Sharing with a friend

Carrel has two different connections: Devices pairs your own installations; People connects distinct readers. A friend should create their own identity.

What travels between readers

Each person keeps their own archive and identity. You exchange contact codes, compare public keys and explicitly follow each other. Carrel then exchanges chosen articles peer to peer, with relay connectivity where needed. There is no Carrel account or central service we operate.

A share carries the chosen article, its cached images and your share note. Your friend receives a copy they can read offline and annotate independently. Your personal highlights, notes, subscriptions and reading state stay private. Pairing your own desktops is a separate connection that can sync that private state; following a friend does not grant the same access.

Shares wait locally while a desktop is offline. Exchange retries while both apps are open; a locally saved share is not a delivery receipt.

Set up your identity

Open Settings → Devices → Set up sync, and choose your own recovery passphrase. Your master key stays encrypted on its originating desktop. Ordinary reading uses that desktop’s operational key. There is no account service or password-reset service.

If you already have your identity on another computer, use the one-time invitation flow in Devices to pair that installation. An invitation is for your own desktop and is cancelled when dismissed. Do not use it as a friend contact.

Add one person

Open Settings → People. Copy public key and Copy contact code let you exchange details directly. If clipboard access is unavailable, select the complete text and use ordinary Copy.

Paste the other person’s contact code, give them a local name, compare the full public key with the key they sent, and Follow. Each person follows the other. A bare key can be saved before the connection code arrives.

Send an article

In the reader, choose Share article. Select a person explicitly and add an optional note. Saving records the share locally; background exchange retries while both apps are open. A saved contact code or locally saved share does not by itself prove delivery. Receipt in Library → Shared with you does.

The chosen article, its cached images and the vouch note are shared. Your personal highlights, notes, reading state and subscriptions remain private. The recipient gets an archived article they can read offline and annotate independently.

Recover or stop a connection

People shows quiet connection errors and Try connection again. If an address changes, obtain a fresh contact code and review its public key before updating. The first flow uses one certified desktop per followed person; automatic friend-device rotation is future work.

People → Sent articles retains history, with Load older for earlier shares. Withdraw share retracts your vouch after exchange; it cannot erase a copy already received. Removing a person stops new exchange and preserves earlier archives. Assume a recipient can keep anything you deliberately send them.

For a practical trial, follow the two-desktop checklist, including offline reading, restart, withdrawal and private-note separation.