Saving and recovery

In the desktop app, autosave is on by default: Kimo writes the file 2 seconds after you stop editing (1, 2, 5, 10 or 30 s in Settings › Files & autosave). ⌘S saves now and ⇧⌘S saves a copy elsewhere. Every write goes to a temporary file that replaces the original and is read back to check it.

The pill in the top bar tells you where the file stands: Saved to disk, Saving…, Unsaved changes, Not saved (an untitled file), Autosave paused, Read-only, Locked by another app or Save failed.

In the browser, files live in the browser's storage (Saved locally). Save and Save as… write a .kimo (or a .kimoz when the design has images) to disk.

The File menu has New file, Open…, Open recent, Save, Save as…, Reveal, Clean up assets… and Settings.

Independently of autosave, Kimo keeps a recovery snapshot of each file with unsaved changes every 30 seconds (15 s to 5 min in Settings; a new interval applies to open files at once). In the desktop app they are kept in ~/.kimo/recovery for 30 days; in the browser, in its storage.

If Kimo quit without saving, it asks Recover unsaved changes? on the next start: Restore all, Discard all or Decide later. When a file's original can't take the restored copy (it was moved or deleted, or the folder is read-only), Restore asks where to save it instead. Snapshots older than 30 days are deleted before the dialog opens.

Kimo watches open files. If one changes on disk (a git pull, another editor, an agent writing the file):

• With no unsaved edits, Kimo reloads it: <file> changed on disk and was reloaded, with Undo.
• With unsaved edits, Merge & tell me (the default) merges both sides: Merged N changes from disk with your M edits. With Ask first (Settings › Files & autosave › When a file changes on disk), a banner says <file> changed on disk and nothing is merged or written until you choose: Merge merges both sides, Keep mine keeps your edits and saves them over the file. ⌘S also keeps yours.
• When both sides changed the same thing, the Conflicts panel opens and autosave pauses until you resolve each conflict. ⌘' and ⇧⌘' move between conflicts.

• Pause autosave during git operations (on by default) stops writing while git rebases, merges, cherry-picks or checks out, so Kimo doesn't race git.
• Git merge driver (Set up…) configures the repository so .kimo files merge with the semantic kimo merge instead of line by line. Conflicts it can't resolve are stored in the file and open on the Conflicts panel.

Only one Kimo window or process writes a file at a time. If another one holds it, the file opens with Locked by another process, showing which app and process: Open read-only, or Retry (which takes over a lock left by a process that is no longer running).

Images live in the assets/ folder next to the file and are never deleted while you edit, so undo always works. File › Clean up assets… removes the ones no layer uses (the same rules as kimo gc).