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Grove Documentation

The internet was supposed to be a forest. Grove is taking it back.

What is Grove?

Grove is a distributed, encrypted file backup and sharing system. Your files live on hardware you trust — your own devices and those of people you choose — not in someone else's cloud.

Key principles:

Your data, your hardware — files are stored on devices you own or trust
Encrypted by default — ChaCha20-Poly1305 encryption, node operators can't read your files
Peer-to-peer — no central server, cells (nodes) sync directly
Self-healing — if a device goes offline, files automatically replicate to maintain safety

Documentation Index

Doc	Audience	Description
QUICKSTART.md	New users	Get running in 5 minutes
CONCEPTS.md	Everyone	Core concepts and terminology
USER-GUIDE.md	Users	Dashboard features and daily usage
API-REFERENCE.md	Developers/AI	Complete API endpoint reference
ARCHITECTURE.md	Developers/AI	How Grove works internally
ADMIN-GUIDE.md	Self-hosters	Deployment, systemd, relay, nginx
SHARING.md	Users	How sharing, grants, and feeds work
SECURITY.md	Everyone	Encryption, auth, trust model
TROUBLESHOOTING.md	Everyone	Common issues and fixes
FAQ.md	Everyone	Frequently asked questions

For GroveAI

These docs are structured so the Grove AI assistant can answer user questions accurately. Each doc uses clear headings, consistent terminology, and includes examples. When answering questions:

1. Check CONCEPTS.md for terminology

2. Check USER-GUIDE.md for "how do I..." questions

3. Check API-REFERENCE.md for technical/API questions

4. Check TROUBLESHOOTING.md for "it's not working" questions