Windows Desktop App

The Stoa desktop app for Windows wraps the full web experience with native OS integrations like the system tray, native authentication, file sync, notifications, and more. Everything you can do in the browser works identically in the desktop app, with additional features that leverage Windows.

Installation

Download the latest .appinstaller from the Stoa releases page. Double-clicking the file launches Windows App Installer, which fetches and installs the signed MSIX package.

Requirements: Windows 10 version 1809 or later, or Windows 11.

Native Authentication

The desktop app uses Windows-native authentication:

• OAuth flow via the system browser where your default browser handles sign-in
• Credential Manager storage keeps your authentication tokens stored securely in Windows Credential Manager
• Automatic token refresh so you stay signed in across app restarts
• JWT tokens passed to the web view via secure cookies

You never need to sign in through the web view. Authentication is handled natively before the workspace loads.

System Tray

A persistent system tray icon provides quick access without switching to the main window:

What It Shows

• Active sessions showing which Spaces have live sessions
• Participant names for each session
• Live indicators for active sessions
• Unread badges with notification count for share notifications

Quick Actions

• Left-click the tray icon to open a rich panel for browsing workspaces
• Right-click for a context menu with live Spaces, Open Stoa, Preferences, and Quit
• The icon changes to indicate unread notifications or live sessions

Local File Sync

The desktop app keeps your Stoa teams and projects mirrored on disk at %USERPROFILE%\Stoa\ (typically C:\Users\<you>\Stoa\). Edit files in the editor of your choice and changes flow back to the live Stoa workspace; edits made in Stoa appear locally within seconds.

Enable sync

1. Open Settings with Ctrl+, (or system tray → Preferences) and select the Sync tab.
2. Toggle Sync enabled at the top.
3. All teams and projects sync by default. To limit scope, expand any team under Teams & Projects and turn off the projects you don't want mirrored locally.

Under Sync Enabled, a status line shows whether the sync service is running. Each project shows its own state (Running, Starting, Cloning, and so on) with any error messages inline.

What gets synced

Synced content lives under %USERPROFILE%\Stoa\<team>\<project>\. All files in a project (text and binary) sync by default, except anything filtered out by that project's .stoaignore file.

The root directory (%USERPROFILE%\Stoa\) is fixed; there is no folder picker. Scope is controlled entirely by which teams and projects are enabled in the Sync tab. New projects created in the workspace appear automatically; deleted projects are removed.

How sync works

Sync is bidirectional. Local changes push to Stoa, and remote changes pull down automatically. Concurrent edits to the same file — whether made in Stoa, on another device, or in your editor — merge without conflicts, and full edit history and provenance is preserved across both sides.

A background service watches your %USERPROFILE%\Stoa\ directory and maintains a live connection to Stoa, started automatically at sign-in via Windows Task Scheduler. If you quit the app, sleep, or restart your PC, the service resumes and catches up on any changes made while it was offline.

Disabling sync

Turn off Sync enabled in the Sync tab to stop syncing across all projects. Your local files stay on disk but stop updating until sync is re-enabled. You can also leave global sync on and disable sync for individual projects independently.

Camera and Microphone

The desktop app handles Windows permission prompts natively:

• Camera access is prompted when you first enable your camera in a call
• Microphone access is prompted when you first join a voice call
• Default camera, microphone, and speaker devices can be selected in Settings → Audio & Video

Notifications

Session events trigger native Windows toast notifications:

• Action Center integration
• Banner-style alerts
• Click a notification to bring the app to the foreground and jump to the relevant session

Deep Linking

Stoa URLs using the stoa-desktop:// protocol open directly in the desktop app when it's installed:

• Click a session invite link and it opens in the app instead of the browser
• Authentication callback links route back into the app
• Works with all Stoa URLs

Settings

The desktop app includes a native settings panel:

What's Next