What is the difference between iconClass and workspaceIconClass in a workspace?

[Aitanuqui]

I read the documentation about iconClass

Icons are useful for distinguishing notes. At the technical level, they are set by the iconClass attribute which adds a CSS class to the note. For example #iconClass="bx bx-calendar" will show a calendar instead of the default page or folder icon.workspaceIconClass

and workspaceIconClass

defines box icon CSS class which will be used in tab when hoisted to this note

But still, when using them, I don't see a difference in behaviour when working in a workspace. Could you point it out to me?

[dosubot[bot]]

The difference is mostly technical and depends on how the workspace tabs are configured. iconClass sets the icon for a note everywhere (like in the note tree and tabs), while workspaceIconClass is meant to set the icon only for the tab when the note is hoisted in a workspace.

However, by default, Trilium's main theme uses the CSS variable --tab-note-icons set to true, which means the tab will always use iconClass if it's set, and workspaceIconClass is ignored. Only if --tab-note-icons is false (or iconClass is not set) will workspaceIconClass be used for the tab icon. That's why you don't see a difference in behavior when both are set—the default theme always prefers iconClass for tabs. You can see this logic in the code for tab rendering and icon selection (source, source).

So, unless you remove iconClass or use a custom theme that disables note icons in tabs, workspaceIconClass won't have any visible effect.

To reply, just mention @dosu.

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[Aitanuqui]

I found out that the Legacy theme doesn't show icons defined in iconClass on tabs, only those defined in workspaceIconClass when inside a workspace.

[eliandoran]

@Aitanuqui , that's right.
In the modern theme we decided to display the note icon of all tabs, instead of this behaviour.