Devonthink running smart rules with iMac locked?

So I have been using devonthink for a bit now and finally grasping just a small amount of what it can do. Also I am liking the easy ability to pull markdown out of DT and put in my indexed obsidian folder (specifically highlights converted to markdown and file specific annotations). I’m still not sold on obsidian, but I like the interoperability.

This all works great on the mac but I am mainly DTTG user throughout the day. You lose the power of smart rules and much of the automation this way. I have a free iMac (family iMac) that is on 24/7. It is usually in use, so I can’t just leave it up on DT all day. If I have my account “locked” so family can use it will DT still be able to run in the background?

Any specific settings I would need to adjust on the iMac (assuming turn off putting hard drives to sleep?)

Any easy way to sync automations/smart rules between my MacBook and iMac, or do these need to be created individually on both?

I would be open to any other options/suggestions to allow me to mainly use DTTG but still harness some of the DT smart rule power.

TIA

iOS/iPadOS ≠ macOS. There is much you can do on a Mac you can’t do on mobile, outside of just DEVONthink To Go.

If I have my account “locked” so family can use it will DT still be able to run in the background?

Yes, DEVONthink can run on a logged in but not active account.

Any easy way to sync automations/smart rules between my MacBook and iMac, or do these need to be created individually on both?

You can Control-click smart rules and choose Export. Then you can tranfer them to the other account.

What sync automations?

Thank you. I actually turned my laptop on dont turn off hard drive and set my smart rules to run every 1 minute just to try and things are working as I hoped. This essentially gives me the DEVONthink power while predominantly using DTTG. Very happy with this!

I plan to install on my iMac to keep this functionality. Do I need to set my hard drive to never turn off or will devonthink bring the computer up in the background to sync to the sync store. For example if I set DEVONthink to automatically sync (as it is now) will it at some interval pull/update from sync share and run my smart rules? If not would putting the sync share update to a scheduled time pull the computer from sleep?

-Excellent!

Example is adding an academic pdf from BrowZine to DTTG from iPadOS with a label. I then sync this. When it gets to DT on my Mac I have a smart rule that will find labeled files, run the find DOI script, remove label, and move to my “need to read” group in my academic reading database and tag it as appropriate. Then it syncs back to my sync store and when I see it on iPad it is properly titled and labeled. This isn’t really an automation (my basic mind and unfamiliarity with DT language here), but rather is a “sync to the sync store with smart rules running automatically.”

set my smart rules to run every 1 minute

Why is the interval set to run this often?
I would consider using a longer interval, e.g., hourly, if you don’t actually need to use that much overhead.

Do I need to set my hard drive to never turn off or will devonthink bring the computer up in the background to sync to the sync store.

I would keep the drive awake.

For example if I set DEVONthink to automatically sync (as it is now) will it at some interval pull/update from sync share and run my smart rules? If not would putting the sync share update to a scheduled time pull the computer from sleep?

If DEVONthink is running in the logged in but not active account, it will still receive and send sync notifications, running smart rules, as needed. Using a Bonjour sync on my network, I have just confirmed it’s working as expected.

This isn’t really an automation (my basic mind and unfamiliarity with DT language here), but rather is a “sync to the sync store with smart rules running automatically.”

Gotcha and no worries on the jargon :slight_smile:

I was just trialing it and didn’t want to wait an hour in between to see if it would sync (not actually leaving it on 1 minute).

I can put it on every few hours, but ideally would like a setting that runs just when there are new files added via DTTG and then synced. In my quick trials the “run on add” to a smart rule only triggers when files are imported into DT. Is there anyway to make it trigger when the sync store adds new files (aka when my DTTG files show up on DT?)

Use the After Synchronization event trigger.

Note: These things are documented in the Appendix > Smart Rule Events and Actions in the built-in Help and manual.

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Thank you. That is what I have tried but does not seem to reliably update. When I have it set on hourly schedule seems to more reliably run. Would I be better off changing my sync store synchronization to timed rather than automatically?

That is what I have tried but does not seem to reliably update.

On what basis are you determining this?

PS: Do not sit and try and watch it sync.

  1. Automatic still runs on an interval.
  2. That is not a real-world behavior. You’re not going to sit around and watch your devices when you have work tp do.

Any idea about how long the interval (Aka if it’s hours at a time and I have to leave my mac running and never sleep I would set it times).

Agreed. Was hoping for something more real time (aka within a few minutes so by time I’ve read PDF I can organize, tag and be done with it and have the DOI done all from IPad as I don’t have access to a mac at work). And I get that I could do this at home but doesn’t really help with “real world behavior” of getting it done. And the answer may just be DTTG just doesn’t currently have the power I am asking of it which is ok too.

Edit: To clarify I think DTTG is powerful, not as much as the ridiculous power of the Mac program. I am seeing lots of ways DTTG is helping my workflow. I may just be hoping for more than it has now, but I’m a new user, and reading through the forums and seeing all the positive changes for users over time is encouraging. Sounds like I can get a workflow to do what I want, just hoping in the future it may not require the middle man (aka the always on max). For the time being it works well!