Storage Backends

Hyprlayer supports four storage backends for thoughts. Pick one at init time — every slash command and sub-agent auto-detects the active backend and reads/writes through the right storage.

hyprlayer thoughts init --backend git         # default: a separate git repo
hyprlayer thoughts init --backend obsidian    # local Obsidian vault, no sync
hyprlayer thoughts init --backend notion      # Notion database, via your agent tool's connector
hyprlayer thoughts init --backend anytype     # Anytype object, via the Anytype MCP server

Backend matrix

Backend	Storage	Sync	MCP registration	Setup prompts
git	Separate git repo (default ~/thoughts/)	hyprlayer thoughts sync pushes/pulls	n/a	Location, dirs, user
obsidian	A subfolder inside your existing vault	No-op (files are already on disk)	n/a	--vault-path, optional --vault-subpath
notion	Notion database	No-op (agent writes directly via MCP)	Not managed by hyprlayer — uses your agent tool’s Notion connector	--parent-page-id, optional --database-id
anytype	Objects in an Anytype space	No-op (agent writes directly via MCP)	Hyprlayer registers the MCP server automatically	--space-id, optional --type-id, --api-token-env (default ANYTYPE_API_KEY)

For notion, install the Notion connector in your agent tool before running init — for Claude Code that’s /mcp → “Notion”. Hyprlayer never registers a self-hosted Notion MCP server or prompts for a NOTION_TOKEN.

For anytype, the Anytype desktop app must be running and ANYTYPE_API_KEY (or your chosen env var) must hold a valid key issued from the app’s Settings → API Keys panel.

Lazy schema bootstrap

On notion and anytype, the target database (Notion) or object type (Anytype) is created on the first write-oriented slash command — typically the first /create_plan after init. The command’s dispatch preamble:

1. Calls hyprlayer storage info --json to get settings.databaseId / settings.typeId.
2. If unset, creates the database/type via MCP using the unified schema.
3. Calls hyprlayer storage set-database-id <id> or hyprlayer storage set-type-id <id> to persist the returned ID.
4. Every subsequent command reuses the stored ID.

If you delete the database/type out-of-band, the next /create_plan detects the 404 and re-creates it, then persists the new ID. You don’t need a recovery command.

Unified metadata schema

Every thought carries the same 10 standardized properties regardless of backend. In git/obsidian they ride as YAML frontmatter; in notion they’re first-class database properties; in anytype they’re object-type properties.

Field	Type	Required	Notes
title	text	yes	Human-readable title
type	plan | research | handoff | note	yes	Primary category
date	date (YYYY-MM-DD)	yes	Creation date
status	draft | active | implemented | superseded | archived	yes	Lifecycle state
ticket	text	no	Optional external reference, e.g. ENG-1234
project	text	yes	Which code repo this relates to (mappedName from storage info)
scope	user | shared | global	yes	Matches the thoughts directory split
tags	multi-select	no	Freeform topic labels
author	text	yes	Thoughts user
related	relation	no	Cross-references: page/object IDs or file paths

Run hyprlayer storage info --json from inside a project to see the resolved backend, settings, and the full schema contract the slash commands populate.

Switching backends

hyprlayer thoughts init --backend <new> --force switches an already-initialized project. Hyprlayer does not migrate existing content — old artifacts remain in place in the old backend, new artifacts go to the new one. Settings from the previous backend (api_token_env, space_id, vault_path, etc.) are dropped to avoid leaking across.

What lives where

Setting	git	obsidian	notion	anytype
Content location	Git repo (symlinked into project)	Vault subfolder (symlinked)	Notion database under parent page	Anytype space
Agent reads/writes	Filesystem	Filesystem	Notion MCP tools	Anytype MCP tools
hyprlayer thoughts sync	Pushes/pulls the git repo	No-op	No-op	No-op
Pre-commit hook blocking thoughts/ commits	Installed	Installed	n/a (no thoughts/ dir)	n/a (no thoughts/ dir)
Post-commit auto-sync hook	Installed	Skipped	n/a	n/a

See also

• How Thoughts Work — the filesystem-centric view (applies to git and obsidian)
• Syncing — what thoughts sync does per backend
• Profiles — each profile can select its own backend
• CLI Reference — hyprlayer storage info, storage set-database-id, storage set-type-id