granthi-sync/SETUP.md

Setting up Granthi on a new computer

Everything here is one command at a time. You need git and python3 (3.9 or newer). There is nothing to install — no package, no build.

Read this first: what you will see when you sign in

Signing in does not hand you an account you already had somewhere else. Granthi looks up your shre-id identity, and:

• if it has seen you before, you get the same forge account as last time;
• if it has not, and the login it would use is free, it makes you a new, empty account.

So the first time you sign in on a new computer, granthi-sync list may show nothing. That is not a failure. It means you are a new account and nobody has given you access to anything yet.

Granthi refuses to hand you an existing account just because the name lines up. It will only join you to one if that account's email is the same as your verified sign-in email. That rule is what stops somebody else claiming your files, so it is worth the small surprise on day one.

Two ways to end up with your files, and it is worth choosing on purpose:

	what happens	when to pick it
Fresh account (recommended)	You sign in, get a new empty account, and somebody shares the repos you need with you	Your everyday laptop. The token stored on the machine can only do what that account can do.
Join an existing account	An operator sets that account's email to your verified sign-in email first; then signing in joins you to it and you see everything it owns straight away	You want one identity everywhere and accept that the laptop then carries whatever that account can do

The fresh account is recommended for a plain reason: the token link saves on the machine acts as that account. If you join an admin account, every computer you sync from is carrying admin.

1. Get the program

git clone https://granthi.shre.ai/nirpa/granthi-sync.git
cd granthi-sync

No account is needed for this step.

2. Sign in

./bin/granthi-sync link

It prints a web address and a short code. Open the address, type the code, and approve — you have five minutes. When it finishes, your account exists and a key is saved at ~/.granthi-sync/config.json, readable only by you. You never see or type a forge password.

If the code runs out, nothing was created — no account, no key, no half-finished state. Run link again.

You do not need to be on any private network. The client talks to https://granthi-link.shre.ai.

3. See what you have

./bin/granthi-sync list
./bin/granthi-sync list work-          # only names containing "work-"

This list comes from the forge, so it is exactly what you are allowed to see — not a guess made on this computer.

If it is empty, see the note at the top: you are a new account. Ask whoever owns the repos to run granthi-sync share <your-login> --repo <name>, or to add you to the right organisation.

4. Bring folders down

./bin/granthi-sync get notes                  # by name
./bin/granthi-sync get Nirlabinc/notes        # when two teams both have a "notes"
./bin/granthi-sync get --all --into ~/work    # everything you are allowed to see

If a plain name matches two repos, Granthi stops and shows you both rather than guessing which one you meant.

5. Or send a folder up

./bin/granthi-sync add ~/Documents/notes

It becomes a private repo. Two things happen for your protection:

• a starter .gitignore is written if the folder has none, covering .env, *.key, *.pem, id_rsa and similar — those will not be synced;
• a folder holding more than 20,000 files or 512 MB is refused unless you add --force, so you cannot upload your whole disk by accident.

6. Keep it syncing

Run it in a terminal:

./bin/granthi-sync watch

Or leave it running in the background on a Mac:

cp client/launchd/ai.granthi.sync.plist ~/Library/LaunchAgents/

Open that copied file and replace /PATH/TO/granthi-sync with the real path to this folder. Then:

launchctl bootstrap gui/$UID ~/Library/LaunchAgents/ai.granthi.sync.plist

Its log is /tmp/granthi-sync.log.

What syncing does to your folder

It depends on what the folder was:

• A folder that was already a git project — Granthi never commits for you. Your history stays yours. Work you have not committed is copied to the cloud with a timestamp so it is not only on this laptop.
• A plain folder — Granthi saves changes for you as it goes, and each save is a point you can go back to.

Either way, if your copy and the cloud copy have both moved on, Granthi stops and tells you. It will never merge or overwrite your work to make the conflict go away.

7. Going back to an earlier version

./bin/granthi-sync snapshots ~/Documents/notes
./bin/granthi-sync restore  ~/Documents/notes --at 20260823T142530Z

Restore writes to a new folder. It never overwrites what you have now — if you are restoring, you have enough problems already.

You can restore from a computer that never had the folder, including one replacing a laptop that is gone.

8. Sharing

./bin/granthi-sync share bob --repo notes                 # they have an account
./bin/granthi-sync share bob --repo notes --revoke
./bin/granthi-sync shared --repo notes                    # who can see it
./bin/granthi-sync invite [email protected] --repo notes  # they do not yet

An invite creates nothing until it is accepted. If the person never signs in, nothing was ever made for them.

9. Keeping track of your computers

./bin/granthi-sync devices     # every computer signed in to your account
./bin/granthi-sync logout      # sign this computer out
./bin/granthi-sync logout --device <id>   # sign out a lost one
./bin/granthi-sync activity    # sign-ins and sign-outs, with times

Signing a computer out takes effect at the server, immediately. The key on that machine stops working on its very next attempt — it is not a setting that machine could ignore. That is what makes it useful for a laptop you have lost.

Your folders are left alone when you sign out; only the key is removed.

If something looks wrong

• list is empty — you are a new account, nobody has shared anything yet.
• "Repository not found" — you may not have access to that repo; run list to see what you do have.
• "this device's access has been revoked" — someone signed this computer out. Run link again.
• A folder shows DIVERGED — your copy and the cloud copy both changed. Granthi is waiting for you on purpose. Nothing is lost; sort it out in git or on the forge web page.