags, dates, summary, and full transcript. When you record a new note, edit a title, change a tag, or a note arrives via cross-device sync, the file on disk updates to match. Works on Mac, iPhone, and iPad. Local Export is an export. It adds copies to your folder without changing how Cleft otherwise stores, syncs, or processes your notes and recordings. Export is one-way: Cleft is the source of truth. Edits you make to the .md files in your vault are silently overwritten the next time Cleft syncs that note. Same contract as Notion auto-send.

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Choose how notes reach your folder

In Cleft v1.15.0 or later, Settings → Local Export → Export mode offers two choices:
  • Automatic export. Recommended, and what Local Export has always done. New and updated notes are exported to your folder automatically.
  • Manual export. Nothing is saved until you ask. Open a note and choose Send → Send to Folder to export that one.
Existing setups stay on Automatic export, and your choice follows you across devices.
On Manual export, turn on Archive after send to move a note out of your active library once the complete export succeeds. It is a tidy “I’m done with this one” gesture, and the note is always recoverable from the Archived filter.
When Archive after send archives a note, Cleft updates the exported file’s archived: line to match, so the file does not sit there calling the note active moments after you archived it. If you pick Send to Folder before choosing a folder, Cleft tells you to set one up in Settings first. A successful send confirms with “Sent to your folder”, and if the archive step fails afterwards, Cleft says so rather than reporting the whole send as failed. Send to Folder also works on Automatic export. It exports that one note right away.

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Free or Plus

Plus differentiates on destination choice, not feature existence. Free users who want exports inside an Obsidian vault, NotePlan folder, or anywhere other than Cleft’s own Cleft Notes folder upgrade to Plus to unlock the picker.

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First launch

A one-time sheet introduces Local Export on Mac, iPhone, and iPad. From v1.15.0, a new account sees it after the welcome for your first note closes, so you decide about files once there is a note to save. The sheet first shows the two export modes, with Automatic export marked as recommended, then offers:
  • Use default folder. Accepts Cleft’s own Cleft Notes folder. Nothing else to configure.
  • Choose folder. Pick your own folder (Plus). Routes to the picker if you’re already on Plus, or to the upgrade screen if you’re not.
  • Don’t save files. Turns Local Export off entirely. You can change your mind any time in Settings → Local Export.
On Automatic export, choosing either folder option leads Cleft to ask whether to Save existing notes as files or leave that for later. New and edited notes keep saving automatically either way. On Manual export, Cleft skips that offer, because nothing is saved until you send it. You’ll only see the first-launch sheet once. After that, the master “Save notes as files” toggle in Settings is the off-switch.
Cleft macOS first-run Local Export prompt asking whether to save portable copies of notes, with Use default folder, Choose folder, and Don't save files buttons.

First-run Local Export prompt on Mac

Already had Local Export set up before v1.14.0? You’ll see a different sheet (a one-time migration heads-up) that explains what’s about to change on disk and lets you reveal your folder for a backup first. See Migrating from earlier versions below.

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How files are named

Filenames are readable in your vault sidebar:
  • The date and time come from when the note was created in UTC.
  • The slug is a kebab-case ASCII-folded rendering of your title, capped at 60 characters.
  • The note reference (ID) stays in the file’s cleft_ref: or cleft_id: field. Cleft adds it to the filename only when two files would otherwise have the same name.
Smart title renames. When your title changes (and the slug regenerates), Cleft renames the existing file before overwriting content. On recent Obsidian (1.4 and later) this usually lets Obsidian recognise the rename and keep your wikilinks pointing at the note. It stays best-effort, though: on a slow disk, a busy system, or an iOS-only Obsidian setup, the rename can register as a delete-and-create and break links. If that happens, recover the note by its reference in the frontmatter (see Troubleshooting).

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What’s inside each file

Every file carries the whole note, whichever tab you had open in Cleft. By default, Cleft writes this shape:
The body starts with the summary. The transcript sits in the frontmatter by default. With the Obsidian, NotePlan, Logseq, or Drafts starting point in Customize the frontmatter, it moves into the body under its own ## Transcript heading, after the summary, where it keeps its line breaks. The ## Audio and ## Attachments sections appear only once those files are actually in your folder, so a file never links to something that is not there. The Obsidian, NotePlan, and Logseq starting points write the links as ![[…]] embeds; every other shape uses standard Markdown links, which any Markdown reader can open. All default keys are lowercase English (never localised), so Obsidian Properties, NotePlan, and Dataview queries work the same regardless of your device language. From v1.15.0 onward, newly exported files use cleft_ref and cleft_account_ref instead of the older numeric cleft_id and cleft_account_id. Existing files keep their original names. See Migrating from earlier versions for details. Inline #hashtags after the body light up tag clickability in Obsidian preview, NotePlan search, and Drafts’ tag panel. None of those see the YAML tags: field as clickable.
Version-controlling your vault? Re-exporting an unchanged note produces a byte-identical file, so a git diff only flips lines for real changes. One caveat: when a note’s title changes, Cleft renames the file, which git records as a delete plus an add, so per-file history doesn’t carry across the rename. The note is still recoverable by its reference in the frontmatter.

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Preview a file before it is written

Every exported file carries note and account references in its frontmatter. In Cleft v1.15.0 or later you can read the exact file a note will contribute to your folder before an export writes it.
  1. Open the note.
  2. Choose Note Details from the More menu.
  3. Open File metadata.
  4. Choose What the export will write.
The panel names the folder the file would go to, or tells you Local Export is off, and then lists every frontmatter field with what it is for. The reveal below shows the finished Markdown. Select it, or use Copy this file. Cleft renders the preview with the same exporter that writes your real files, so the preview and the file cannot drift apart. The preview shows the file as first written: the ## Audio and ## Attachments sections join the real file once those files land in your folder. Opening the preview writes nothing to your folder and changes nothing about your note. Cleft remembers which reveals you left open and restores them next time on that device. Frontmatter stays derived from the note: you change it in Cleft or in Settings → Local Export → Frontmatter, never by editing the preview.
Checking a vault into git, or pointing an AI tool at your folder? Read one note’s preview first. It is the fastest way to see which identifiers leave your device before hundreds of files carry them.
Put Note Details on the toolbar (Mac and iPad). Cleft keeps Note Details in the More menu by default. On a Mac, right-click the note toolbar and choose Customize Toolbar, then drag Note Details in. On an iPad, use the toolbar’s customization control. On iPhone it stays in the More menu, which sits in the bar under your thumb.

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Customize the frontmatter

In Cleft v1.15.0 or later, open Settings → Local Export → Frontmatter to choose which details Cleft writes at the top of each Markdown file and what those fields are called. Start with the tool that reads your folder: These are starting points, not separate export modes. After choosing one, you can:
  • Leave optional fields out or rename them to match your own queries and templates.
  • Put the transcript in frontmatter as one line or in the note body under a Transcript heading, where its line breaks remain intact.
  • Add up to eight fields of your own with fixed text values.
  • Check a live preview produced by the same exporter that writes your real files.
The note and account references, and the Cleft marker, are required. Cleft uses them to recognize its own files, keep accounts separate, and update a note after you rename its file, so they cannot be renamed or removed. Neither reference format can be selected or disabled: Cleft always writes the format that account has, whether cleft_ref/cleft_account_ref or cleft_id/cleft_account_id. Tags continue to appear as inline hashtags even if you leave the tags field out. Cleft stops you from saving duplicate, reserved, or malformed field names and explains choices that may affect another tool. For example, omitting archived makes folder readers treat archived notes as active. Your saved frontmatter follows you to your other devices through iCloud, so a Mac and an iPhone writing to the same folder use the same shape. New and updated notes use it the moment you save.

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Apply a profile to existing files

Saving frontmatter changes affects new and updated notes from that point onward. It does not silently rewrite the folder you already have. To update existing exports, choose Rewrite existing files. Cleft rewrites only Markdown files it owns and leaves every other file alone. You can stop part way; files already updated keep the new shape and the rest keep their previous shape until another run. Reset to Cleft’s default restores the standard shape for future exports. Existing files remain untouched until you choose to rewrite them.

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File identifiers: old and new

Starting in v1.15.0, newly exported files use cleft_ref and cleft_account_ref instead of numeric cleft_id and cleft_account_id. The new identifiers are 22-character opaque strings that do not disclose your account age or note count. Files Cleft wrote before this change keep their original identifier names and numbers. Cleft does not rewrite files already in your folder on its own. Your folder will hold both kinds, and that is expected rather than a fault. A note gets new identifiers the next time that note changes and is exported. So if you edit a note, change its tags, or it arrives via cross-device sync, the next export writes it with cleft_ref and cleft_account_ref. Notes you do not touch keep their old identifiers indefinitely. To move older files to the new references in one pass, use Rewrite exported files below. It changes only the two identifier lines and leaves the rest of each file as it is. Save existing notes in Settings → Local Export, and Rewrite existing files in the Frontmatter panel, also write every file in your account’s current format, but they do it by exporting your whole library again. They overwrite the Cleft-written files in your folder, so any hand edits you made inside those files are lost, and on a folder under version control you get one commit touching every note.

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Rewrite exported files

Settings → Local Export → Rewrite exported files moves files from earlier versions to the new note reference without exporting your library again.
  1. Open Rewrite exported files and choose Show what would change.
  2. Cleft reads your folder and shows two lists before it writes anything: Files this would rewrite, and Files this would leave alone, each with the reason beside it.
  3. Read the lists, then choose Rewrite these files. Nothing runs until you confirm.
What the rewrite does and does not do:
  • It never touches a file Cleft did not write. Your own notes and templates in the same folder stay exactly as they are, even if they carry a cleft_id line.
  • In each file it rewrites, it changes at most the two identifier lines and copies everything else through unchanged, including your own frontmatter fields and any edits you made to the body.
  • A note this device holds no reference for keeps the number it already has, and the list says so.
  • A file you edit, move, or delete after the preview is skipped. Preview again to include it.
  • You can stop part way. Files already rewritten are listed, and the rest keep their old identifiers.
  • If some files could not be rewritten, Cleft reports which ones rather than calling the whole run a failure.
There is no undo inside Cleft, which is why the lists come first. Back up the folder before you confirm if you want a way back.
To read both kinds when you search or query your folder, grep for whichever line appears in each file. For example, grep "^cleft_ref:" *.md finds notes with the new format, and grep "^cleft_id:" *.md finds those with the old format. If an account has not yet been assigned new references, its exports do not change at all. Do not expect every account to see the new identifiers immediately.

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Audio companion

The Save audio files toggle in Settings → Local Export controls whether Cleft writes the original audio recording next to each markdown file. Default is on for new installs, off for existing Local Export users (so a vault inside iCloud Drive, Dropbox, or Obsidian Sync doesn’t suddenly start syncing hundreds of MB of audio).
  • The exported .m4a is the recording as it was made. No perceptual filters touch the file, and only AAC codec artefacts apply. Cleft does not re-encode to MP3, WAV, or FLAC.
  • Filename mirrors the markdown’s basename: 2026-05-06-15-33-meeting.m4a next to 2026-05-06-15-33-meeting.md. Once the audio is in the folder, Cleft adds an ## Audio section to the note that links to it, so there is nothing to wire up by hand.
  • On-disk footprint is shown in Settings (file count and total size) so the cost is visible at a glance.

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When the recording is on another device

A note recorded on another device (your iPhone, Apple Watch, or another Mac) syncs its text, tags, and summary straight away. If the recording is not on the device doing the export, Local Export downloads it from your Cleft account, when a copy is stored there, and saves it beside the note. New recordings stay on the device that made them unless Upload audio is on (a Cleft Plus setting in Settings → Recording → Audio Storage), so audio Cleft never uploaded only reaches the folder on the device that recorded it. Downloads respect your data plan:
  • Cleft waits for Wi-Fi before downloading a recording. To allow cellular, a personal hotspot, or Low Data Mode as well, turn on Download audio on cellular, which sits under Save audio files. This choice stays on the device where you set it.
  • Cleft never downloads a recording over 100 MB, on any connection.
  • A recording already on this device is always copied, whatever these rules say.
When a rule holds a recording back, the note is still saved, just without its ## Audio section. An .m4a an earlier export already left in the folder stays, and stays linked. Save existing notes tells you how many recordings each rule held back.

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Attachments

Images and files you add to a note are exported into a visible folder beside it, named after the note: 2026-05-06-15-33-meeting-attachments/ next to 2026-05-06-15-33-meeting.md. Once the files have landed, the note gains an ## Attachments section that links to each one. Images show inline and documents are clickable links. When a note’s title changes, its attachments folder is renamed with it. Each note gets its own folder, so two notes with an image called photo.jpg cannot overwrite each other. Cleft keeps a record of the files it put in that folder and only ever removes those. A file you add to the folder yourself stays, and Cleft never takes over a folder it did not create. Obsidian’s own attachment folder, your NotePlan project files, and anything else already in your folder are left alone. If you exported attachments with an earlier version, they sat in a hidden .cleft/attachments/ folder. The next time that note exports, Cleft writes its attachments to the visible folder and then removes the hidden copy it wrote for that note. Files Cleft cannot export, such as an unsupported type or one that is not available on this device yet, are counted and reported rather than stopping the rest of the run. If a later refresh cannot fetch the files again, the links to files already in the folder stay.

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Setup

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macOS (Plus: pick a custom folder)

If you’re on Plus and want exports to land in your Obsidian vault, NotePlan project, Logseq graph, or anywhere other than the default folder:
1

Open Cleft Settings

  1. Open Cleft Settings (press ⌘ + , or click the gear icon)
  2. Go to Local Export
  3. Find Local Export and click Choose Custom Folder…
2

Select a folder

Pick your Obsidian vault root, NotePlan folder, Logseq graph root, or any folder you want Cleft to write into. In Cleft 1.15.0 or later, Mac writes directly to the folder you choose instead of adding a cleft-inbox subfolder.
Cleft macOS Local Export settings showing Save notes as files, Sync Folder controls, Show path, Choose Custom Folder, Include audio files, and Save existing notes.

Local Export settings on Mac

3

Use the folder

Click Use Folder on the alert. Cleft now has permission to write to the folder, and your notes start exporting instantly.
Use Show in Finder on the Export Folder row to open your active export folder, or Show path to check the exact location. To change folder later, click Choose Custom Folder… again. The old folder stays untouched on disk.

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iPhone and iPad

Setup is the same on iPhone and iPad. Open Settings, go to Local Export, and pick a folder:
  • Free users get Cleft’s own Cleft Notes folder (out of the box, no configuration needed). On iPhone and iPad you’ll find it in the Files app under On My iPhone → Cleft (or On My iPad → Cleft).
  • Plus users tap Choose Custom Folder… to pick any folder on the device: an Obsidian vault “Store on this iPhone,” a Bear local notebook, or your own custom folder via Files app. On iPhone and iPad, Cleft writes to the exact folder you select.
iCloud Drive folders work but are best-effort; Files-app local folders are the recommended path. Once you’ve picked a folder, your notes start exporting immediately. Use Show path in Settings to check the active location.
Cleft iPhone Local Export settings showing Save notes as files, Sync Folder, Show path, Include audio files, and Save existing notes.

Local Export settings on iPhone

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Save existing notes as files

On Automatic export, Local Export saves new and updated notes once it is on. If you want Markdown files for notes that were already in Cleft, use Save existing notes as files in Settings → Local Export. The run covers your whole library, archived notes included, and each archived note’s file says archived: true, so your folder mirrors your library instead of bringing everything back as active. A run saves Markdown files, your supported attachments, and (unless you have turned Save audio files off) the .m4a audio for each note. Cleft keeps the attachments it fetches apart from any attachments folder you already use. Anything Cleft cannot fetch is counted and reported at the end instead of stopping the run. Recordings follow the download rules above, and the summary says how many were left out because downloads on cellular are off and how many because they are over 100 MB. While the backfill runs, Cleft shows progress and keeps the regular Local Export controls available. You can cancel the backfill without turning off automatic saving for new or updated notes.
Cleft macOS Local Export settings while Save existing notes as files is running, showing a progress bar, note count, disabled Save existing notes button, and Cancel button.

Backfill existing notes from Local Export settings

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App-specific guides

The setup is the same for every app. Point Local Export at the right folder. Each app page covers how the synced files render and any app-specific tips:
  • Obsidian. Frontmatter renders as Properties; wikilinks preserved on title renames; Dataview-friendly.
  • NotePlan. Inline tags clickable; project-folder workflow; calendar views are filename-driven.
  • Logseq. Point the picker at <your-graph>/pages/. Cleft notes appear as Logseq pages alongside the rest of the graph; inline #tags work natively.
  • Drafts. Drafts is database-backed, not folder-watched. Use Send → Send to Drafts for a single note. Local Export works as a file-based archive you can drag-drop or import, and the Drafts starting point in Customize the frontmatter keeps the top of each file short.
  • Bear. Like Drafts, Bear stores notes in its own database, so it isn’t folder-watched. Use Send → Send to Bear for a single note, or Local Export plus manual import for a file archive.

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Migrating from earlier versions

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From v1.14 or earlier to v1.15.0

Starting in v1.15.0, Cleft uses opaque 22-character references instead of numbers for note and account identification. You will not see a one-time migration sheet for this change: it happens silently in the background. Old files keep their numeric cleft_id and cleft_account_id fields. New exports write cleft_ref and cleft_account_ref instead. Your folder will hold both kinds, and both work equally well. Cleft recognizes both formats and uses whichever one each file carries. The change is per-account and happens gradually. If your account has not yet been assigned new references, your exports will keep using the old numeric format. Do not expect every account to receive new identifiers immediately. To move older files to the new references in one pass, use Rewrite exported files. See File identifiers: old and new above for more detail.

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From earlier than v1.14.0

If you had Local Export set up before v1.14.0, you saw a one-time sheet on Mac, iPhone, or iPad launch explaining what was about to change on disk:
  1. Filenames migrated from cleft_12431.md to a readable name such as 2026-05-06-15-33-meeting-with-jonny.md. Cleft adds the note ID only if that name would collide. Migration is lazy and per-note. Each file gets renamed the next time that note is edited or re-exported. Notes you never touch again keep the old name indefinitely.
  2. Frontmatter gained cleft_id: as the first field and switched to lowercase English keys (title: not Title:). Any Dataview or Templater queries on the old Title key needed updating.
  3. Audio companion export was available but stayed off for existing vaults. Turn it on from Settings if you want it. Defaulting it on for an existing vault inside iCloud Drive or Dropbox would create a sudden bandwidth spike on the next recording.
On Mac, the sheet had a button that opened your folder in Finder, so you could take a backup before the migration began. On iPhone and iPad, navigating to your folder via Files had the same effect. The “Got it” button dismissed the sheet permanently.

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Troubleshooting

Notes aren’t showing up
  1. Check Settings → Local Export. Is the master “Save notes as files” toggle on? It wins over every other setting.
  2. Look for the folder. Free users land in Cleft’s own Cleft Notes folder, which is in the Files app under On My iPhone (or iPad) → Cleft. On Mac, v1.15.0 moves that folder once, with everything in it, to a new location, so use Show in Finder rather than a location you saved before. With Plus, Cleft writes directly to the custom folder you picked on Mac, iPhone, or iPad.
  3. On Mac, use Show in Finder on the Export Folder row to open the active folder, or Show path to check the exact location. On iPhone and iPad, use Show path, then open that location in Files.
  4. Did the note actually save in Cleft? If it’s not in Cleft’s own list, this is a recording issue, not a sync issue.
  5. On iPhone or iPad, is your folder inside iCloud Drive? iCloud Drive support is best-effort in this release. Try a local Files-app folder (Obsidian “Store on this iPhone”, Bear local notebook, or any local folder) for the most reliable path.
  6. On Mac, folder on a network drive (SMB, Dropbox)? Those can be flaky with security-scoped bookmarks. Try a local folder first.
Cleft won’t accept the folder I picked Cleft names the reason rather than failing silently, and your existing folder and setup stay as they were until a new choice works:
  • “That folder is read-only.” Pick a folder Cleft can write to.
  • “That folder isn’t available right now.” Usually an external drive or a cloud folder that is offline. Reconnect it, or choose another folder.
  • “That cloud folder isn’t available right now.” Open it once in Files or Finder so the provider brings it online, then try again.
  • “Cleft couldn’t get permission for that folder.” Choose it again to re-grant access.
  • “Your device or cloud storage is full.” Free up space, then try again.
My German/French/Spanish title shows Titel: instead of title: in Obsidian Properties This was a bug in builds before v1.14.0. Update Cleft, and re-exporting will fix the frontmatter. The file syncs on any change: title regen, tag edit, append, or sync arrival. Old filenames like cleft_12431.md are still in my vault That’s the old format. Migration is lazy: files get a {YYYY-MM-DD-HH-mm}-{slug}.md name the next time that note is edited or re-exported, with the note ID added only if needed to avoid a collision. Notes you never touch again keep the old name indefinitely. To update every file, use Save existing notes as files. That exports your library again and overwrites any edits you made inside Cleft’s files. Wikilinks broke after I retitled a note Obsidian’s external-rename heuristic is best-effort. On a slow disk, busy system, or iOS-only setup, renames can coalesce into delete+create instead of a pure rename. Recover the note reference via the frontmatter (grep "^cleft_ref:" *.md for new files or grep "^cleft_id: 12431" *.md for older exports) and manually update the wikilink to the new filename. Markdown is appearing but the audio file is missing for some notes A note can land without its recording for a few reasons, and each one leaves the note saved without an ## Audio section:
  • The recording is not on this device and you are not on Wi-Fi. Connect to Wi-Fi, or turn on Download audio on cellular.
  • The recording is over 100 MB. Cleft never downloads one that large.
  • The recording was never uploaded, so it lives only on the device that made it. Its audio reaches the folder on that device.
Save existing notes tells you how many recordings the first two rules held back. See When the recording is on another device. Audio files aren’t appearing at all, only markdown Check Settings → Local Export. Is Save audio files on? Default is on for new installs but off for users who had Local Export set up before v1.14.0. Flip it on and your next note will export the audio.

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iOS and iPadOS

Local Export is available on iPhone and iPad as of v1.14.0. The setup is the same: Settings → Local Export. Free users get Cleft’s own Cleft Notes folder, Plus users can pick any folder on the device. File apps: The folder picker works with any folder in the Files app: Obsidian “Store on this iPhone” vaults, Bear local notebooks, or your own custom folder. iCloud Drive folders are best-effort in this release; Files-app local folders are the recommended path. Reveal location: iPhone and iPad can show the active path in Settings, but they cannot reveal an arbitrary security-scoped folder in Files the way Mac can reveal it in Finder. Navigate directly via Files instead.

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Limitations

  • One-way sync. Cleft → folder, never the reverse. Edits in your vault are overwritten on the next Cleft sync of that note.
  • No links between notes. Cleft does not keep links from one note to another, so exported files carry no [[wikilinks]] to other notes. Audio and attachment links are written.
  • Persistent failures surface in Settings. Local Export keeps retrying automatically. If the folder stays inaccessible, Cleft shows a Settings banner; custom-folder users can choose the folder again from there.
  • iCloud Drive on iOS/iPadOS is best-effort. Reads of not-yet-downloaded files and recovery after iOS clears cached content aren’t fully handled yet. Local Files-app folders are the recommended path for now.
  • Network and cloud-synced folders are best-effort on Mac too. Custom folders on SMB shares, Dropbox, or other network drives can lose access intermittently. Cleft retries on the next sync, but a local folder is the most reliable destination.

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What’s different from Notion auto-send?

Filesystem errors (security-scope wobble, briefly-locked files, full disk) are usually transient, so silent retry is the right answer. Notion failures are typically account-state (auth expired, database deleted), so a pause-and-notify is needed.
Last modified on November 10, 2026