Your Files are Markdown

Here's something important, and it's one of the things that makes Author's Forge fundamentally different from most writing apps: your writing is stored as plain Markdown files on your computer.

Not in a proprietary database. Not in a single binary blob you can only open with this one program. Not on a server in another country. Just ordinary text files, in ordinary folders, on your own machine—exactly where you can see them, back them up, and control them.

What This Means for You

1. True ownership: Your files aren't locked in a proprietary format or stored on someone else's server. They're right there in your Documents folder (or wherever you created your library). If the company behind any piece of software disappears tomorrow, files like these keep working.
2. Portability: You can open your files in any text editor—VS Code, Obsidian, iA Writer, or even Notepad. They're just text. That means you're never trapped: if you ever want to move to another tool, your manuscript is ready to go.
3. Future-proof: Markdown has been around for decades and isn't going anywhere. Your great-grandchildren could read these files on whatever computers exist then, because plain text is the most durable digital format there is.
4. Version control friendly: If you use Git, your entire library works beautifully with version control—you can track every revision, branch experimental drafts, and roll back changes with confidence.

What is Markdown, Anyway?

Markdown is a lightweight way of writing formatted text using plain characters. A heading is just a line starting with #; bold text is wrapped in **asterisks**. You never have to learn or type any of this yourself—the editor handles it behind the scenes—but it's why your files stay readable in any program. There's no hidden, proprietary formatting to get corrupted or lost.

Finding Your Files

Want to see your files on disk? Go to the Help menu and click "Show Library in Files" to open your library in Finder (Mac) or File Explorer (Windows/Linux).

Your library structure looks like this:

YourLibrary/
└── Bookshelves/
    └── YourBookshelf/
        ├── notes/
        └── YourSeries/
            └── YourBook/
                ├── front-matter/
                ├── content/
                └── back-matter/

Notice how the folders on disk mirror the hierarchy you see in the sidebar—library, bookshelf, series, book, and the matter inside each book. Each chapter is a .md file. You never have to touch these files directly, but it's nice to know they're there.

Backing Up Your Work

Because your library is just a folder, backing it up is as simple as copying that folder to an external drive, or keeping it somewhere your existing backup system already covers. You're in full control of where your work lives and how it's protected—there's no platform deciding that for you.

Auto-Save

Every change you make is automatically saved. There's no save button because you don't need one. The constant fear of losing work to a crash or a forgotten ⌘S simply doesn't apply here. Just write—Author's Forge handles the rest.