EtherPK User Docs

Synced Graphs

A synced graph is a graph stored on Managed Sync, the Sync Server that EtherPK runs. You can open it on each of your devices and share it with other people, who join it as Players. Owning a synced graph takes a Sync+ subscription, but a Free account can join one that a Sync+ subscriber shares. See Sharing A Graph for more information.

To connect a device to Managed Sync, sign in on it with your EtherPK Account. Signing in gives the device no key and no way to decrypt anything. Until it also unlocks your Encryption Keys, it cannot open a synced graph or show the names of graphs that are not on it. Your account has one set of Encryption Keys, and a device unlocks them with your Recovery Code or with approval from another of your devices where they are unlocked. If you lose your Recovery Code and every device that has your Encryption Keys unlocked, nobody can restore your access, EtherPK included.

Your device encrypts a synced graph before uploading it, so the Sync Server never sees your documents, their titles or the graph name in plain text. It also encrypts the graph's settings, images and files. The server holds your account, the members and size of each graph, and the encrypted data.

Every Player has the graph's key. To hide a note from the other Players, put it in a protected document, which gets a second layer of encryption under a key that only you hold. See Protected Documents for more information.

Every browser where you use a synced graph keeps a working copy, so the graph opens quickly and you can work offline. The master copy is on the Sync Server and a working copy can be rebuilt from it, but edits that have not reached the server yet exist only in the browser where you made them.

You can also turn on a Local Mirror to keep a plain Markdown copy of the graph up to date in a folder on one computer. See Keeping A Local Copy Of A Synced Graph for more information.

Before you begin

  • An EtherPK Account.
  • A Sync+ subscription, for graphs of your own.
  • A supported browser. See Choosing Where To Store Your Notes for more information.
  • A connection to Managed Sync when you create a graph.

Sign in to Managed Sync

If you have signed in on the EtherPK website in this browser, the app uses that sign-in the next time you open it.

Otherwise, select Sign in in the app header and sign in with your EtherPK Account. The header then shows your email address and a menu where Sign in was. To sign out, or to sign in another way, see Your EtherPK Account.

Create a synced graph

On the Free plan, New synced graph is unavailable, and the line under it offers Sync+.

  1. In the top navigation, select Graphs.
  2. Select New synced graph.
  3. In Graph name, enter a name.
  4. Select Create graph to create the graph and open it.

If your account has no Encryption Keys yet, which is usual when you create your first synced graph, the app creates them now and shows the Save your Recovery Code dialog. You get the code before anything is uploaded, because it is your way back in if you lose every device that has your Encryption Keys unlocked. Save it with Copy or Download, tick the box to confirm, and select Continue to create the graph.

If your Encryption Keys are locked on this device, unlock them first, or enter your device passcode if you set one. The app creates nothing until you do, and it keeps the name you typed.

To start a synced graph from another knowledge base, see Importing A Knowledge Base.

Open a synced graph on another device

  1. On the other device, sign in with the same EtherPK Account.
  2. In the top navigation, select Graphs to see every graph on your account.
  3. Find the graph marked "Not on this device" and select Add to this device next to it.
  4. If the app asks, unlock your Encryption Keys.

To unlock them, approve this device from another of your devices where they are unlocked, or select Use your Recovery Code. Before you approve, check that both screens show the same code. See Recovery Code And Device Approval for more information.

Sync between devices

When a graph is open on several online devices, an edit on one appears on the others as you type. If the connection drops, the device keeps your edits and sends them when the connection comes back. See Working Offline for more information.

Once every change has reached the Sync Server, the sync status at the foot of the Graph Sidebar shows Synced. See The Graph Sidebar for more information.

Before you clear the browser's site data, check that the sync status shows Synced, or you could lose edits that have not reached the Sync Server. See Where Your Data Is Stored for more information.

Storage and plan limits

The Graphs page shows each graph's size on the Sync Server, split into notes and assets. The notes figure includes the encrypted edit history, so it grows as you edit. It can fall later, but not with each edit.

Your plan limits how many graphs you can own, their storage, how many Players each can have and how large a single file can be. Edits and files from Players count against the owner's allowance. See Your EtherPK Account for more information.

The Sync Server refuses edits when the owner's storage allowance is used up, when a file is over the size limit, or when the owner's plan is not active. The sync status then shows Not syncing, and a notice in the graph gives the reason. Refused edits stay on the device, and the app keeps sending them until the server accepts them.

Remove a synced graph from this device

  1. On the Graphs page, select Remove from this device next to the graph.
  2. In the Forget graph dialog, select Forget.

Forgetting a graph deletes only the copy in this browser and its search index. The graph stays on the Sync Server, and you can bring it back with Add to this device, but any changes that have not reached the server are deleted with the copy. If there are some, the dialog shows how many, and you confirm with Discard changes and forget instead of Forget. To keep them, open the graph while online and wait for Synced, or select Download unsent changes.

Delete a synced graph

Only the owner can delete a synced graph. Players see Leave instead. See Sharing A Graph for more information.

Deleting a graph removes it from the Sync Server for every Player, with no way to recover it, so you have to type DELETE to confirm.

  1. On the Graphs page, select Delete next to the graph.
  2. In the Delete graph dialog, type DELETE.
  3. Select Permanently delete.

As with Forget, any unsent changes in this browser are deleted with the graph, and the dialog shows how many there are. To save them first, select Download unsent changes.

  • Bookmarks
    • Bookmarks are encrypted with the Graph Key. Every member of a synced graph holds that key, so your bookmarks are not secret from the other members. To keep text private, use Protected Documents. A Player who leaves the graph or is removed from it loses their bookmarks the next time the owner opens the graph. See How Encryption Works, Synced Graphs and Sharing A Graph for more information.
  • Choosing Where To Store Your Notes
    • Each device you add a synced graph to keeps a working copy in its browser storage. Edits reach your other devices, and any Players you invite, while they are online. To own synced graphs, you need an EtherPK account with Sync+ (see Your EtherPK Account). A graph that someone shares with you counts against the owner's plan, so it works on any plan. See Synced Graphs for more information.
  • Drawings
    • In the document, a drawing is a fenced code block named excalidraw.drawing. Its first line names the drawing and holds its background colour. Each element after it, a shape, an arrow, a text or a line, has a line of its own. So when two devices draw on the same drawing at once, their changes merge element by element. See Synced Graphs for more information.
  • Formatting Text
    • Each open document keeps its own undo history until you close the tab or reload the page. In a synced graph, undo reverses only your own edits, never another person's typing. See Synced Graphs for more information.
  • Glossary
    • | synced graph | A graph that Managed Sync keeps encrypted. You can open it on each of your devices and share it with Players. You need Sync+ to own one. | Synced Graphs |
    • | Managed Sync | The Sync Server that EtherPK runs. You reach it by signing in with your EtherPK Account. | Synced Graphs |
    • | Sync Server | Managed Sync, the server that stores synced graphs. It never holds documents or graph names in plain text. | Synced Graphs |
    • | working copy | A copy of a synced graph in each browser that uses it, for opening quickly and working offline. | Synced Graphs |
  • Keeping A Local Copy Of A Synced Graph
  • Managing Your Graphs
    • The Graphs page has buttons for creating a graph, with a row below them for each of your graphs and its actions. See Local Graphs and Synced Graphs for more information on creating a graph.
  • PDFs: Reading, Annotating and More
    • Annotations, form values and PDF Bookmarks belong to one person. On a synced graph, your annotations and PDF Bookmarks follow you to your other devices, and EtherPK does not show them to the other members. If you annotate a PDF separately on two devices, you keep both sets. See Synced Graphs for more information.
  • Quick Notes
    • The list is part of the graph, so it survives a reload and goes wherever the graph goes. In a local graph the list is a file in the graph folder. A synced graph shows the same list on every device you open it on, and in a shared graph each person has their own list. See Synced Graphs and Sharing A Graph for more information.
  • Recovery Code And Device Approval
    • If the problem is on one device only, a reset will not fix it, because a reset deletes the keys for the whole account. Use Add to this device instead for a graph marked Not on this device (see Synced Graphs), or Unlock Encryption Keys for keys that stopped working here.
  • Running EtherPK On Your Own Computer
  • The Graph Sidebar
    • Only a synced graph has a sync status. Its row shows the status, plus a count such as "2 unsent" while some documents have changes the Sync Server has not received. Select the row to open a panel that explains the status in full and lists what you can do. See Synced Graphs for more information.
  • Titles Aliases And Frontmatter
    • When only the aliases differ, the note reads "Aliases here differ from “…”'s". Apply aliases sets the page's aliases to exactly the ones the block lists, so if the block has no aliases: line, it removes them all. Restore writes the page's aliases into the block instead. See Synced Graphs for more information.
  • Troubleshooting
  • Using AI Agents With Your Notes
    • An agent that runs entirely in the cloud cannot reach a synced graph, because the keys must be on the agent's own device. Before you begin, open EtherPK in a browser on any device, including the agent's own, and unlock the Encryption Keys, or have your Recovery Code ready. See Synced Graphs for more information.
  • Working Offline
    • A synced graph has its main copy on the Sync Server. Each device keeps its own copy of the documents it has synced, along with an encrypted copy of your Encryption Keys from the last time it read them there. With both on the device and your Encryption Keys unlocked, you can open, read, search and edit the graph with no connection. Wherever this page says no connection, that includes a Sync Server that is down or out of reach. See Synced Graphs for more information.