title: Plain Encoding role: manual tags: #api #manual #reference #zettelstore syntax: zmk back: 00001012920500 backward: 00001012920500 box-number: 1 copyright: (c) 2020-present by Detlef Stern created: 20260303142555 forward: 00001005000000 00001012920800 lang: en license: EUPL-1.2-or-later modified: 20260303145928 published: 20260303145928 visibility: public The “plain” encoding represents a zettel the same way it is stored in a file with an extension [`.zettel`](00001005000000). Zettel with a [syntax](00001006020000#syntax) value [“zmk”](00001008000000#zmk) are typically stored in a file with the extension `.zettel`. Storing zettel with other syntax values in a `.zettel` file is also possible, but not recommended. In those cases, the zettel is stored in two files: one file (without a filename extension) contains the metadata, and the other stores the zettel content. These two cases are mirrored by specifying the required [part](00001012920800) of a zettel: * If part has the value “zettel”, the full zettel, both metadata and content, is encoded. This corresponds to storing a zettel in a single file with the extension `.zettel`. * A part value of “meta” encodes only the metadata of a zettel. * A part value of “content” (the default) encodes the raw content of a zettel. If transferred via HTTP, the content type depends on the selected part: * If part has the value “zettel”, the content type is either `application/octet-stream` (for binary content) or a value derived from the `syntax` metadata. * A part value of “content” results in a content type is derived from the `syntax` metadata. * A part value of “meta” results in a content type `text/plain; charset=utf-8`.