Desktop app
Relay for the desktop is the same workspace as the browser, with your computer’s disk underneath it. Files open from where they are without being copied into browser storage, and folders you point it at upload themselves.
Installing
Section titled “Installing”Download from relaysci.com/download:
- macOS (Apple silicon)
- Windows 10 and 11 (64-bit), as an installer
- Linux as an AppImage, which updates itself, or a Debian/Ubuntu package
The first time you start Relay on Windows you may see “Windows protected your PC”. Choose More info, then Run anyway.
The app updates itself, so the download page is for your first install or for going back to an earlier version. Release notes for each version are on the same page.
What it adds
Section titled “What it adds”Local Disk is your real disk. Drop a folder and every file in it is available at once; nothing is uploaded until you ask.
Watched folders. Settings → Desktop app → Watched folders lets you pick a folder — an instrument’s output directory, say — and every new file that appears in it uploads to Relay Drive on its own. For each watched folder you set:
- Destination in Relay Drive — a path, created if it does not exist.
- Upload only these and Ignore these — patterns such as
**/*.tif, one per line. Partial files, lock files and dotfiles are ignored by default. - Keep the folder structure — on by default.
A file is uploaded once, and only after it has stopped changing for a few seconds, so a recording still being written is left alone. If you are signed out, files queue and upload when you sign in.