Sync & storage

AuroraDocs is local-first. The app keeps a local cache so you can keep working offline, then syncs when the selected storage mode has a remote or folder target.

Storage Modes

Mode	Account required	Best for
Browser storage	No	Trying AuroraDocs or keeping single-browser private notes
Offline folders	No, desktop-focused	Folder-backed work without AuroraCloud
Local folders	AuroraCloud for sync	A local folder copy plus AuroraCloud collaboration
AuroraCloud	Yes	Multi-device sync, collaboration, sharing, publishing, notifications, AI/RAG/MCP

Browser Storage

Browser storage keeps data in this browser profile's IndexedDB. It sends nothing to AuroraCloud and needs no account.

Use Browser storage to try the hosted app. Clearing browser/site storage can delete the workspace, so export or promote the workspace before relying on it as your only copy.

Upgrade paths:

• Save to Local folders: writes the workspace to a user-chosen folder when the browser supports the File System Access API.
• Enable AuroraCloud sync: signs in and uploads the browser workspace into AuroraCloud.

Signing out from Browser storage is non-destructive. It returns you to the sign-in screen while keeping the local workspace available behind Use without account.

AuroraCloud

AuroraCloud sync keeps local IndexedDB plus a hosted account copy. Offline edits queue locally and upload when the app reconnects. Use Sync now when you want to flush pending work manually.

AuroraCloud enables:

• multiple devices
• shared workspaces
• live editing
• comments/chat/notifications
• direct sharing, guest links, and publishing
• hosted AI, workspace retrieval, and MCP when available
• cloud-backed usage history

The sync indicator opens a compact panel for pending, uploading, failed, conflicted, delayed, or stuck work. Settings → Sync includes diagnostics, hydration troubleshooting, performance budgets, and recovery actions such as Recover stuck and Reset sync cursors.

Offline Folders

Offline folders are folder-backed workspaces without AuroraCloud. They are most useful in the desktop app. You can later promote an Offline folders workspace into Local folders without recreating the workspace.

Local Folders

Local folders keep a device-wide folder root with per-workspace subfolders. Owned workspaces can be enrolled automatically; shared workspaces stay off until enabled unless the owner allows offline downloads.

Local folders include:

• Aurora JSON workspace files
• optional Clean Markdown format/mirror files
• per-workspace settings snapshots
• a root-level aurora-device-settings.json portability snapshot
• non-secret AI, layout, calendar, plugin, and UI state

Aurora never writes passwords, API keys, OAuth tokens, recovery phrases, or similar secrets into the Local files root.

Aurora JSON And Clean Markdown

Aurora JSON is the native folder format. It preserves Aurora object structure and is the safest default.

Clean Markdown is a plaintext mode for supported Markdown body edits. Keep mirrored is export-only; Clean sync also imports supported Markdown edits back into Aurora for enrolled workspaces.

Aurora warns before enabling plaintext Markdown behavior for encrypted workspaces.

Read-Only Safe Mode

If Aurora loses write access to a folder-backed workspace, cannot reopen the folder, or the workspace owner disables offline downloads, Aurora switches affected folder-backed workspaces to read-only mode. Writes are blocked until you re-authorize the folder, restore the volume, or the owner re-enables offline downloads.

The desktop Recent file activity log and Desktop sync center show watcher events, skipped writes, queued folder sync work, and recovery actions.

Sync Conflicts

AuroraCloud workspaces merge normal queued edits in the background. Ambiguous conflicts surface in the sync panel.

Folder-backed workspaces are more conservative. If the same object is edited in multiple sessions or changed externally at the same time, Aurora can pause the import/write and ask you to keep the local version or apply the folder version.

Backups

Use AuroraBak for native restore. Use Markdown/HTML export only when you intentionally want readable plaintext files. See Import & export.