nextcloud / nextcloud/server

Preserve extended attributes for usr.xdg.tags and com.apple tags [$70]

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1. to develop enhancement feature: filesystem hotspot: filename handling
Dominant language
PHP
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Description

Unexpected data loss for KDE and Mac users

Apple stores com.apple tags such as
com.apple.FinderInfo
com.apple.ResourceFork
com.apple.lastuseddate#PS

KDE saves and reads tags from file metadata using extended attributes (xattr) - specifically using usr.xdg.tags

Currently, Nextcloud does not preserve that information, let-alone utilise it for tagging.

Example:

User of KDE or other tagging systems applies a tag to a file.
File is synced to Nextcloud.
File is downloaded or recovered from Nextcloud.

Expected:
Xattr tag information (using usr.xdg.tags) is preserved.

Actual:
Xattr data is not preserved, the tag is lost.

Contributor guide

Open the contributing guide

First steps

  1. Read the whole issue, then the project's contributing guide.
  2. Comment on the issue to say you are picking it up — it saves two people doing the same work.
  3. Fork the repository and make your change on a branch.
  4. Open a pull request that references the issue number.

Research direction

The issue does not name a file, entry point, or test. Start by tracing Nextcloud's file synchronization and metadata-storage paths, focusing on extended-attribute handling for usr.xdg.tags and com.apple tags. Done means tags survive upload, download, and recovery, with regression coverage for the reported KDE and macOS cases.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Assessment

Tech stack
php
Domain
backend
Issue type
Bug
Difficulty
4/5
Estimated time
3-5 days
Activity status
Stale
Clarity
Mostly clear
Newbie friendliness
35/100

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