diff --git a/NEWS.md b/NEWS.md
index fa1c81e..ca608c6 100644
--- a/NEWS.md
+++ b/NEWS.md
@@ -1,8 +1,29 @@
 # frictionless (development version)
 
+## For users
+
+* `read_resource()` now supports reading from remote zip files, thanks to support in {vroom} (1.3.0) (#291).
 * `resources()` is soft-deprecated, please use `resource_names()` instead (#282).
 * `get_schema()` is soft-deprecated, please use `schema()` instead (#282).
-* `read_resource()` now supports reading from remote zip files, thanks to support in {vroom} (1.3.0) (#291).
+
+## Changes for developers
+
+* Internal frictionless properties are now _attributes_, to better separate them from public Data Package properties (#289). If you use these internal properties, then update:
+
+  ```R
+  package$directory
+  r <- frictionless:::get_resource(package, "resource_name") # Internal function
+  r$read_from
+  ```
+  
+  to:
+  
+  ```R
+  attr(package, "directory")
+  r <- frictionless:::resource(package, "resource_name") # Renamed!
+  attr(r, "data_location") # Renamed!
+  ```
+
 * frictionless now relies on R >= 4.1.0 (because of an indirect {vroom} dependency) (#291) and uses base pipes (`|>` rather than `%>%`) (#292).
 
 # frictionless 1.2.1
diff --git a/R/check_package.R b/R/check_package.R
index c5df8ec..da24f22 100644
--- a/R/check_package.R
+++ b/R/check_package.R
@@ -44,12 +44,21 @@ check_package <- function(package) {
     )
   }
 
-  # Check package has directory (character)
-  if (!is.character(package$directory)) {
+  # Check all resources (if any) have a name
+  if (purrr::some(package$resources, ~ is.null(.x$name))) {
+    cli::cli_abort(
+      "All {.field resources} in {.arg package} must have a {.field name}
+       property.",
+      class = "frictionless_error_resources_without_name"
+    )
+  }
+
+  # Check package has directory attribute (character)
+  if (!is.character(attr(package, "directory"))) {
     cli::cli_abort(
       c(
         general_message,
-        "x" = "{.arg package} is missing a {.field directory} property or it is
+        "x" = "{.arg package} is missing a {.field directory} attribute or it is
                not a character.",
         "i" = tip_message
       ),
@@ -57,15 +66,6 @@ check_package <- function(package) {
     )
   }
 
-  # Check all resources (if any) have a name
-  if (purrr::some(package$resources, ~ is.null(.x$name))) {
-    cli::cli_abort(
-      "All {.field resources} in {.arg package} must have a {.field name}
-       property.",
-      class = "frictionless_error_resources_without_name"
-    )
-  }
-
   # Warn if class is missing
   if (!"datapackage" %in% class(package)) {
     cli::cli_warn(
diff --git a/R/col_types.R b/R/col_types.R
index ffa9167..3894ed5 100644
--- a/R/col_types.R
+++ b/R/col_types.R
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@ cols <- function(schema) {
 
   # Create col_types
   col_types <- purrr::map(fields, field_to_col)
-  # Assign names: list("name1" = <collector_character>, "name2" = ...)
+  # Add names: list("name1" = <collector_character>, "name2" = ...)
   names(col_types) <- field_names
 
   # Replicate structure of readr::col_spec
@@ -44,7 +44,7 @@ field_to_col <- function(field) {
   bare_number <- if (field$bareNumber %||% "" != FALSE) TRUE else FALSE
   format <- field$format %||% "default" # Undefined => default
 
-  # Assign types and formats
+  # Add types and formats
   col_type <- switch(
     type,
     "string" = col_string(enum),
diff --git a/R/create_package.R b/R/create_package.R
index 4ba8be2..fb22de2 100644
--- a/R/create_package.R
+++ b/R/create_package.R
@@ -3,12 +3,12 @@
 #' Initiates a Data Package object, either from scratch or from an existing
 #' list.
 #' This Data Package object is a list with the following characteristics:
-#' - A `datapackage` subclass.
 #' - All properties of the original `descriptor`.
 #' - A `resources` property, set to an empty list if undefined.
-#' - A `directory` property, set to `"."` for the current directory if
+#' - A `directory` attribute, set to `"."` for the current directory if
 #'   undefined.
 #'   It is used as the base path to access resources with [read_resource()].
+#' - A `datapackage` subclass.
 #'
 #' See `vignette("data-package")` to learn how this function implements the
 #' Data Package standard.
@@ -36,9 +36,11 @@ create_package <- function(descriptor = NULL) {
     )
   }
 
-  # Add properties
+  # Add resources property (also creates descriptor if NULL)
   descriptor$resources <- descriptor$resources %||% list()
-  descriptor$directory <- descriptor$directory %||% "." # Current directory
+
+  # Add directory attribute
+  attr(descriptor, "directory") <- attr(descriptor, "directory") %||% "."
 
   # Add datapackage class
   if (!"datapackage" %in% class(descriptor)) {
diff --git a/R/read_from_path.R b/R/read_from_path.R
index 9dc5525..ad70ab7 100644
--- a/R/read_from_path.R
+++ b/R/read_from_path.R
@@ -33,7 +33,11 @@ read_from_path <- function(package, resource_name, col_select) {
   col_types <- cols(schema)
 
   # Get dialect (can be NULL)
-  dialect <- read_descriptor(resource$dialect, package$directory, safe = TRUE)
+  dialect <- read_descriptor(
+    resource$dialect,
+    attr(package, "directory"),
+    safe = TRUE
+  )
   escape_backslash <- if (dialect$escapeChar %||% "not set" == "\\") {
     TRUE
   } else {
diff --git a/R/read_package.R b/R/read_package.R
index 8af3fd3..7bf934c 100644
--- a/R/read_package.R
+++ b/R/read_package.R
@@ -45,7 +45,7 @@ read_package <- function(file = "datapackage.json") {
   }
 
   # Add directory
-  descriptor$directory <- dirname(file) # Also works for URLs
+  attr(descriptor, "directory") <- dirname(file) # Also works for URLs
 
   # Create package
   create_package(descriptor)
diff --git a/R/read_resource.R b/R/read_resource.R
index 2aaab6c..4d4291e 100644
--- a/R/read_resource.R
+++ b/R/read_resource.R
@@ -50,11 +50,12 @@ read_resource <- function(package, resource_name, col_select = NULL) {
   resource <- resource(package, resource_name)
 
   # Read data directly
-  if (resource$read_from == "df") {
+  data_location <- attr(resource, "data_location")
+  if (data_location == "df") {
     df <- dplyr::as_tibble(resource$data)
 
   # Read data from data
-  } else if (resource$read_from == "data") {
+  } else if (data_location == "data") {
     df <- do.call(
       function(...) rbind.data.frame(..., stringsAsFactors = FALSE),
       resource$data
@@ -62,7 +63,7 @@ read_resource <- function(package, resource_name, col_select = NULL) {
     df <- dplyr::as_tibble(df)
 
   # Read data from path(s)
-  } else if (resource$read_from == "path" || resource$read_from == "url") {
+  } else if (data_location == "path" || data_location == "url") {
     df <- read_from_path(package, resource_name, col_select)
   }
   return(df)
diff --git a/R/resource.R b/R/resource.R
index 89ab98c..3c4244c 100644
--- a/R/resource.R
+++ b/R/resource.R
@@ -4,8 +4,8 @@
 #' described `resources`.
 #'
 #' @inheritParams read_resource
-#' @return List describing a Data Resource, with new property `read_from` to
-#'   indicate how data should be read.
+#' @return List describing a Data Resource, with new attribute `data_location`
+#'   to indicate how the data are attached.
 #'   If present, `path` will be updated to contain the full path(s).
 #' @family accessor functions
 #' @noRd
@@ -47,25 +47,26 @@ resource <- function(package, resource_name) {
     )
   }
 
-  # Assign read_from property (based on path, then df, then data)
+  # Add data_location attribute (based on path, then df, then data)
   if (length(resource$path) != 0) {
     if (all(is_url(resource$path))) {
-      resource$read_from <- "url"
+      data_location <- "url"
     } else {
-      resource$read_from <- "path"
+      data_location <- "path"
     }
     # Expand paths to full paths, check if file exists and check path safety,
     # unless those paths were willingly added by user in add_resource()
     if (attr(resource, "path") %||% "" != "added") {
       resource$path <- purrr::map_chr(
-        resource$path, ~ check_path(.x, package$directory, safe = TRUE)
+        resource$path, ~ check_path(.x, attr(package, "directory"), safe = TRUE)
       )
     }
   } else if (is.data.frame(resource$data)) {
-    resource$read_from <- "df"
+    data_location <- "df"
   } else if (!is.null(resource$data)) {
-    resource$read_from <- "data"
+    data_location <- "data"
   }
+  attr(resource, "data_location") <- data_location
 
   return(resource)
 }
diff --git a/R/schema.R b/R/schema.R
index e60efae..9252057 100644
--- a/R/schema.R
+++ b/R/schema.R
@@ -39,7 +39,11 @@ schema <- function(package, resource_name) {
       class = "frictionless_error_resource_without_schema"
     )
   }
-  schema <- read_descriptor(resource$schema, package$directory, safe = TRUE)
+  schema <- read_descriptor(
+    resource$schema,
+    attr(package, "directory"),
+    safe = TRUE
+  )
 
   # Check schema
   check_schema(schema)
diff --git a/R/write_package.R b/R/write_package.R
index f23fab5..cfcc2ba 100644
--- a/R/write_package.R
+++ b/R/write_package.R
@@ -73,7 +73,7 @@ write_package <- function(package, directory, compress = FALSE) {
   return_package <- package # Needs directory to remain valid
 
   # Write datapackage.json
-  package$directory <- NULL
+  attr(package, "directory") <- NULL
   package_json <- jsonlite::toJSON(
     package,
     pretty = TRUE,
diff --git a/R/write_resource.R b/R/write_resource.R
index 7d729ce..43014c5 100644
--- a/R/write_resource.R
+++ b/R/write_resource.R
@@ -14,7 +14,8 @@ write_resource <- function(package, resource_name, directory = ".",
   resource <- resource(package, resource_name)
 
   # Resource contains new data
-  if (resource$read_from == "df") {
+  data_location <- attr(resource, "data_location")
+  if (data_location == "df") {
     if (compress) {
       file_name <- paste(resource_name, "csv", "gz", sep = ".")
     } else {
@@ -28,15 +29,14 @@ write_resource <- function(package, resource_name, directory = ".",
     resource$mediatype <- "text/csv"
     resource$encoding <- "utf-8" # Enforced by readr::write_csv()
     resource$dialect <- NULL
-    resource$read_from <- NULL
     resource$data <- NULL
 
   # Resource originally had data property
-  } else if (resource$read_from == "data") {
-    resource$read_from <- NULL
+  } else if (data_location == "data") {
+    # Do nothing
 
   # Resource has local paths (optionally mixed with URLs)
-  } else if (resource$read_from == "path") {
+  } else if (data_location == "path") {
     # Download or copy file to directory, point path to file name (in that dir)
     # Note that existing files will not be overwritten
     out_paths <- vector()
@@ -56,14 +56,15 @@ write_resource <- function(package, resource_name, directory = ".",
       }
       out_paths <- append(out_paths, file_name)
     }
-    resource$read_from <- NULL
     resource$path <- out_paths
 
   # Resource has URL paths (only)
-  } else if (resource$read_from == "url") {
+  } else if (data_location == "url") {
     # Don't touch file, leave URL path as is
-    resource$read_from <- NULL
   }
 
+  # Remove attributes
+  attr(resource, "data_location") <- NULL
+
   return(resource)
 }
diff --git a/man/create_package.Rd b/man/create_package.Rd
index ae7ff7d..1b49a50 100644
--- a/man/create_package.Rd
+++ b/man/create_package.Rd
@@ -18,12 +18,12 @@ Initiates a Data Package object, either from scratch or from an existing
 list.
 This Data Package object is a list with the following characteristics:
 \itemize{
-\item A \code{datapackage} subclass.
 \item All properties of the original \code{descriptor}.
 \item A \code{resources} property, set to an empty list if undefined.
-\item A \code{directory} property, set to \code{"."} for the current directory if
+\item A \code{directory} attribute, set to \code{"."} for the current directory if
 undefined.
 It is used as the base path to access resources with \code{\link[=read_resource]{read_resource()}}.
+\item A \code{datapackage} subclass.
 }
 }
 \details{
diff --git a/tests/testthat/test-check_package.R b/tests/testthat/test-check_package.R
index 79cb7d7..8e622db 100644
--- a/tests/testthat/test-check_package.R
+++ b/tests/testthat/test-check_package.R
@@ -60,7 +60,7 @@ test_that("check_package() returns error on missing or incorrect directory", {
   expect_error(
     check_package(list(resources = list())),
     regexp = paste(
-      "`package` is missing a directory property or it is not a character."
+      "`package` is missing a directory attribute or it is not a character."
     ),
     fixed = TRUE
   )
@@ -89,12 +89,14 @@ test_that("check_package() returns error if resources have no name", {
 })
 
 test_that("check_package() returns warning on missing 'datapackage' class", {
+  p_invalid <- list(resources = list())
+  attr(p_invalid, "directory") <- "."
   expect_warning(
-    check_package(list(resources = list(), directory = ".")),
+    check_package(p_invalid),
     class = "frictionless_warning_package_without_class"
   )
   expect_warning(
-    check_package(list(resources = list(), directory = ".")),
+    check_package(p_invalid),
     regexp = "`package` is missing a \"datapackage\" class",
     fixed = TRUE
   )
diff --git a/tests/testthat/test-check_schema.R b/tests/testthat/test-check_schema.R
index 5cfeaa4..50ee881 100644
--- a/tests/testthat/test-check_schema.R
+++ b/tests/testthat/test-check_schema.R
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ test_that("check_schema() returns schema invisibly on valid Table Schema", {
   # Can't obtain df using read_resource(), because that function uses
   # check_schema() (in schema()) internally, which is what we want to test
   df <- suppressMessages(
-    readr::read_csv(file.path(p$directory, p$resources[[1]]$path))
+    readr::read_csv(file.path(attr(p, "directory"), p$resources[[1]]$path))
   )
 
   # Using schema()
diff --git a/tests/testthat/test-create_package.R b/tests/testthat/test-create_package.R
index ff9d3a1..d0005ab 100644
--- a/tests/testthat/test-create_package.R
+++ b/tests/testthat/test-create_package.R
@@ -35,10 +35,12 @@ test_that("create_package() sets resources or leaves as is", {
 
 test_that("create_package() sets directory or leaves as is", {
   new <- create_package()
-  expect_identical(new$directory, ".")
+  expect_identical(attr(new, "directory"), ".")
 
-  existing <- create_package(list(directory = "not_default"))
-  expect_identical(existing$directory, "not_default")
+  list_with_directory <- list()
+  attr(list_with_directory, "directory") <- "not_default"
+  existing <- create_package(list_with_directory)
+  expect_identical(attr(existing, "directory"), "not_default")
 })
 
 test_that("create_package() adds class 'datapackage'", {
diff --git a/tests/testthat/test-read_package.R b/tests/testthat/test-read_package.R
index 103ff71..a2a01e3 100644
--- a/tests/testthat/test-read_package.R
+++ b/tests/testthat/test-read_package.R
@@ -16,10 +16,10 @@ test_that("read_package() returns a valid Data Package reading from path", {
 
   # Package has correct "directory", containing root dir of datapackage.json
   expect_identical(
-    p_local$directory,
+    attr(p_local, "directory"),
     sub("/datapackage.json", "", p_path, fixed = TRUE)
   )
-  expect_identical(p_minimal$directory, "data")
+  expect_identical(attr(p_minimal, "directory"), "data")
 })
 
 test_that("read_package() returns a valid Data Package reading from url", {
@@ -40,7 +40,7 @@ test_that("read_package() returns a valid Data Package reading from url", {
 
   # Package has correct "directory", containing root dir of datapackage.json
   expect_identical(
-    p_remote$directory,
+    attr(p_remote, "directory"),
     sub("/datapackage.json", "", p_url, fixed = TRUE)
   )
 })
diff --git a/tests/testthat/test-read_resource.R b/tests/testthat/test-read_resource.R
index 7efcada..c61cecd 100644
--- a/tests/testthat/test-read_resource.R
+++ b/tests/testthat/test-read_resource.R
@@ -197,7 +197,7 @@ test_that("read_resource() returns error on invalid resource", {
 
   # Add valid path
   p_invalid$resources[[1]]$path <- "deployments.csv"
-  p_invalid$directory <- dirname(
+  attr(p_invalid, "directory") <- dirname(
     system.file("extdata", "v1", "datapackage.json", package = "frictionless")
   )
 
@@ -311,7 +311,7 @@ test_that("read_resource() can read safe local and remote Table Schema,
   skip_if_offline()
   p <- example_package()
   resource <- read_resource(p, "deployments")
-  p$directory <- "."
+  attr(p, "directory") <- "."
 
   # Use a remote path, otherwise schema and path need to share same directory
   p$resources[[1]]$path <- file.path(
@@ -359,7 +359,7 @@ test_that("read_resource() can read safe local and remote CSV dialect", {
   skip_if_offline()
   p <- example_package()
   resource <- read_resource(p, "deployments")
-  p$directory <- "."
+  attr(p, "directory") <- "."
 
   # Use a remote path, otherwise dialect and path need to share same directory
   p$resources[[1]]$path <- file.path(
@@ -407,7 +407,7 @@ test_that("read_resource() understands CSV dialect", {
 
   # Create package with non-default dialect properties
   p_dialect <- p
-  p_dialect$directory <- "."
+  attr(p_dialect, "directory") <- "."
   p_dialect$resources[[1]]$path <- test_path("data/deployments_dialect.csv")
   p_dialect$resources[[1]]$dialect <- list(
     delimiter = "/",
@@ -436,7 +436,7 @@ test_that("read_resource() understands missing values", {
 
   # Create package with non-default missing values
   p_missing <- p
-  p_missing$directory <- "."
+  attr(p_missing, "directory") <- "."
   p_missing$resources[[1]]$path <-
     test_path("data/deployments_missingvalues.csv")
   p_missing$resources[[1]]$schema$missingValues <-
@@ -450,7 +450,7 @@ test_that("read_resource() understands encoding", {
 
   # Create package with non-default encoding
   p_encoding <- p
-  p_encoding$directory <- "."
+  attr(p_encoding, "directory") <- "."
   p_encoding$resources[[1]]$path <- test_path("data/deployments_encoding.csv")
   p_encoding$resources[[1]]$encoding <- "windows-1252"
   expect_identical(read_resource(p_encoding, "deployments"), resource)
@@ -545,7 +545,7 @@ test_that("read_resource() handles LF and CRLF line terminator characters", {
   resource <- read_resource(p, "deployments") # This file has LF
 
   p_crlf <- p
-  p_crlf$directory <- "."
+  attr(p_crlf, "directory") <- "."
   p_crlf$resources[[1]]$path <-
     test_path("data/deployments_crlf.csv") # File with CRLF
   expect_identical(read_resource(p_crlf, "deployments"), resource)
@@ -559,7 +559,7 @@ test_that("read_resource() can read compressed files", {
   # File created in terminal with:
   # zip deployments.csv.zip deployments.csv
   p_local_zip <- p
-  p_local_zip$directory <- "."
+  attr(p_local_zip, "directory") <- "."
   p_local_zip$resources[[1]]$path <- test_path("data/deployments.csv.zip")
   p_remote_zip <- p
   p_remote_zip$resources[[1]]$path <- file.path(
@@ -570,7 +570,7 @@ test_that("read_resource() can read compressed files", {
   # File created in terminal with:
   # gzip deployments.csv
   p_local_gz <- p
-  p_local_gz$directory <- "."
+  attr(p_local_gz, "directory") <- "."
   p_local_gz$resources[[1]]$path <- test_path("data/deployments.csv.gz")
   p_remote_gz <- p
   p_remote_gz$resources[[1]]$path <- file.path(
diff --git a/tests/testthat/test-write_package.R b/tests/testthat/test-write_package.R
index 90e3e0a..9d69aa5 100644
--- a/tests/testthat/test-write_package.R
+++ b/tests/testthat/test-write_package.R
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@ test_that("write_package() returns output Data Package (invisibly)", {
   p_from_file <- read_package(file.path(dir, "datapackage.json"))
 
   # p_from_file$directory will differ: overwrite to make the same
-  p_from_file$directory <- p_written$directory
+  attr(p_from_file, "directory") <- attr(p_written, "directory")
 
   expect_invisible(suppressMessages(write_package(p, dir)))
   expect_identical(p_written, p_from_file)
@@ -54,8 +54,7 @@ test_that("write_package() writes unaltered datapackage.json as is", {
   suppressMessages(write_package(p, dir))
   json_as_written <- readr::read_lines(file.path(dir, "datapackage.json"))
 
-  # Output json = input json. This also tests if custom property "directory"
-  # is removed and json is printed "pretty"
+  # Output json = input json. This also tests the json is printed "pretty"
   expect_identical(json_as_written, json_original)
 })
 
@@ -124,7 +123,7 @@ test_that("write_package() downloads file(s) for path = local in remote
   p <- example_package()
 
   # Make remote
-  p$directory <- file.path(
+  attr(p, "directory") <- file.path(
     "https://raw.githubusercontent.com/frictionlessdata/frictionless-r/",
     "main/inst/extdata/v1"
   )
@@ -187,7 +186,7 @@ test_that("write_package() leaves as is for path = URL in remote package", {
   p <- example_package()
 
   # Make remote
-  p$directory <- file.path(
+  attr(p, "directory") <- file.path(
     "https://raw.githubusercontent.com/frictionlessdata/frictionless-r/",
     "main/inst/extdata/v1"
   )
@@ -232,7 +231,7 @@ test_that("write_package() leaves as is for data = json in remote package", {
   p <- example_package()
 
   # Make remote
-  p$directory <- file.path(
+  attr(p, "directory") <- file.path(
     "https://raw.githubusercontent.com/frictionlessdata/frictionless-r/",
     "main/inst/extdata/v1"
   )
@@ -268,7 +267,7 @@ test_that("write_package() creates file for data = df in remote package", {
   p <- example_package()
 
   # Make remote
-  p$directory <- file.path(
+  attr(p, "directory") <- file.path(
     "https://raw.githubusercontent.com/frictionlessdata/frictionless-r/",
     "main/inst/extdata/v1"
   )
@@ -333,7 +332,6 @@ test_that("write_package() sets correct properties for data frame resources", {
   expect_null(resource_written$dialect)
   expect_identical(resource_written$schema, schema)
   expect_null(resource_written$data)
-  expect_null(resource_written$read_from)
 })
 
 test_that("write_package() retains custom properties set in add_resource()", {