KeepGlide

KeepGlide for desktop Guide

Connect Google Drive

KeepGlide for desktop is free for Linux (x86_64). Windows, macOS and Android are in production. Paid licenses are not open yet. Setup has two parts: six steps in the Google Cloud console, then five steps in the app. In Sync mode, your Markdown notes and PDFs live in your Google Drive and in a folder on this computer, kept in step; in Cloud mode, they live in your Google Drive, and this computer keeps a read cache. By default, a note edited on both sides is merged into one note; when the edits overlap, or the file is not a note, the app keeps both versions and the other one goes to a _conflicts folder.

Local mode needs no account at all. If you only want your files on this computer, choose Local folder only and you can skip the rest of this page.

The five steps in 16 seconds. Simplified drawings, not screen recordings.

Choose a mode

Each computer picks its own mode in Settings > This machine and the vault, so one computer can sync while another stays local.

Local mode is free. When paid licenses open, a license will add Sync and Cloud: US$19, one-time. Without a license, Settings offers Local mode only.

Cloud (“Everything in the cloud”)

Notes and PDFs live in your Google Drive. The app reads and writes them there and keeps a read cache on this computer and, for PDFs, the edits not yet uploaded. This mode needs the Google Drive connection.

Sync (“Sync to a local folder”)

Files live in a folder on this computer and in your Google Drive, and changes are carried between them. Changes made without a connection wait on this computer and are sent when the connection returns.

Local (“Local folder only”)

Files stay on this computer. No account, no network and no Google Drive setup.

With a license, the first-run setup offers the same three choices under the names Local folder only, Google Drive and Local folder and Drive.

Before you start

KeepGlide for desktop runs on your computer and has no KeepGlide cloud service; your notes go only to your own Google Drive, so the app asks you to create your own connection once, in the Google Cloud console.

Create a Desktop app client there and download its JSON file. Console names and positions can change; look for these labels.

  1. Create a project, for example named KeepGlide, and make sure it is the selected project.
  2. Enable the Google Drive API for that project with Enable. This turns the API on; it does not by itself allow access to your files.
  3. Configure the consent screen: an app name, a support email, and the External audience for a personal account.
  4. Under Data Access, add the Google Drive scope for the access level you will use, and save: .../auth/drive for Full access (the default) or .../auth/drive.file for Restricted access (see What the app can access). The app does not request mail access.
  5. For continuous personal use, select Publish app and confirm In production. If you leave the app in Testing, only the accounts listed under Test users can connect, so add your own Google account there, and the authorization expires in 7 days (see Troubleshooting).
  6. Under Clients, select Create client, choose Desktop app, and download the JSON file when it is created. Keep it private. Web application clients are rejected.

Connect in five steps

The illustrations show the Settings version. The first-run setup asks the same questions with its own buttons. In Settings, the Google Drive section also offers Open the step-by-step guide, which opens the app's own tutorial in a tab.

  1. Import client JSON

    In Settings > This machine and the vault, pick Sync or Cloud to show the Google Drive section. Then select Import client JSON and choose the Desktop app file you downloaded. In the first-run setup the button is Import JSON. Importing does not connect your account yet.

  2. Connect Google Drive

    Select Connect Google Drive. Sign-in opens in your default browser, and the app waits here: Finish the authorization in the browser and come back to this window.

    If you see a warning, check your own project's name and permissions before you continue.

  3. Allow access in the browser

    Choose the account whose Google Drive files hold your vault. If the browser shows that the app hasn't been verified, continue through Advanced only when the project is the one you created; publishing your own project does not remove this warning.

    Review the Google Drive access permission and allow it. The browser then returns to the app.

  4. Test connection

    Back in the app, select Test connection. When it passes you see Connection tested. Google Drive is ready.

    If the permission was not granted, the app says so and offers Reconnect and allow Drive.

  5. Choose the folder on Google Drive

    Once the test passes, select Choose on Drive…, pick the vault folder in the picker and confirm with Use this folder. In the first-run setup the button is Choose folder on Drive and, if the test has not passed yet, the app asks you to test the connection first.

    In Sync mode, also choose the folder on this computer with Choose folder…. In every mode, select Apply on this machine to save the mode. In the first-run setup the buttons are Choose local folder, then See shortcuts to go on, and the mode is saved when you select Start using it at the end.

What the app can access

The app asks only for Google Drive file access. It never requests access to your email inbox. Your Google password never goes to the app: you sign in on Google's own page.

Full access (default)

The app can see all of your Google Drive files, so the folder picker can list the folders you already have.

Restricted access (optional)

The app sees only the files it creates or opens. The trade-off: the folder picker stops listing folders the app has not touched. The access level is an advanced option: the drive_scope key in the app's configuration file, keepglide.json. It is not a control in Settings; changing it asks you to allow access again.

The saved authorization stays on this computer. Disconnecting removes it.

Working offline

How the app behaves without a connection depends on the mode you chose.

Cloud (“Everything in the cloud”)

Reads and writes go straight to Google Drive, so this mode needs the connection. This computer keeps a read cache, and PDF edits you have not uploaded wait in a pending cache until the upload is confirmed.

Sync (“Sync to a local folder”)

Works offline. Changes wait in a queue on this computer and are sent when the connection returns.

Local (“Local folder only”)

Needs no network, because no account is involved.

Disconnect

In the Google Drive section of Settings, select Disconnect. The app asks you to confirm: Remove this app's access to Google Drive on this machine? When it is done, it shows Disconnected.

Disconnecting removes the saved authorization on this machine only. Your files in Google Drive are not deleted. To revoke the app's access everywhere, use the third-party connections page of your Google Account.

Troubleshooting

The connection stops working after 7 days

Apps in the Testing publishing status get refresh tokens that expire after seven days (Google OAuth documentation). For continuous personal use, publish your app in the Google Cloud console (Publish app, then In production), then select Connect Google Drive to get a new authorization. Publishing avoids the Testing expiry, but it does not guarantee permanent tokens, and it does not verify the app, so the warning can still appear.

The app says the permission was not granted

Returning to the app without the Google Drive access permission leaves the connection incomplete. Select Reconnect and allow Drive, allow the permission in the browser, and then run Test connection again.

The app rejects my client file

The app accepts only Desktop app clients; a Web application client is rejected. Create a client of type Desktop app in the Google Cloud console, download its JSON when it is created, and import that file. If the downloaded file has no secret, create a new Desktop app client and download that one.

Test connection fails

Check that the Google Drive API is enabled in the project that owns your client, and that this computer is online. Then run Test connection again.

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