Sidecar approach: is there any way to not break tags when doing file operations (move, rename) outside of TagSpaces?

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First of all, the idea behind TagSpaces is absolutely great. I really hope I can adapt my workflow to it, or it to my workflow.

This question is related to my comment on this thread: How to do clean up of useless thumbnails and .json files? - #5 by TheUserOfName

I want to use the sidecar approach because I find it more “clean” when looking at the files. The problem I’m facing now, but maybe it is because I’m doing something wrong, is that it seems that once you opt for the sidecar, you have to do EVERY file operation inside TagSpaces or else it will break tags.

I renamed a ton of files from the File Manager, forgetting about this point, and all my tags were lost. If I moved files it would be the same.

This is a bit of a problem for me because I don’t know if I will be able to install TagSpaces on my work computer, but I will probably sync some important folders from my cloud into it. I was expecting to maybe be able to modify things (rename, move) on my work computer without using TagSpaces, and then see the changes well when I’m at home again, but apparently because of this it will not be possible and I will need to do every operation when I’m at home, which is kind of a hassle.

So, is there any way I could still safely rename or move files tagged with the sidecar outside of TagSpaces? Or the only hope is using the File Renaming approach?

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Just a follow up, I will switch to the File Renaming method for the time being.

I was thinking about this problem and to me, in a sense, linking files to filenames statically (in the sidecar approach) hinders the interest of using files in the first place.

If the tags depend on a filename which I cannot change otherwise they break, it may be easier to just embed useful information in the filename directly - and we come to the File Renaming approach.

I also saw that this topic I’m writing about has been around for longer in the forum - at least four years: Are sidecar files realy viable in practice?

Hopefully TagSpaces will come up with a way to deal with this shortcomings of the Sidecar approach. For the time being maybe the go-to advice is: use the File Renaming method.