Data & Cache Locations
Vaste never writes next to the files you open, and it never changes them. Everything it saves, from settings to line indexes, goes into its own folders on your computer.
The data folder
Section titled “The data folder”Vaste keeps its data in one folder:
| System | Folder |
|---|---|
| Windows | %APPDATA%\dev.vaste.app |
| macOS | ~/Library/Application Support/dev.vaste.app |
| Linux | ~/.local/share/dev.vaste.app |
On Linux, if XDG_DATA_HOME is set, the folder is $XDG_DATA_HOME/dev.vaste.app.
What the data folder holds
Section titled “What the data folder holds”| Path | What it holds | When Vaste cleans it up |
|---|---|---|
indexes/ |
The line index of each file you open, with its table, timestamp, and data quality information | At startup, Vaste deletes an index when you have not opened its file for 30 days |
indexes/decompressed/ |
Decompressed copies of compressed files | At startup, see The decompressed cache |
meta/settings.toml |
Your settings, themes, and custom shortcuts | Never |
meta/session.toml |
The files and positions to restore. See Sessions and windows | Vaste drops files closed more than 30 days ago |
meta/recent_files.toml |
The recent files list and your favorites | Clear on the welcome screen empties the recent files list and keeps favorites |
meta/saved_filters.toml |
Saved filters and their alerts | Never |
meta/highlighters.toml |
Highlighter rules | Never |
meta/license.toml |
When the commercial trial started, and your license key once activated. See License and pricing | Never |
meta/ per-file files |
For each file: bookmarks, the encoding you chose, the timestamp format, the CSV dialect, the column layout, and the NDJSON columns | Never |
crash-reports/ |
A report each time Vaste stops on an internal error | At startup, Vaste deletes reports older than 30 days, but always keeps the newest 20 |
The per-file files in meta/ have names made from the file’s path. Vaste matches saved data to a file by its exact path, so a file you move or rename starts without its bookmarks and other choices.
The line index
Section titled “The line index”The first time you open a file, Vaste builds its line index and saves it in indexes/. The next time you open the file, Vaste uses the saved index, as long as the file’s size and modification time have not changed. The index is much smaller than the file, but on large files it still adds up: delete the indexes/ folder to free the space. Vaste builds the indexes again when needed.
The decompressed cache
Section titled “The decompressed cache”When you open a compressed file, Vaste writes the decompressed copy to indexes/decompressed/. The Decompressed cache size setting, 10 GB by default, limits its size. Each time Vaste starts, it deletes:
- Copies that were not finished, for example because you canceled the decompression.
- Copies made more than 30 days ago, even if you opened them recently.
- The oldest remaining copies, until the cache fits the size limit.
The cache can grow past the limit while Vaste runs. See Compressed files.
Other places Vaste uses
Section titled “Other places Vaste uses”- Log file: Vaste writes a log,
Vaste.log, in the system’s log folder for apps. On Windows that is%LOCALAPPDATA%\dev.vaste.app\logs, on macOS~/Library/Logs/dev.vaste.app, and on Linux~/.local/share/dev.vaste.app/logs. The log is small: Vaste starts it again when it grows past about 40 KB. - Window storage: the scratchpad, the sidebar width, and the last theme colors are kept in the storage of Vaste’s window engine. On Windows that is
%LOCALAPPDATA%\dev.vaste.app, and on Linux it is the data folder.
Privacy
Section titled “Privacy”- Vaste connects to the internet only to activate, confirm, or remove a license. The check sends the license key and the computer’s name and system to the license server, at most once every 12 hours. See License and pricing. Vaste sends no usage data and checks for no updates.
- Crash reports stay in the
crash-reports/folder and are never sent anywhere. Each holds the error message, the Vaste version, the system, and technical details of where the error happened. - The log file can contain the paths of files you open.
Reset Vaste
Section titled “Reset Vaste”To reset Vaste completely, quit it and delete the data folder. On Windows, also delete %LOCALAPPDATA%\dev.vaste.app to clear the scratchpad and window storage.
To reset only part of Vaste, quit it and delete:
meta/settings.toml, to return every setting, theme, and shortcut to its default.indexes/, to delete every line index and decompressed copy. Files then open as if for the first time.meta/session.toml, to forget the last session.meta/license.toml, to forget the license key on this computer and start a new trial. The activation stays counted until you remove the computer on the Manage subscription page.
The terminal app
Section titled “The terminal app”The terminal app, vaste-tui, keeps its own settings, indexes, and logs in a separate folder. It does not share indexes with the desktop app unless you point its index_dir setting at the desktop app’s indexes/ folder. For the folder on each system, see TUI configuration.