Settings Sync

SHOULD in every app with user data worth carrying between computers (snippets, templates, shortcuts, profiles, saved views). A page in the Settings window, found by searching “sync”. No server and no account of ours: the store is a private Git repository the user owns, reached through their own Git credentials. Reference: Editora’s sync/ package (SyncEngine, SyncMerge, SyncAccount) and ui/SettingsSync.java, with the page in SettingsWindow; Torrenta and Termina carry the same package.

Anatomy

Search settings…

Version control

Git

GitHub

System

Keymaps

Macros

Plugins

Sync 1

Advanced

Sync

Keep your snippets, abbreviations, templates and personal dictionary the same on every computer, through a Git repository you own.

Repository 2

The URL of a private Git repository, empty or already used by another of your computers.

git@github.com:you/editora-sync.git

Branch

The branch your synced files are kept on; main unless the repository also holds something else.

main

ConnectCreate on GitHub…3

Status

4Connected · synced 3 min agoSync NowOpen Sync Folder

What to sync5

Snippets

Abbreviations

Templates

Personal dictionary

Shortcuts

The shortcuts you change, in every keymap. Which keymap you use stays on each computer.

Not synced: your other preferences (settings.json), the keymap in use and macros stay on each computer. 6

Sync automatically 7

Syncs after startup, shortly after you change something, and at this interval. It never asks for a password; a failure shows in the status bar.

15

minutes

Use a private repository: snippets and templates can contain private text. When the same entry was changed on two computers, the one you sync from keeps its version and the other version stays in the repository history. 8

Reset to DefaultsChanges apply as you make them. Every setting is also a palette command.Close

1. 1Its own page in the Settings sidebar, under System, found by the Settings search ("sync", "git", "github").
2. 2Repository URL. SSH or HTTPS. A URL with a password or token in it is refused, with the reason and the fix (a credential helper such as gh auth setup-git, or an SSH URL).
3. 3Branch, Connect, Create on GitHub…. Connect clones or adopts the repository. Create on GitHub makes a private repository through the gh CLI and fills the URL in.
4. 4Status pill plus Sync Now and Open Sync Folder (see the states below).
5. 5What to sync: one switch per kind of data, each with a description when its scope is not obvious.
6. 6What is not synced, said plainly: machine-local preferences, the keymap in use, anything with paths.
7. 7Automatic sync with its interval in minutes (default 15, at least 1). Automatic runs never prompt.
8. 8Privacy and conflicts, in one note: use a private repository; on a same-entry conflict the computer you sync from wins, and the other version stays in the history.

Status pill states

Never connected

Not connected

Connected

Connected · synced just now

Running

Connected · syncing…

Network trouble

Not connected · retrying

Needs the user

Sync failing

Green, amber and red are the Settings status-pill colours. Amber means “will recover by itself” (offline, the remote unreachable); red means “the user must act” (Git missing, the repository written by a newer version, a sync that would remove most of a kind of data and waits for confirmation). The pill’s accessible text is “Sync status: …”.

Spec

Property	Value	Reference
Store	A Git repository the user owns, cloned into <config>/sync/; one folder per kind of data	SyncEngine, SyncTarget
Sign-in	The user’s own Git credentials (credential helper or SSH key); the GitHub account that can read the repository is pinned per clone	SyncAccount
Automatic runs	After startup, 30 s after a local change, and every n minutes (default 15)	SettingsSync.DIRTY_DELAY_SECONDS, syncIntervalMinutes
Conflicts	Per entry; this computer wins; the other version stays in history	SyncMerge
Safety	Files a sync replaces are copied to the sync folder first; a sync that would remove most of a kind of data stops and asks	SyncReport
One runner	Sync runs in the first instance only; a second instance says so	status.sync.secondaryInstance
Failures	To the status bar and the Message Log, said once per failure, not once per interval	SettingsSync
Palette	Settings Sync: Set Up…, Sync Now, and Toggle Sync Automatically	sync.setup, sync.now, sync.toggleAuto

Copy

Key	English
settings.sync.subtitle	Keep your snippets, abbreviations, templates and personal dictionary the same on every computer, through a Git repository you own.
settings.sync.connect / settings.sync.createGithub	Connect / Create on GitHub…
settings.sync.now / settings.sync.openFolder	Sync Now / Open Sync Folder
settings.sync.pill.*	Connected · Not connected · Sync failing · syncing… · retrying · synced {0} min ago
status.sync.notSetUp	Settings sync is not connected. Set it up in Settings ▸ Sync.

In the apps

Editora.

Torrenta.

Termina.