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Getting Started with FlexVault Desktop

FlexVault Desktop provides a graphical interface for browsing project history, inspecting file changes, and syncing with your team. It includes a background monitor called FlexVault Agent that records snapshots of your files automatically as you work.

This guide walks through installing the desktop suite, opening a workspace, and sharing changes with teammates.

Install FlexVault Desktop

Download FlexVault for Windows

Download and run FlexVaultSetup.exe. The installer sets up FlexVault for your Windows user account without requiring administrator permissions.

By default, the setup wizard installs the complete desktop suite:

  • FlexVault Desktop: The visual application for viewing history, comparing file changes, and publishing updates.
  • FlexVault Agent: A lightweight background service in your system tray that takes automatic draft snapshots while you work.
  • fxv CLI: The core engine powering snapshots and synchronization.

The setup wizard adds desktop and Start menu shortcuts, and configures the agent to start when you log in to Windows.

Windows Defender and SmartScreen warnings

Because release binaries and installers are newly published, Windows Defender or SmartScreen may display a warning ("Windows protected your PC") when running FlexVaultSetup.exe. Click More info and then Run anyway to proceed.

Open your project workspace

After installation completes, launch FlexVault Desktop from your Start menu or desktop shortcut.

FlexVault manages files inside a workspace, which is a local folder linked to a shared FlexVault repository.

If your team already has a repository:

  1. Open FlexVault Desktop.
  2. Select Open Workspace and browse to your project directory.
  3. The app displays your current branch, workspace status, and revision history.

If you work inside Unity, you can also use the FlexVault Unity Plugin to manage assets directly in the editor.

Work with automatic snapshots

With FlexVault, you do not need to remember to stage or commit files while you work.

The FlexVault Agent runs quietly in your Windows notification area (system tray). When you save changes in your 3D modeling tool, game engine, or code editor, the agent detects modified files and saves a local draft revision in the background.

  • Your work is protected against accidental overwrites or crashes without cluttering the team's shared history.
  • You can inspect recent snapshots at any time in the Drafts panel in FlexVault Desktop.

Review changes and diffs

When you are ready to check your work:

  1. In FlexVault Desktop, look at the Draft Files panel to see a list of modified, added, or deleted files.
  2. Select any file to inspect differences against the previous revision.
  3. You can filter the file list by path or status to review specific assets before publishing.

Publish changes to your team

When your work is ready for teammates to see, promote your local drafts into a published revision:

  1. In the status bar at the top of FlexVault Desktop, verify your changed files.
  2. Enter a clear description summarizing your updates (for example, Update character model textures).
  3. Click Publish.

FlexVault validates your changes, uploads new file contents to the repository, and creates an immutable published revision visible to everyone on your team.

Sync updates from teammates

As other team members publish changes, FlexVault Desktop indicates when your local workspace is behind the repository head.

  1. Click Sync in the toolbar.
  2. FlexVault downloads the latest published files and updates your workspace.
  3. If you have unpublished local drafts in progress, FlexVault automatically rebases your work on top of the latest team revisions.

If an incoming change conflicts with a file you modified, FlexVault flags the conflict so you can choose whether to keep your version or accept the incoming version.

Next steps