FAQ

The basics

Is Tisty free? Yes, and it stays free. AGPL-3.0, no paid tier, no feature held back, no trial that runs out. Commercial terms exist only for organisations that cannot comply with the AGPL.

Does it need an account or a connection? Neither. Tisty makes one request you did not ask for — to see whether a newer version exists — and sends nothing to ask it. Take the machine off the network and everything else works the same. See Privacy.

Where is my data kept? In one folder on your own disk. Settings › Your data prints the path and Show the store opens it. See Installation.

What happens to my notes if Tisty disappears? They stay where they are: Markdown and plain text, readable with cat, searchable with grep, openable in any editor.

Is my data encrypted? No, by decision: your operating system’s permissions are the protection, and the files stay readable with tools you already have. PRIVACY.md explains why.

Can I use it with my team? No. Tisty is for one person by design — no assignees, no permissions, no boards.

Is there a mobile app? Linux? No mobile app: Tisty is a desktop program for Windows and macOS. Your documents are Markdown in a folder, so a phone that reaches that folder can read and edit them with any app. There is no Linux build today; nothing in the design stands in the way, but the packaging and someone to maintain it are missing.

Does it work with a screen reader? Not as far as anybody knows. The whole window works from the keyboard and that path is tested, but it has never been tried with a real screen reader. If you use one, an issue saying where it falls apart would be very welcome.

AI and assistants

Does Tisty use AI? No, and none is coming. The natural language is rules on your machine. If you use an assistant of your own, Tisty leaves an MCP door — you open it, and you can close it.

An assistant says one of its tasks is done. Did it close it? No. Nothing an assistant does closes a task. It marks it, with its account in the journal, and the task waits under To confirm until you decide. See What an assistant may do.

Can an assistant write over a document I am working on? Only over the version it read. To replace a whole document it must send back the print of the text it read; if you wrote in between, nothing is written and it has to read again. What it replaced is kept, and the window offers to put the document back — only when that copy is exactly one write back, the only time it can do what it says. If you try to save over a change you had not seen, it asks which one stands.

Documents

Can I bring my notes over from another app? Documents, yes: Import a document takes .md, .markdown or .txt, one at a time, and a .tistyx from another Tisty unpacks whole. Tasks have to be typed.

A document opened read-only and I did not ask for that. It is archived, a page of it (or its document) is archived, or it holds Markdown the editor cannot write back safely — front matter, footnotes, reference links, HTML. The bar at the foot says which, and offers to convert it. See The Markdown editor.

Do diagrams and formulas need the internet? No. Both are drawn by code inside Tisty: nothing is fetched, no font is loaded from anywhere, and they work with the network unplugged. Both stay Markdown that GitHub draws too. See Diagrams (Mermaid) and Math.

Why does my table’s column width survive, and where does it live? In how long the rule under the header is drawn. See Tables.

Sync

Can I use it on two computers? Yes, through a folder you already sync. See Sync and backup.

I changed something on one machine and it is not on the other. Almost always the cloud program is not running, is paused, or does not sync that folder. The full checklist is in Sync and backup.

Can I sync through Google Drive without Google’s program? Yes, since 1.30: Settings › Syncing › Your cloud service › Google Drive › Connect. Tisty asks only for a hidden space of its own in your Drive, sees nothing else there, and tells you on its card when something is wrong. What each message means is in Sync and backup.

Where are my copies in Google Drive, and how do I delete them? In a hidden space of your Drive that only Tisty opens. Disconnecting keeps them, and so does Disconnect from Drive in Google Drive › Settings › Manage apps, which only withdraws Tisty’s access. Only Delete hidden app data there, or Delete my copies in Google Drive for good in Tisty, deletes them — and that space has no bin.

One of my machines stopped syncing after an update. Update the one that is behind. A machine only reads what it understands, so the two stop syncing in both directions until they agree. Nothing is lost, and what you write meanwhile stays on that machine.

Comparing

How is it different from Obsidian, Notion or Todoist? Tisty keeps tasks and documents in one store and one search, and finishing a task keeps everything it gathered instead of hiding it. The README has a comparison table that also says where each of the others is stronger.