Sync a collection to a folder on your Mac

Folder sync turns a collection into a folder of Markdown files on your Mac, kept in step both ways. Write in whatever editor you like, point a coding agent at the folder, or drop in files from another tool, and the memos update in Fieldwerk. Edit a memo in Fieldwerk and the file updates. When both change at once, nothing is overwritten: Fieldwerk keeps both and asks you which to keep.

Folder sync comes with the Fieldwerk Mac app. The Mac app is in preview. To ask for access, email team@fieldwerk.ai.

Set up a folder

1. Open the Mac app's Settings… and choose Sync.

2. If asked, click Sign in to connect this Mac.

3. Under Collections, pick the collection to sync.

4. Under Folder on this Mac, click Choose… and pick a folder.

5. Click Start syncing.

Each collection can sync to its own folder. Use Open to show a folder in Finder, or Change… to pick a different one.

A good habit is to sync the collection your tools work in most, such as a client's memos or a project's specs, and leave the rest in the browser.

Keep syncing in the background

Turn on Keep syncing when Fieldwerk is closed under Background. Sync then runs whenever you're logged in to your Mac, even with the app closed, so a file saved at any time reaches Fieldwerk.

See a file's state in Finder

After each sync, files in the folder carry a Finder tag when something needs attention: red Conflict when both sides changed, orange Not synced when a local edit hasn't been accepted yet, grey Skipped for a file you've excluded. Tags clear when the state does, and tags you applied yourself are never touched.

When both sides changed

If a memo changed in Fieldwerk and in the folder since they last matched, nothing is overwritten. The menu bar icon shows how many changes need you, and the Needs your decision window explains each one. Click Compare versions to see Yours beside the Remote copy, then choose:

• Keep mine: your file becomes the memo. The Fieldwerk version stays in the memo's history.

• Keep remote: the Fieldwerk version replaces your file. Your copy goes to the Mac's Trash.

• Keep both: your file becomes the memo and the Fieldwerk version becomes a separate memo.

When files are deleted from the folder

If several files disappear from the folder at once, Fieldwerk holds the deletions and asks first. Choose Keep them to bring the files back on the next sync, or Delete in Fieldwerk to move the memos to trash, where they can still be restored.

Use the command line

The app includes a fieldwerk command for the terminal, so sync can run on a machine with no window open, or inside a script. It lives inside the app and isn't added to your PATH; link it once:

ln -s /Applications/Fieldwerk.app/Contents/MacOS/fieldwerk /usr/local/bin/fieldwerk

Only one sync runs at a time per folder. If the app is already syncing it, a second fieldwerk watch says so and stops.

To keep a collection in a GitHub repo instead, see Sync a collection with a GitHub repo.