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 <ds@zettelstore.de>
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''.