In order for Pinax to run, several files are created and maintained on your local machine.

Core Files

bookmarks.json

Your bookmark data file containing all bookmarks, folders, and tags.

• Location: At default location (see below) or wherever you specify in Settings → Storage
• Can be synced: Yes, this is the file you’d sync across devices
• Format: JSON

settings.json

Application settings and preferences.

• Location: Must remain at app’s default platform-specific location:
  • macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/Pinax/settings.json
  • Windows: %APPDATA%\Pinax\settings.json
  • Linux: ~/.config/pinax/settings.json
• Can be synced: No, contains machine-specific settings
• Format: JSON

Cache Files

OG Image Cache

If you enable fetchWebImages in Settings, a cache folder is created to store Open Graph images.

• Location: og-cache/ subdirectory in platform-specific app data directory
  • macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/app.pinax.desktop/og-cache/
  • Windows: %APPDATA%\app.pinax.desktop\og-cache\
  • Linux: ~/.config/app.pinax.desktop/og-cache/
• Can be synced: No, each machine needs its own cache
• Contents: Images are compressed to save space
• Can be deleted: Yes, but images will be automatically re-downloaded if the setting stays enabled

Browser Extension Files

If you’re using the browser extensions, additional files are created:

config.json

Configuration file that tells the browser extension where your bookmarks file is located.

• Location: Platform-specific app data directory (same as OG Image Cache)
  • macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/app.pinax.desktop/config.json
  • Windows: %APPDATA%\app.pinax.desktop\config.json
  • Linux: ~/.config/app.pinax.desktop/config.json
• Can be synced: No, contains machine-specific paths
• Format: JSON
• Created by: Desktop app when you configure storage location
• Used by: Browser extensions to know where to save bookmarks

host.js

The native messaging host that enables browser extensions to communicate with the desktop app.

• Location: Same directory as settings.json (platform-specific app data directory)
• Created by: Browser extension installation script
• Can be synced: No, this is an executable file

What to Sync

If you’re syncing Pinax across multiple devices:

Sync:

• bookmarks.json - Your bookmark data

Don’t sync:

Pinax will handle creating these on each device

• settings.json - Machine-specific settings (in Pinax directory)
• config.json - Machine-specific paths (in app.pinax.desktop directory)
• host.js - Executable file (in Pinax directory)
• og-cache/ - Machine-specific image cache (in app.pinax.desktop directory)

More info on sync