How-to guides

Keep a folder on your computer in sync with GPTree

The GPTree desktop app can keep a folder of documents in your knowledge library, with a new version each time a file changes and the document removed when the file goes.

If the documents you work from live in a folder on your computer, the GPTree desktop app can keep that folder in your knowledge library. You choose the folder once; after that, GPTree picks up new files, changed files and deleted files on its own.

Set it up

  1. Open the GPTree desktop app on your Mac and go to Knowledge.
  2. Under Folders on this computer, choose Sync a folder and pick the folder.
  3. GPTree reads the folder straight away. Each document then shows in your list as Synced ยท This computer, and opening one shows the file's path.

Folder sync is part of the desktop app, so it does not appear when you use GPTree in a browser. It needs a plan that includes it so if yours does not, the panel says so.

What gets synced

Documents in these formats: PDF, Word (.docx), Excel (.xlsx), Markdown, plain text, CSV and JSON, up to 25 MB each. Hidden files and folders, such as .git and .env, are skipped, and so are node_modules folders and anything in another format. The files inside subfolders are included.

How changes come through

While the desktop app is open, GPTree checks your folders every few minutes, and Sync now checks straight away.

  • A new file becomes a new document.
  • A file whose contents change becomes a new version of the same document, so you can read what it said before and compare the two.
  • Opening or saving a file without changing it does not create a version.
  • A file you delete, or move out of the folder, is removed from GPTree.

Stop syncing

Choose Stop syncing next to the folder. GPTree then asks whether to remove the documents that came from it as well. Keep them, and they stay in your library with their history; remove them, and they leave for good.

Good to know

  • Synced documents are yours alone. Nobody else sees them unless you share them another way.
  • GPTree only reads the folders you choose. It never looks anywhere else on your computer.
  • Your files stay where they are. GPTree keeps a copy of their text so it can search and cite them, and never changes the originals.

Related reading