Skip to content

Composition folder vs. .gloopy archive

Gloopy stores a project two ways — both hold the same thing, one is just zipped.

Composition folder .gloopy archive
On disk A directory of readable text files A single zip file
Made by Save Project (Ctrl+S) — the default Export Project (.gloopy)
Opened by Open Composition Folder… Open Archive… (also .zip)
Git A git repository from the first save Not a repo (it's a share format)
Best for Working, version control, readable diffs Handing the whole project over as one file

Rule of thumb: work in the folder; export a .gloopy to send. See Save vs. Export.

What's inside the folder

The folder is designed to diff and travel — one small file per thing, so a change touches only what it needs to (a no-op re-save writes nothing). You'll see:

Path Holds
gloopy.toml The manifest — title, tempo, time signature, the track list
tracks/ One .toml per track (its settings)
clips/…/*.notes Each clip's notes, as readable text
mixer/ Inserts, effects, sends, groups
automation/*.points Automation lanes
tempo.toml, timesig.toml, scenes.toml, session.toml, locations.toml, … Tempo map, time-signature changes, scenes, the session grid, markers, and other settings
assets/ Binary sidecars — recorded/imported audio, plugin state
.gitignore So git tracks the right files

Because it's plain text, a git diff shows real changes — "filter cutoff 0.3 → 0.5", not an opaque blob. That's the whole point of the format.

Both round-trip losslessly

Opening either form gives you an identical project; the loader auto-detects a folder vs. an archive. .gloopy is simply a zip of the folder — you can unzip one by hand and it's a normal composition folder inside.

See also