Content-Addressed Storage

A storage model that identifies files by a cryptographic hash of their content rather than by file path or name. Two files with identical binary content produce the same hash and are stored once, eliminating duplicates regardless of how many times they are imported or where they appear in a library.

Content-addressed storage inverts the traditional relationship between identity and location. In path-based storage, a file's identity is its name and folder — rename it and you lose the reference. In content-addressed storage, the file's identity is its content hash — move it, rename it, or import it again, and the system recognizes it as the same asset.

For AI-generated asset libraries, where the same image may be saved from multiple tools under different names or imported alongside workflow outputs multiple times, content-addressed storage eliminates the 20-30% redundancy that accumulates in path-based systems. It also provides the foundation for collection branching, where lightweight copies can reference the same underlying files without duplication.