---
title: "Desktop app and sync"
description: "Keep a folder on your computer in step with a workspace, using the Mac app or the sync CLI."
canonical_url: "https://trytree.house/docs/desktop"
last_updated: "2026-09-29"
---

# Desktop app and sync

Keep a folder on your computer in step with a workspace, using the Mac app or the sync CLI.

A synced folder is the simplest way to work on a workspace from your own computer. It's an ordinary folder: edit files in any app, and anything on your machine that works with files, including coding agents like Claude Code, can use it too. Changes flow both ways within seconds.

On an Apple silicon Mac, the [desktop app](https://trytree.house/docs/desktop/install-the-desktop-app) sets it up without a terminal. On Windows, Linux and servers, use the [sync CLI](https://trytree.house/docs/desktop/sync-with-the-cli). Both run the same sync engine underneath.

## In this section

- [Install the desktop app](https://trytree.house/docs/desktop/install-the-desktop-app): Download Treehouse for Mac, sign in and pick a folder, and your workspace's files appear on your computer and stay in sync.
- [How sync works](https://trytree.house/docs/desktop/how-sync-works): What the sync engine does in the background, which files it skips, and how it protects your work when things go wrong.
- [Manage synced folders](https://trytree.house/docs/desktop/manage-synced-folders): Check sync status, pause, move or stop syncing a folder, add another workspace, and sign out, all from the Treehouse icon in your menu bar.
- [Sync a folder with the CLI](https://trytree.house/docs/desktop/sync-with-the-cli): Install the treehouse command-line tool to sync a folder on Windows, Linux, a server or any machine where the desktop app doesn't run.
- [Sync CLI reference](https://trytree.house/docs/desktop/cli-reference): Every treehouse command and flag, the files and environment variables the CLI reads, and the safety rules it follows while syncing.