Installation

Installation

Prerequisites

Daemon only

• Python 3.12+

UI (optional)

• Node.js 18+ and npm

• Rust toolchain — install via rustup

• System libraries for Tauri:

  Distro	Packages
  Fedora	webkit2gtk4.1-devel gtk3-devel libayatana-appindicator-gtk3-devel
  Ubuntu/Debian	libwebkit2gtk-4.1-dev libgtk-3-dev libayatana-appindicator3-dev
  Arch	webkit2gtk-4.1 gtk3 libayatana-appindicator

Manual Installation

1. Clone the repository

git clone https://github.com/ciberkids/cloud-drive-sync.git
cd cloud-drive-sync

2. Install the daemon

cd daemon

# Create a virtual environment
python3 -m venv .venv

# Install the daemon and all its dependencies
.venv/bin/pip install -e .

# (Optional) Install dev/test dependencies too
.venv/bin/pip install -e ".[dev]"

Verify the installation:

.venv/bin/python -m gdrive_sync --help

3. Install the UI

cd ui

# Install JavaScript dependencies
npm install

# (Optional) Verify Tauri compiles
npm run tauri build

The compiled binary will be at ui/src-tauri/target/release/gdrive-sync-ui.

Running

Start the daemon

The daemon must be running before the UI can connect to it.

cd daemon

# Foreground (see logs in terminal)
.venv/bin/python -m gdrive_sync --log-level debug start --foreground

# Background (daemonize)
.venv/bin/python -m gdrive_sync start

# Check status
.venv/bin/python -m gdrive_sync status

# Stop
.venv/bin/python -m gdrive_sync stop

On first launch without existing credentials, the daemon starts and waits for authentication. Connect via the UI and click Sign in with Google on the Account page.

Start the UI

In a separate terminal:

cd ui

# Development mode (hot-reload)
npm run tauri dev

# Or run a release build directly
./src-tauri/target/release/gdrive-sync-ui

The UI connects to the daemon via a Unix socket at $XDG_RUNTIME_DIR/gdrive-sync.sock (typically /run/user/1000/gdrive-sync.sock).

Run as a systemd service

To start the daemon automatically on login:

# Install the service
mkdir -p ~/.config/systemd/user
cp installer/gdrive-sync-daemon.service ~/.config/systemd/user/
systemctl --user daemon-reload
systemctl --user enable --now gdrive-sync-daemon

# Check logs
journalctl --user -u gdrive-sync-daemon -f

# Uninstall
systemctl --user disable --now gdrive-sync-daemon
rm ~/.config/systemd/user/gdrive-sync-daemon.service
systemctl --user daemon-reload

Note: The systemd service expects the daemon binary at ~/.local/bin/gdrive-sync-daemon. You can create a symlink:

mkdir -p ~/.local/bin
ln -sf "$(pwd)/daemon/.venv/bin/python -m gdrive_sync" ~/.local/bin/gdrive-sync-daemon

Or create a wrapper script:

cat > ~/.local/bin/gdrive-sync-daemon << 'EOF'
#!/bin/sh
exec /path/to/gdrive-sync/daemon/.venv/bin/python -m gdrive_sync "$@"
EOF
chmod +x ~/.local/bin/gdrive-sync-daemon

Configuration

The daemon reads ~/.config/gdrive-sync/config.toml (created automatically on first run):

[general]
log_level = "info"

[sync]
poll_interval = 30
conflict_strategy = "keep_both"
max_concurrent_transfers = 4
debounce_delay = 1.0

[[sync.pairs]]
local_path = "/home/user/Documents"
remote_folder_id = "root"
enabled = true
sync_mode = "two_way"
ignore_hidden = true

You can also configure sync pairs through the UI Settings page.

See the Daemon page for the full configuration reference.

Testing

cd daemon

# Run all tests
.venv/bin/pytest -v

# Run integration tests only (uses demo mode, no Google credentials)
.venv/bin/pytest -v -m integration