meeting-assistant/docs/adr/0008-meeting-storage-layout.md

ADR 0008: Meeting Storage Layout

Status

Accepted

Context

A meeting produces multiple related artifacts during its lifecycle, including recordings, transcripts, AI-generated analyses, exports and metadata.

The project requires a storage layout that is:

• human-readable
• portable
• independent of the storage backend
• suitable for long-term archival
• compatible with future database indexing

---

Decision

Each meeting shall be stored in its own directory.

The directory represents the canonical container for all meeting artifacts.

Meeting directories shall be named using a stable Meeting ID rather than the meeting title.

Recommended format:

YYYYMMDD_HHMMSS_<short_uuid>

Example:

20260711_154215_9d7a4c51

The meeting title is stored exclusively inside meeting.json.

A meeting shall follow the structure:

meeting/
│
├── meeting.json
│
├── recording/
│   ├── source.wav
│   └── archive.flac
│
├── transcript/
│   ├── canonical.json
│   ├── working_v1.json
│   └── working_v2.json
│
├── artifacts/
│   ├── summary.md
│   ├── executive_summary.md
│   ├── action_items.json
│   ├── decisions.json
│   ├── risks.json
│   └── knowledge.json
│
├── export/
│   ├── protocol.md
│   ├── protocol.pdf
│   └── protocol.docx
│
└── metadata/
    ├── recording.json
    ├── transcription.json
    ├── diarization.json
    └── llm.json

The file system is considered the primary storage format.

Databases are optional secondary indexes.

File names describe their role rather than their file format.

Examples:

• source.wav
• archive.flac
• canonical.json
• working_v1.json

This allows processing and archive formats to evolve without changing the overall storage layout.

---

Consequences

• Every meeting is self-contained.
• Meetings can be copied, archived and restored independently.
• Backup procedures remain simple.
• Future storage implementations remain compatible.
• Database implementations can be rebuilt from the meeting directories.
• Meeting titles may change without affecting directory names or references.
• The storage layout remains stable even if processing or archive formats evolve in the future.