Start/Bring an existing graph

• Bring an existing graph
  • Tine works directly on the same Markdown/Org files as Logseq — no import, no export, no lock-in. This Direct files mode is the normal mode; the separate Testing only storage & sync opt-in is documented at Features/Managed sync.
• Open your graph
  • 1. On the Welcome screen, choose Open an existing graph and pick the graph's top-level folder — usually the one containing pages/, journals/, and logseq/.
  • 2. Later, use the graph-name menu at the top of the left sidebar → Open graph…, or Settings (t s) → Graph → Open another graph…. Graphs you have opened appear in the same sidebar menu for one-click switching.
  • 3. From the command line, tine /path/to/graph (or TINE_GRAPH=/path/to/graph) opens a graph directly.
  • 4. What you should see: the same pages and journals Logseq finds. Existing Markdown and Org pages may be at the graph root or in nested folders, not only under pages/ and journals/.
• What Tine reads
  • The usual layout is pages/, journals/, assets/, and logseq/config.edn, but Tine also finds eligible .md, .markdown, and .org pages elsewhere inside the graph.
  • Root-level and nested pages are named from their file names and save back to their exact existing paths. Tine skips hidden/internal trees, assets, publish output, and sync-provider conflict copies.
  • Your journal settings are honored: Tine reads the journal date formats from config.edn, so old files are recognized and new journals are created in your format.
  • An Org file Tine cannot reproduce byte-for-byte opens read-only rather than being rewritten imperfectly.
• What Tine writes
  • Edits save automatically into the same file each page came from, preserving that file's exact formatting; files with no changes are not rewritten.
  • New pages and journals are ordinary .md or .org files in the configured pages and journals folders (Settings → Editor → File format chooses what new files use).
  • A Tine view (grid, table, board) attaches harmless tine.* properties to its own block; Logseq shows them as ordinary property lines — see Features/Sheets.
• Coexisting with other tools
  • While Tine is open, it watches the files, so changes made by Logseq, another editor, or a sync tool appear automatically.
  • Avoid editing the same graph in two apps at once. A second Tine window on the same graph is refused; concurrent edits across other apps or devices are handled as conflicts, not assumed safe.
  • If a page changes on disk while you have unsaved edits, Tine overwrites nothing — a banner offers Use disk version and Keep mine (overwrite). The mechanics are in Reference/Files, external edits, and backups.
  • Syncthing and Dropbox keep working on the folder as before; Tine detects their conflict copies and helps you merge them — also in Reference/Files, external edits, and backups.
• First safety checks
  • 1. Confirm you opened the graph root: Settings (t s) → Graph shows the current graph path. In a standard Logseq graph, this is the folder containing pages/, journals/, and logseq/config.edn.
  • 2. Skim Reference/Files, external edits, and backups now — know where snapshots, conflict copies, and the trash live before you need them.
  • 3. What you should see: no conflict banner, your existing pages in their original locations, and edits from Tine landing in the same files Logseq reads.
• Where next
  • Start/Where things are maps the page, sidebars, tabs, and Settings and Help you will meet on the way; Workflows/Capture and plan your day starts the journal-first daily flow.