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Installing Rowboat

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Download

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Platform-specific installation

~/.rowboat/
  knowledge/        # Your knowledge graph (Markdown)
  config/           # Model and integration configs
  gmail_sync/       # Synced email data
  google_calendar/  # Calendar events
  logs/             # Application logs

C:\Users\<YourUsername>\.rowboat\
  knowledge\        # Your knowledge graph (Markdown)
  config\           # Model and integration configs
  gmail_sync\       # Synced email data
  google_calendar\  # Calendar events
  logs\             # Application logs

sudo dpkg -i rowboat_*.deb
sudo apt-get install -f  # Install dependencies if needed

~/.rowboat/
  knowledge/        # Your knowledge graph (Markdown)
  config/           # Model and integration configs
  gmail_sync/       # Synced email data
  google_calendar/  # Calendar events
  logs/             # Application logs

sudo apt-get remove rowboat

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Google setup

1

Create Google Cloud project

1. Go to Google Cloud Console
2. Click Create Project
3. Enter a project name (e.g., “Rowboat Integration”)
4. Click Create
5. Select the new project from the dropdown

2

Enable required APIs

Enable these three APIs:

1. Gmail API - Click Enable
2. Google Calendar API - Click Enable
3. Google Drive API - Click Enable

3

Configure OAuth consent screen

1. Go to OAuth consent screen
2. Choose External as audience type
3. Fill in:
   • App name: Rowboat (or your preferred name)
   • User support email: Your email address
   • Contact email: Your email address
4. Click Save and Continue through all steps

You do NOT need to publish the app. Keeping it in Testing mode is completely fine for personal use.

4

Add test users

Since your app is in Testing mode, you must manually add authorized users.

1. Go to Test users
2. Click Add Users
3. Enter the email address you’ll connect with Rowboat
4. Click Save

5

Create OAuth Client ID

1. Go to Credentials
2. Click Create Credentials → OAuth Client ID
3. For Application type, select: Universal Windows Platform (UWP)
4. Enter:
   • Name: Rowboat Desktop (or any name)
   • Store ID: test (or any value)
5. Click Create

6

Copy the Client ID

After creation, Google shows your credentials:

• Client ID - Copy this
• Client Secret - Not needed

Paste the Client ID into Rowboat when prompted during setup.

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Optional features

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Voice notes

1. Sign up at deepgram.com
2. Get an API key from your Deepgram console
3. Create config file:
   # macOS/Linux
   mkdir -p ~/.rowboat/config
   echo '{"apiKey": "YOUR_KEY_HERE"}' > ~/.rowboat/config/deepgram.json
   
   # Windows
   New-Item -Path "$env:USERPROFILE\.rowboat\config" -ItemType Directory -Force
   '{"apiKey": "YOUR_KEY_HERE"}' | Out-File -FilePath "$env:USERPROFILE\.rowboat\config\deepgram.json"
   

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Web search with Brave

1. Get a Brave Search API key from brave.com/search/api
2. Create config file:
   # macOS/Linux
   echo '{"apiKey": "YOUR_BRAVE_KEY"}' > ~/.rowboat/config/brave-search.json
   
   # Windows  
   '{"apiKey": "YOUR_BRAVE_KEY"}' | Out-File -FilePath "$env:USERPROFILE\.rowboat\config\brave-search.json"
   

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Research search with Exa

1. Get an Exa API key from exa.ai
2. Create config file:
   # macOS/Linux
   echo '{"apiKey": "YOUR_EXA_KEY"}' > ~/.rowboat/config/exa-search.json
   
   # Windows
   '{"apiKey": "YOUR_EXA_KEY"}' | Out-File -FilePath "$env:USERPROFILE\.rowboat\config\exa-search.json"
   

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Model configuration

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Example configurations

{
  "provider": {
    "flavor": "openai",
    "apiKey": "sk-..."
  },
  "model": "gpt-4o"
}

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Verification

1. Check data directory exists:
   # macOS/Linux
   ls -la ~/.rowboat/
   
   # Windows
   dir %USERPROFILE%\.rowboat\
   
2. Verify knowledge folder was created:
   # macOS/Linux
   ls ~/.rowboat/knowledge/
   
   # Windows
   dir %USERPROFILE%\.rowboat\knowledge\
   
   You should see:
   • Welcome.md
   • People/
   • Projects/
   • Organizations/
   • Topics/
3. Check logs for errors:
   # macOS/Linux
   tail -f ~/.rowboat/logs/main.log
   

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Troubleshooting

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App won’t launch

• Right-click → Open (don’t double-click first time)
• Check Security & Privacy settings if blocked

• Run as Administrator if permissions error
• Check Windows Defender hasn’t quarantined the app

• Ensure AppImage is executable: chmod +x Rowboat-*.AppImage
• Install required dependencies: sudo apt-get install libfuse2

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Google OAuth fails

• Verify you added yourself as a test user
• Check that all three APIs (Gmail, Calendar, Drive) are enabled
• Ensure you created a UWP client type, not “Desktop app”
• Try revoking access at myaccount.google.com/permissions and re-authorizing

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Knowledge graph not building

• Check that Gmail sync completed (look in ~/.rowboat/gmail_sync/)
• Verify model configuration is valid in ~/.rowboat/config/models.json
• Review logs in ~/.rowboat/logs/ for errors
• The graph builder runs every 30 seconds - give it a few minutes after first sync

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Voice memos not transcribing

• Verify Deepgram API key is correct in ~/.rowboat/config/deepgram.json
• Check you have recording permissions enabled for Rowboat
• Review logs for transcription errors

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Next steps