Personal Sync carries the same canonical memory to every machine you work on. Docmancer encrypts and signs each revision on your device before upload, and only machines you approve by fingerprint receive the key needed to decrypt it.
The complete single-machine product stays free. Personal Sync does not improve or unlock local recall. Use it when your local setup already works and you need continuity across two or more of your own machines.
Before you start
Install and set up the local product on the machine that already has your memory:
pipx install docmancer --python python3.13
docmancer setup
docmancer status
If that is not complete yet, begin with Getting Started. The local app, CLI, MCP, agent integrations, Shared Memory, Library, and grounded recall do not require a Personal Sync subscription.
Connect your first machine
The simplest route starts in the local app:
- Run
docmancer webinside any project. - Open Settings, choose Cloud and billing, then select Connect this device.
- Sign in to docmancer.dev with the same account you use for billing and approve the device code.
- Save the recovery key offline when Docmancer shows it.
You can complete the same connection from the terminal:
docmancer cloud connect
The hosted API is the default. Pass --base-url only for a staging or self-hosted deployment. A recovery key is created and displayed once by default; pass --no-create-recovery if you want to create one later with docmancer cloud recovery create.
Check your recovery key (optional)
The recovery key is what restores the workspace key onto a machine, and the hosted service cannot recreate it or bypass that boundary. It does not replace keeping an approved device: enrolling a new machine still needs approval from an already approved one. Confirming you copied the key correctly is what recovery verify is for.
docmancer cloud recovery verify
docmancer cloud status
This is a self-check, not a precondition. Nothing requires it: you can enrol another device, approve it, and sync without ever running it. The result is recorded only on this machine, so a second machine reports its own verification state.
recovery verify prompts for the key without printing it. cloud status then reports the connection, recovery state, local queue, last sync cursor, and the next local action in readable form. Use docmancer cloud status --json for automation.
Start or continue the trial
Open your account after connecting the first machine. The account page shows your current trial or subscription state and lets a workspace owner or administrator choose monthly or yearly billing.
A hosted design-partner trial includes the complete encrypted sync and recovery flow. Starting Stripe Checkout before that trial expires preserves the remaining eligible trial period. Connecting a device is free, but an active trial or subscription is required before encrypted revisions can be uploaded.
Run the first encrypted sync
docmancer cloud sync
docmancer cloud status
The first command queues the current project and existing harvested memory, encrypts revisions locally, uploads pending envelopes, and pulls remote changes. The second confirms whether the queue is clear and a sync cursor exists.
Sync is explicit rather than a background process. Run it on a machine when you want that machine to send and receive.
Add a second machine
Install Docmancer and run docmancer cloud connect on the new machine. It registers as pending and prints its device ID and fingerprint:
docmancer cloud connect
On an existing approved machine, list devices and approve the new one. Compare the fingerprint with what the new machine printed before approving it:
docmancer cloud devices
docmancer cloud devices --approve <device-id> --fingerprint <fingerprint>
Then return to the new machine and pull its first encrypted revision set:
docmancer cloud sync
docmancer cloud status
Approval wraps the workspace key for that specific device. Email login alone cannot decrypt an existing workspace.
What the account page can see
The hosted account manages login, entitlement, billing, approved-device metadata, encrypted export, and remote deletion. It cannot browse your memory, inspect local paths, read encryption keys, verify the recovery key on your behalf, or report whether a local queue finished syncing. Check those local facts with docmancer cloud status.
For the encryption construction and visible metadata, read Cloud security and data boundary. For replacement and revocation scenarios, read Devices and recovery.
Keep working offline
Local Ask, Shared Memory, Library, CLI, MCP, agent integrations, capture, and documentation continue without Cloud. Local changes can queue while connectivity is unavailable and resume idempotently the next time you run docmancer cloud sync.
If the subscription lapses, local Docmancer keeps working. New uploads stop after the documented grace state, while pull and export remain available during the final download window.
Disconnect
docmancer cloud disconnect
Disconnecting stops remote transfer and leaves local files untouched. Export and remote deletion are separate explicit operations available through the account and Cloud commands.