diff --git a/tscore/src/main/java/com/timestored/tscore/persistance/KeyInterface.java b/tscore/src/main/java/com/timestored/tscore/persistance/KeyInterface.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..4b5880b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tscore/src/main/java/com/timestored/tscore/persistance/KeyInterface.java
@@ -0,0 +1,21 @@
+/*
+ * qStudio - Free SQL Analysis Tool
+ * Copyright C 2013-2024 TimeStored
+ *
+ * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 the "License";
+ * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+ * You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ *     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+ * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+ * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+ * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+ * limitations under the License.
+ */
+package com.timestored.tscore.persistance;
+
+public interface KeyInterface {
+	String name();
+}
diff --git a/tscore/src/main/java/com/timestored/tscore/persistance/PersistanceInterface.java b/tscore/src/main/java/com/timestored/tscore/persistance/PersistanceInterface.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..f44ec17
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tscore/src/main/java/com/timestored/tscore/persistance/PersistanceInterface.java
@@ -0,0 +1,84 @@
+/*
+ * qStudio - Free SQL Analysis Tool
+ * Copyright C 2013-2024 TimeStored
+ *
+ * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 the "License";
+ * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+ * You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ *     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+ * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+ * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+ * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+ * limitations under the License.
+ */
+package com.timestored.tscore.persistance;
+
+import java.util.prefs.BackingStoreException;
+import java.util.prefs.Preferences;
+
+
+public interface PersistanceInterface {
+
+	//@TODO ideally this would use KeyedPrefs
+	public static final String PATH_SPLIT = ";";
+	
+	/**
+	 * @param key key with which the specified value is to be associated.
+	 * @param value value to be associated with the specified key.
+	 */
+	void put(KeyInterface key, String value);
+
+	/**
+	 * Return the value associate with a key or default value otherwise.
+	 * @param key key whose associated value is to be returned.
+	 * @param def the value to be returned in the event that this preference node has no value associated with key. 
+	 */
+	String get(KeyInterface key, String def);
+
+	/**
+	 * @param key key with which the specified value is to be associated.
+	 * @param value value to be associated with the specified key.
+	 */
+	void putBoolean(KeyInterface key, boolean value);
+
+	/**
+	 * Return the value associate with a key or default value otherwise.
+	 * @param key key whose associated value is to be returned.
+	 * @param def the value to be returned in the event that this preference node has no value associated with key. 
+	 */
+	boolean getBoolean(KeyInterface key, boolean def);
+
+	/**
+	 * @param key key with which the specified value is to be associated.
+	 * @param value value to be associated with the specified key.
+	 */
+	void putInt(KeyInterface key, int value);
+
+	/**
+	 * Return the value associate with a key or default value otherwise.
+	 * @param key key whose associated value is to be returned.
+	 * @param def the value to be returned in the event that this preference node has no value associated with key. 
+	 */
+	int getInt(KeyInterface key, int def);
+
+	void putLong(KeyInterface key, long val);
+
+	long getLong(KeyInterface key, long def);
+
+	/** 
+	 * Removes all persisted values. (except FERD)
+	 * @param wipeLicense wipes everything, license and first ever run date.
+	 * 	meaning the software would revert to a free trial.
+	 */
+	void clear(boolean wipeLicense) throws BackingStoreException;
+
+	/**
+	 * @return underlying preference store. Not recommended for common use as
+	 * it gives much rawer access without key checking etc.
+	 */
+	Preferences getPref();
+
+}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/tscore/src/main/java/com/timestored/tscore/persistance/RecentDocumentPersister.java b/tscore/src/main/java/com/timestored/tscore/persistance/RecentDocumentPersister.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..cd4ec26
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tscore/src/main/java/com/timestored/tscore/persistance/RecentDocumentPersister.java
@@ -0,0 +1,123 @@
+/*
+ * qStudio - Free SQL Analysis Tool
+ * Copyright C 2013-2024 TimeStored
+ *
+ * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 the "License";
+ * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+ * You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ *     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+ * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+ * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+ * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+ * limitations under the License.
+ */
+package com.timestored.tscore.persistance;
+
+import java.io.File;
+import java.util.List;
+
+import com.google.common.base.Joiner;
+import com.google.common.base.Preconditions;
+import com.google.common.collect.Lists;
+import com.timestored.docs.Document;
+import com.timestored.docs.OpenDocumentsModel;
+import com.timestored.misc.FifoBuffer;
+
+/**
+ * Save a list of open and recent documents each time one is opened/closed.
+ * Also provides a method to save all currently open documents to a scratch area for later restoration.
+ * If you want to read the recent/opened docs previously saved be careful to read before
+ * adding this as a listener. As any events would overwrite previous values.
+ */
+public class RecentDocumentPersister implements OpenDocumentsModel.Listener {
+
+	/*
+	 * Note some tricky issues:
+	 * Documents may be saved to disk or may not yet be saved to disk
+	 * File names may not be unique
+	 * In particular in-memory "new files" may not be unique
+	 * We also only receive add/close/save notifications, some files may have changed outside of that individual file.
+	 */
+	
+	private final FifoBuffer<String> recentFilePaths = new FifoBuffer<String>(9);
+	private final PersistanceInterface persistance;
+	private final KeyInterface recentDocsKey;
+	private final KeyInterface lastOpenedFolderKey;
+
+	public RecentDocumentPersister(PersistanceInterface persistance, 
+			KeyInterface recentDocsKey, 
+			KeyInterface lastOpenedFolderKey) {
+		
+		this.persistance = Preconditions.checkNotNull(persistance);
+		this.recentDocsKey = Preconditions.checkNotNull(recentDocsKey);
+		this.lastOpenedFolderKey = Preconditions.checkNotNull(lastOpenedFolderKey);
+		
+		recentFilePaths.addAll(getFilePaths(persistance, recentDocsKey));
+	
+	}
+
+	private static List<String> getFilePaths(PersistanceInterface persistance, KeyInterface filekey) {
+		List<String> filepaths = Lists.newArrayList();
+		String recent = persistance.get(filekey, "");
+		String[] recDocs = recent.split(PersistanceInterface.PATH_SPLIT);
+		for(String filepath : recDocs) {
+			if(!filepath.trim().isEmpty()) {
+				filepaths.add(filepath);
+			}
+		}
+		return filepaths;
+	}
+	
+	private void persistRecentDocuments() {
+		String recent = Joiner.on(PersistanceInterface.PATH_SPLIT).join(recentFilePaths.getAll());
+		persistance.put(recentDocsKey, recent);
+	}
+	
+	public List<String> getRecentFilePaths() {
+		return recentFilePaths.getAll();
+	}
+
+	/** @return most recently opened folder or null if none was set **/
+	public File getOpenFolder(PersistanceInterface persistance) {
+		
+		String path = persistance.get(lastOpenedFolderKey, "");
+		if(!path.equals("")) {
+			File f = new File(path);
+			if(f.isDirectory()) {
+				return f;
+			}
+		}
+		return null;
+	}
+	
+	/*
+	 * Any time there is an add/close or save persist list of open docs
+	 */
+	@Override public void docClosed(Document document) {
+		if(document.getFilePath()!=null) {
+			recentFilePaths.add(document.getFilePath());
+		}
+		persistRecentDocuments();
+	}
+	
+	@Override public void docAdded(Document document) {
+		if(document.getFilePath()!=null) {
+			recentFilePaths.add(document.getFilePath());
+		}
+		persistRecentDocuments();
+	}
+
+	@Override public void docSaved() { }
+	@Override public void docSelected(Document document) {}
+	@Override public void docContentModified() {}
+	@Override public void docCaratModified() {}
+	
+	@Override public void folderSelected(File selectedFolder) { 
+		String path = selectedFolder == null ? "" : selectedFolder.getAbsolutePath();
+		persistance.put(lastOpenedFolderKey, path);
+	}
+}
+