Spaces and inventory

Use Spaces when you know the place you want to inspect. Use Inventory when you know the thing you want to find.

Find an item

Open Inventory and search by name, description, category, tag, or placement requirement. The result shows the item's location path so you can follow the same room-to-container route in the physical world.

On a phone, each compact result row keeps its checkbox, item name, quantity, and nearest space code and name visible. Tap the item summary to review the full path and details. Choose the Filter and sort button beside search to open location and sort controls, then choose Done to return to the results. At compact desktop widths, the same information and action stay aligned in one condensed row instead of expanding into a card.

Choose Edit / move for a record in an unfinished space. A record in a counted space instead says Review, reopen to edit because changing it makes that space's earlier count stale. Confirm Reopen capture, make the correction or move in the same dialog, then choose Mark counted again after checking the physical contents.

The item editor can:

• Change the everyday name, quantity, or Description
• Expand More item details for unit, categories, tags, or frequency
• Record placement requirements only when they affect where the item may safely go
• Move all or part of the quantity to another space
• Delete the item record with confirmation

Select several records to move them to one destination together. Records already at that destination stay put. Moving a partial quantity creates a separate record at the destination; equivalent records combine.

Edit several records together

Select item checkboxes in Inventory, or filter the list and choose Select all results, then choose Edit selected. Selection applies only to the results shown; changing the search or location filter clears it.

Every field starts unchanged. Choose Change category, set a usage frequency, or add, remove, replace, or clear tags. Tag entries are comma-separated and match the existing spelling and capitalization. Expand Placement requirements to change individual warmth, humidity, or food-safe requirements, set or clear a keep-together group, or adjust required space tags. Adding tags preserves the other tags on each item; replacing or clearing tags changes the entire tag list. Setting one placement requirement preserves the others.

Choose Review changes to inspect each changed item's before and after values. Matching records stay unchanged. The preview names completed spaces that need to reopen and requires explicit confirmation before saving. Affected move plans are discarded so they can be regenerated from the edited information. If a selected field or affected space changes during review, refresh the preview and check it again before saving. An unrelated description edit can be preserved alongside the batch.

The final Save items action saves all reviewed edits on this device together, even offline. One Activity entry reverses the edited fields, space reopening, and affected plan status while preserving unrelated later fields. Canceling or closing the editor saves nothing. See Activity for undo and conflict behavior.

Import many records

Choose Import CSV in the Inventory toolbar to add records from a spreadsheet without replacing existing inventory. The file stays on the device while you map item fields and either choose one destination or resolve values from a location column. Review valid and invalid rows, capacity, and any completed spaces that must reopen before committing one undoable Activity change.

See Import inventory from CSV for the accepted fields, destination matching, partial-row review, offline behavior, and undo workflow.

Browse the physical hierarchy

Open Spaces to follow rooms, zones, cabinets, shelves, boxes, bins, and containers. A hierarchy can be as simple or as deep as the physical layout requires.

Select a space to inspect its details and direct contents. On a phone, the selected row keeps Edit details and More actions in one compact toolbar. More actions opens a bottom sheet for earlier/later ordering, moving, archiving, or deleting. Choose Edit details to switch to the focused editor, then use the Space hierarchy panel control to return. Choose Add inside [name] only when you need the nested-space form. Switching panels preserves unfinished editor input. The move dialog lets you choose the new parent and exact position without dragging.

At compact desktop widths, the automatic icon navigation rail leaves the hierarchy and editor side by side. The stacked layout remains available when you choose it or when the content area is genuinely too narrow.

The space editor keeps name, Short ID, type, parent, and Save space in the primary flow. Expand More space details for tags, description, suitability, and interior dimensions. A planning-review action opens the relevant details automatically.

You can also drag a space before, inside, or after another row. Stowplan prevents a space from becoming its own parent or descendant.

Describe useful storage facts

Space details can record conditions such as food safety, warmth, humidity, darkness, dimensions, and tags such as easy-reach. Item details can record requirements such as avoiding warmth, requiring food-safe storage, or staying with a group.

Only record facts that help answer a question. Dimensions are useful when fit is uncertain; they are not a prerequisite for ordinary capture.

Keep completed spaces trustworthy

Changing only the display order of siblings does not change what a completed parent contains. Moving a space to another parent does.

When a move changes the membership of a counted or known-empty parent, Stowplan names each affected parent and asks before reopening it. The hierarchy move and those status changes happen together so the first-pass record does not claim more certainty than it has.

Archive or delete a space

Archive a space when you want it out of ordinary views while preserving its history. Restore it later from the archived section.

Delete only when the physical location and the records beneath it should be removed. Stowplan shows the affected subtree for review first. Deletion remains visible in Activity and can be undone while the needed history is available.