20 min read Updated 19 October 2026

Auto Sync Documentation

Complete guide to installing, configuring, and using Auto Sync to orchestrate Sync with Central across your workshared Revit models.

Supported Revit Versions

• Revit 2022
• Revit 2023
• Revit 2024
• Revit 2025
• Revit 2026
• Revit 2027

Installation

After updating, reopen Revit and check About Auto Sync in the tray menu. The current release shows 2.0.7. If it still shows an older version, close every Revit session and install the current download for the Revit year you are using, then reopen Revit.

Install the update over your existing Auto Sync installation. Version 2.0.7 preserves existing activation and offline-licence bindings while improving machine identification across supported Revit versions. A paid seat covers one activated PC, including its supported Revit versions. Keep your saved licence files when updating; you do not need to deactivate first.

Quick Start Guide

Choose a sync mode, then configure the shared folder if you are using Auto Sync with a team.

1. Confirm the Tray Icon is Active

After installing, the Auto Sync icon appears in your system tray (bottom-right of the Windows taskbar). The colour tells you the current state:

• Teal - idle / monitoring, all clear
• Blue - sync in progress
• Amber - queued, waiting for clear path
• Red - last sync failed

2. Choose a Sync Mode

Right-click the tray icon → Settings. Pick one of two modes:

• Scheduled Sync - sync at a fixed interval (15 / 30 / 60 / 120 minutes)
• Sync on Idle - sync after a configurable period of inactivity (2 / 5 / 10 / 15 / 30 minutes)

3. Connect Your Team

For cross-PC queueing and team status, install 2.0.7 on every participating PC and set Settings → Team Status → Shared Team Folder to the same physical network folder. Each user needs read/write access to the session and queue data. A mapped drive must resolve to the same location on every PC. This folder stores coordination data; it does not move your Revit model out of ACC or BIM 360.

Open Sync History → Status and use Refresh connections to check the team list. With no shared folder configured, coordination covers your Revit sessions on this PC only.

4. Start Syncing

Select your model and Revit session in the Status tab, then choose Sync selected, or let your chosen automatic mode run. Waiting requests show their queue position and start when their turn is available.

Intelligent Sync Queue

Auto Sync 2.0.7 uses a shared queue for each model. When another participating user is syncing, your request waits and starts automatically after their sync finishes. The dashboard shows your queue position. You can cancel a waiting request; an active Revit sync is allowed to finish.

Team Queue Setup

Install 2.0.7 on every participating PC and configure the same physical shared Team Status Folder. The queue supports file-based and cloud workshared models. Revit's native Synchronize with Central stays under Revit's control. Auto Sync observes its result without cancelling or replaying the command; native syncs are outside the Auto Sync queue.

Older clients and users without Auto Sync cannot join this queue. Revit's own contention handling remains the fallback for those syncs and native Revit commands. If a configured shared folder becomes unavailable, Auto Sync waits instead of creating a separate queue. Use Refresh connections after restoring access.

Confirmation Before Queued Sync

Ask before each sync (Yes / No) is enabled by default. Choosing No, closing the prompt or leaving it unanswered for 60 seconds cancels that request. Choosing Yes rejoins the queue; a waiting prompt does not hold the team's turn. Each user controls this setting; administrator policy does not override it.

Confirmation approves the whole-model operation, including current changes when syncing. It does not exclude temporary edits. A waiting or confirming request can be cancelled; an active Revit sync is allowed to finish. Revit warnings that need a decision remain visible.

Recovering an Interrupted Queue

Waiting tickets expire after two minutes without a heartbeat. Once shared-folder writes succeed, periodic maintenance also clears an active owner when Auto Sync can prove that its Revit process on this PC has exited. Loss of a heartbeat alone does not prove that a remote sync has stopped.

For an uncertain remote owner, an approved administrator can use Recover model queue after confirming that the owner has stopped syncing. Recovery checks that the owner has not changed and that the active lock can be obtained. Do not delete the queue folder while someone may still be syncing.

Queue Timeout

By default, Auto Sync waits up to 5 minutes for a clear sync path before giving up and logging a timeout. Adjust this in Settings → Queue Timeout.

Scheduled Sync

Set a fixed interval and Auto Sync handles the rest. Your model syncs automatically at regular intervals without any manual intervention.

• Configurable schedule, set to any number of minutes
• Each open model syncs on its own independent schedule
• Auto Sync skips syncs if the model has not been modified since the last sync
• Pause and resume scheduling at any time from the tray menu

Sync on Idle

Sync on Idle waits for you to stop working, then syncs after a configurable idle delay.

• Configurable idle delay, set to any number of minutes
• Tracks user activity via Revit's Idling event and document change events
• Optionally syncs even if no changes were made since the last sync
• Resets after each idle sync so the next sync only fires after a fresh idle period

Multi-Model Support

Auto Sync tracks every open workshared model independently. Within each Revit session, sync operations run sequentially. Across participating sessions, each central model has its own queue, so different central models can sync independently.

• Automatic detection when workshared models open or close
• Independent scheduling per model
• Sequential sync execution to prevent overlapping operations
• Status tracking per model: idle, queued, syncing, error
• Supports both file-server and cloud-hosted workshared models

Multi-Instance Coordination

When you run multiple Revit instances at once (common when working across versions or large projects), Auto Sync coordinates between them automatically.

• A single system tray icon is shared across all instances - no tray clutter
• Tray ownership is managed via a named Mutex - if the owning instance closes, another instance takes over automatically
• Each instance writes its session status periodically, and the tray owner aggregates and displays the combined status
• The status overlay shows models from all instances together

Status & Sync Controls

Open Sync History from the tray and select the Status tab. Each row identifies a model, user, machine and Revit session. Select a current row belonging to your Windows user on this PC to enable its sync controls. Teammates on other PCs are shown for visibility; these buttons do not send them sync commands.

Control	What it does
Sync selected	Queues only the selected model in the selected Revit session. This is the dashboard footer button outside Settings.
Sync selected session	Queues the tracked models in the selected Revit session.
Sync all on this PC	Queues tracked models across your Revit sessions under the same Windows login on this PC.
Cancel selected request	Removes a waiting request for the selected model. A sync already running is allowed to finish.
Recover model queue	For an approved administrator: clears an abandoned active queue entry after confirming its owner has stopped syncing. Preserves waiting requests; it does not repair the Revit model or interrupt an active sync.
Refresh connections	Checks session and team status again and reloads saved settings and administrator policy.
Compact view	Opens a smaller window with model selection and sync controls.

A selected model's sync button is disabled while its request is queued or syncing. Repeated requests are combined. Stale or unavailable sessions cannot be controlled.

Columns automatically fit their widest heading or cell. Use the bottom scrollbar to reach columns beyond the window, or drag a column divider to adjust its width. Your own sessions appear first, followed by teammates.

Reading the Status Columns

• Queue position shows a waiting session's place in that model's queue. It is not an estimated completion time.
• Last success is the most recent successful sync reported by that model/session.
• Last attempt result records that session's latest outcome. A failed or cancelled attempt does not replace its last-success time.
• A successful sync sends that user's changes to central. Other users receive those changes when they reload latest or complete their own sync; a success does not mean every open session has received the update.

Refresh Connections

Use Status → Refresh connections if a teammate or Revit session is missing, or after restoring access to the shared folder. Auto Sync publishes this session's current status and checks local and shared session records again. Team discovery also runs automatically about every 10 seconds.

This action refreshes the status list and reloads saved settings and administrator policy. It does not perform Sync with Central or Reload Latest, and it cannot restore an unavailable network connection. Save any settings edits you want to keep before refreshing.

If a teammate still does not appear, check that their model is open, that they are running 2.0.7, and that their Shared Team Folder points to the same accessible location. The connection message explains whether Auto Sync is using this PC only or has a shared-folder access problem.

For support, send the relevant files from %LocalAppData%\AUTOM8LABS\AutoSync\Log\ on both affected PCs, the approximate incident time and time zone, Revit and Auto Sync versions, which sync control each person used, and screenshots of the Status tab and Shared Team Folder setting.

Session Files and Temporary Disconnections

Session status uses a stable JSON file, with retries during brief shared-folder interruptions. Auto Sync attempts to remove its own presence file when the session ends. It removes old, valid presence records only when both the file modification time and recorded heartbeat are more than seven days old; queue, policy and sync-history files are retained.

A temporarily unreadable session can remain visible as unavailable for up to 30 minutes. It is excluded from the active-user count and cannot receive commands. The dashboard reuses the automatic status snapshots and updates changed rows to reduce work while the window stays open.

Compact View

In the Status tab, choose Compact view. The smaller window uses the same branding and controls as the dashboard and adjusts its height to the information shown.

• Select a model and Revit session from the dropdown, then choose Sync model.
• While your request waits, its queue position is shown and Cancel request replaces the sync action. An active sync is allowed to finish.
• Read the selected session's status below the model name. Hover over it for the last-success time. Teammates on other PCs remain view-only.
• Status refreshes automatically. For a manual refresh, open the dashboard and choose Refresh connections.
• Use the top-right expand icon (Open dashboard) to return to the full window. Minimise and close controls sit beside it.
• With no workshared models listed, the window explains that you need to open one instead of displaying an empty dropdown.

These controls describe the downloadable 2.0.7 release. Compact view changes the window layout; the separate Auto-Compact feature below reduces model file size.

Admin Console (Remote Sync, Relinquish & Close)

The Admin Console shows active Revit sessions reporting to your shared Team Status Folder. Select the model directly in the session table before using Sync & Relinquish or Relinquish Only. Each open model has its own row, alongside its user, machine and Revit session. These actions target that model and session, join its normal queue, and report the actual outcome. Sync & Close applies to the whole selected Revit session, including its other open documents. The console cannot send a remote command to its own session; another Revit session on the same PC can be targeted.

With confirmBeforeSync enabled, the person at the target PC must approve a selected-model sync or relinquish request. An unanswered prompt cancels after 60 seconds, so these actions are not unattended. Relinquish Only releases eligible unchanged items; new or modified unsynced items can remain owned.

Set Up the First Administrator

1. Install Auto Sync 2.0.7 on participating PCs. In Settings → Team Status → Shared Team Folder, select the same shared network folder and save. A UNC path such as \\SERVER\TEAM\AutoSync avoids differences in drive mappings. This folder holds coordination data; your Revit models stay in their existing location.
2. On the administrator's PC, open PowerShell and run [Environment]::UserName. Use the returned Windows username, without a domain prefix. This is not the Autodesk/Revit username or email address.
3. Have IT create admins.json in the shared folder with the content below, replacing the example login. Save as plain UTF-8 JSON, with the filename exactly admins.json, not admins.json.txt. The first administrator must be added to this file before the console becomes visible.

{ "admins": ["YOUR_BIM_ADMIN_LOGIN"] }

In Auto Sync, choose Refresh connections, then close and reopen the dashboard. The Admin Console sidebar button becomes visible to the listed user. You can also right-click the Auto Sync icon beside the Windows clock and select Admin Console; this menu checks your admin status each time it opens.

Being a Windows administrator or running Revit as administrator does not by itself grant Auto Sync admin access. Your Windows username must be listed in the shared admins.json.

Add Another Administrator or PC

Open Admin Whitelist in the console and use Add Admin with the person's Windows username. They also need permission to update the admin files described below. After they refresh connections and open their own Admin Console, their PC's signing key appears as pending. On an already approved admin PC, check the pending user's name and machine, then choose Approve.

The first admin PC to open the console creates the signing registry, admin-keys.json. Later admin PCs need approval before their signed remote commands are accepted, including another PC used by an existing administrator. Use the console's Remove action to remove an administrator and revoke their associated keys. The console prevents removing yourself when you are the last listed administrator.

When approval is complete, the console shows This computer is approved. If it shows a pending approval or signing warning, resolve that message before issuing commands. Preserve the existing signing files during an update; do not delete them to clear a warning.

Access and Folder Permissions

• IT must restrict changes to admins.json, admin-settings.json and admin-keys.json to authorised administrators. Protect these files from deletion or replacement through permissions inherited from their parent folder as well as from direct edits.
• Ordinary users need read access to these admin files and read/write access to session, queue and command/result data. Making the entire shared folder read-only prevents coordination from working.
• Selected-model sync and relinquish commands require an approved signing key and a current administrator entry in admins.json. Receiving PCs check both before accepting the command. Legacy command paths retain their compatibility rules; a PC that has already trusted a signing registry rejects a username-only fallback if that registry disappears.

Remote Command Behaviour

Selected-model actions follow the confirmation and queue behaviour described above. Acceptance means the request was received, not that the model has finished syncing or relinquishing.

• The target receives a warning before execution, with a default delay of 30 seconds. Sync & Close attempts to sync workshared models and save local documents before closing; failures are reported.
• Commands expire after five minutes if they have not been picked up. Duplicate requests are filtered by command ID.
• Accepted, completed, rejected or failed results are reported to the issuing admin, and accepted commands are recorded in the Sync Log.
• acceptAdminCommands controls whether the receiving session accepts remote commands; adminCloseWarningSeconds sets the warning delay. These can be enforced through the managed settings below.

Centrally Managed Settings

Use admins.json to identify administrators and restrict who can change workflow settings. Use admin-settings.json to specify the actual values everyone must use. These are separate files in the same shared Team Status Folder.

Start with Set Up the First Administrator above. With admins.json present, users who are not listed cannot change workflow settings or select a different team folder through Auto Sync. Enable Auto Sync and Ask before each sync always remain personal choices. Tray, notification, overlay and log-retention preferences remain available unless explicitly locked by policy.

Set Common Values for the Team

Have an administrator create or edit admin-settings.json in the shared folder. Include only the settings you want to enforce. For example:

{
  "syncIntervalMinutes": 30,
  "queueTimeoutSeconds": 300,
  "relinquishOptions": { "checkedOutElements": true }
}

• Recognised workflow settings included in this file apply to everyone, including administrators, and are locked in the Settings interface. The personal enabled and confirmBeforeSync settings are excluded from policy overrides. To change an enforced value, edit the policy file.
• Changing Settings on an administrator's PC only changes that PC's saved preferences. It does not update the shared policy or other users' preferences.
• Settings omitted from the policy retain each user's saved value or the default. The presence of admins.json still prevents non-admins from changing workflow settings; it does not automatically give everyone identical values.
• Removing an override restores the saved personal value after a successful policy refresh, subject to any machine policy. Admin restrictions continue while admins.json remains present.

Pin the Shared Folder on Each PC

For a managed deployment, IT should create %ProgramData%\AUTOM8LABS\AutoSync\admin-settings.json on every participating PC. This machine policy is separate from the file in the shared folder. Protect it from ordinary-user edits, deletion and replacement, and set the shared folder using JSON-escaped backslashes:

{ "teamStatusFolder": "\\\\SERVER\\TEAM\\AutoSync" }

Replace SERVER and TEAM with your actual server and share. Machine policy takes precedence over shared policy and personal settings. Pinning the folder prevents changing a local preferences file to bypass the shared configuration.

Apply and Check the Setup

Save the files, then choose Refresh connections in each open Revit session, or restart Revit. Close and reopen the dashboard after changing administrator membership so its sidebar updates. A failed policy refresh keeps the last working configuration; if policy cannot be loaded at first startup, unattended automation stays off until access is restored.

Check one listed administrator and one ordinary user: the administrator should see the Admin Console, while the ordinary user's workflow settings are locked and permitted personal preferences remain available. Check that enforced values match the shared policy. A local folder can demonstrate the interface on one PC; testing coordination between PCs requires the shared network folder.

Auto-Relinquish

Automatically relinquishes borrowed elements and worksets on a schedule - without syncing. Keeps models unlocked for other team members when you step away or forget to relinquish manually.

• Configurable interval (default: 60 minutes)
• Optionally relinquish on document close
• Trigger manually from the tray menu - Relinquish Now
• Respects your relinquish settings (which worksets and elements to release)
• Runs via Revit's ExternalEvent pattern for thread safety

Configurable Relinquish Options

• Standard Worksets
• View Worksets
• Family Worksets
• User-Created Worksets
• Checked Out Elements

Auto-Compact

Compaction reduces the central model's file size and can increase sync time. The every-sync and once-per-day options are both off by default for new settings; existing saved choices are retained.

For a shared team policy, open Admin Console → Team sync settings, choose Compact central on every Auto Sync sync and select Save team sync settings. Team members must restart Revit after a policy change. This applies to syncs performed by Auto Sync; native Revit sync remains under Revit's control.

The separate once-per-day option requests compaction during the next eligible sync, at most once per calendar day per model while that Revit session remains open.

• Enable Compact on next sync, once per day in Settings
• Optionally restrict it to midnight through 6 am using Only between midnight and 6 am
• Use Compact Now in the tray for a manual compact across your sessions on this PC. This manual action skips cloud models; cloud compaction is requested during sync
• Tracks space saved across compactions in analytics
• Runs via Revit's ExternalEvent pattern for thread safety

Auto-Reload Links

Periodically reloads all linked Revit and CAD files in open documents to keep them in sync with the latest version on the server or network.

• Configurable interval in minutes (default: 60 minutes)
• Trigger manually from the tray menu - Reload Links Now
• Reloads Revit links (RevitLinkType) and CAD links (CADLinkType)

System Tray Icon

A persistent system tray icon provides at-a-glance status and quick access to all features. The icon colour changes to reflect the current state.

Status	Colour	Meaning
Idle / Monitoring	Teal	All clear - monitoring active
Syncing	Blue	Sync in progress
Queued	Amber	Waiting for clear path
Error	Red	Last sync failed

Tray Context Menu

• Status line showing the number of monitored models
• Sync Now - queue tracked models across your Revit sessions on this PC. Use the dashboard's Sync selected for one model
• Relinquish Now - release borrowed elements across your Revit sessions on this PC without syncing
• Compact Now - compact eligible models across your Revit sessions on this PC; skips cloud models
• Reload Links Now - reload linked files across your Revit sessions on this PC
• Pause / Resume Monitoring - pause or resume scheduled sync and central monitoring in the Revit session that owns the tray icon. This does not pause Sync on Idle or the independent automation features
• Sync History - open the dashboard
• Settings - open the settings dialog
• Manage Licence
• Admin Console - only shown to users in the shared admins.json whitelist
• Show / Hide Status Overlay
• About Auto Sync
• Quit - hide the tray icon (add-in stays loaded)

Desktop Notifications

Auto Sync popups use a coloured status dot: green for success or already up to date, red for failure, amber for queued requests or warnings, and blue for information. Sync-result messages use plain text without tick, cross or hourglass prefixes. Long model names wrap; longer messages can be scrolled.

Popups do not take keyboard focus. They dismiss automatically, pause while hovered and can be closed with X. Control them with Show Desktop Notifications in Settings. These are Auto Sync windows: they do not appear in Windows Notification Center or follow Windows Do Not Disturb/Focus Assist. Sync results remain in Sync History.

• Sync success with duration - wording adapts: workshared models show "synced", non-workshared/local files show "saved"
• "Already up to date" confirmation when manual Sync Now is triggered against an unmodified model
• Sync failure with error summary
• Queue status when waiting for another user
• Team activity alerts (user opened model, user crashed, duplicate sessions)
• Admin command warning when a remote sync-and-close is incoming

Status Overlay

A small floating overlay window shows real-time sync status directly within Revit. It displays model status, team activity, and can be toggled on or off from the tray menu or settings. The overlay updates live as models are opened, synced, or closed.

Sync Log & Analytics

Every sync, relinquish, compact and reload Auto Sync performs is recorded to a local history, and that history powers an at-a-glance analytics breakdown. Both live in one place: the Sync Log tab of the Sync History window (tray icon → Sync History).

History is stored per machine at %LocalAppData%\AUTOM8LABS\AutoSync\Log\ and is the single source of truth for everything below.

Event Log

A sortable, colour-coded record of every operation. Each entry captures:

• Timestamp, model name & path, and the user who triggered it
• Trigger - Manual, Scheduled, Queued, User-Initiated, Relinquish, Compact, Reload Links, or Open
• Result - Success, Failed, Cancelled, or Skipped (colour-coded)
• Duration and queue wait time
• Sync comment, and the error message if it failed
• File size before/after (so compaction savings are visible)
• Cloud model flag (ACC / BIM 360)

Filter the grid by model, result, trigger, date range, or free-text search, and sort on any column.

Retention: keep history for 7, 30, or 90 days, or unlimited (Settings → Logging). Entries older than the retention window are purged automatically on startup.

Analytics

The top of the Sync Log tab summarises the history into live metrics - no setup, it's computed from the records above:

• Success rate, average sync duration, and cumulative time spent syncing
• Daily sync frequency and peak sync hour
• Queue wait statistics (average and maximum)
• Per-model breakdown - sync count, success rate, duration, file size, and average open time, with the slowest model flagged
• Disk space recovered through compaction
• Extremes - longest sync, most-failed model, and fastest model

Settings

All settings are accessible from the Settings tab in the dashboard (or via the tray menu) and are persisted to %AppData%\AUTOM8LABS\AutoSync\settings.json.

Setting	Default	Description
Enable Auto Sync	On	Enable scheduled and idle-triggered syncing. Other automation features have their own switches
Ask before each sync (Yes / No)	On	Personal confirmation choice; administrators cannot lock it
Sync Interval	30 minutes	How often to automatically sync each model (scheduled mode)
Queue Timeout	5 minutes	How long to wait for a clear path before giving up
Central Check Interval	10 seconds	How often to poll the central model status
Sync Comment Template	Auto Sync - {timestamp}	Comment applied to each sync
Show Tray Icon	On	Show/hide the system tray icon
Show Desktop Notifications	On	Toast notifications for sync results
Show Status Overlay	Off	Floating overlay showing model status
Log Retention	30 days	How long to keep sync history
Enable Sync on Idle	Off	Sync when user goes idle instead of on a fixed schedule
Idle Sync Delay	5 minutes	How long user must be idle before triggering sync
Sync on Idle Even if No Changes	Off	Sync even when no changes detected since last sync
Enable Auto-Relinquish	Off	Periodically relinquish borrowed elements
Relinquish Interval	60 minutes	How often to auto-relinquish
Relinquish on Close	On	Relinquish borrowed elements when closing a document
Compact central on every Auto Sync sync	Off	Requests compaction on each Auto Sync sync; administrators can publish it through Team sync settings
Enable Auto-Compact	Off	Compact on the next eligible sync, once per day per model in that Revit session
Compact at Night Only	Off	Restrict automatic compaction to midnight through 6 am
Enable Auto-Reload Links	Off	Periodically reload linked files
Reload Links Interval	60 minutes	How often to auto-reload links
Shared Team Folder	(empty)	Shared network folder for cross-PC session status and per-model queue data
Enable Idle Timer	Off	Sync and close an unattended Revit session after the idle timeout
Idle Timeout	120 minutes	Idle period before the enabled Idle Timer closes Revit
Warning Before Exit	5 minutes	Warning before the Idle Timer closes Revit
Accept Admin Commands	On	Allow remote sync-and-close commands from admins in admins.json
Admin Close Warning	30 seconds	Warning toast shown on the target machine before a remote close fires

Custom Sync Comments

Configure a sync comment template that is applied to every automatic sync. Default: Auto Sync - {timestamp}. Makes it easy to identify automated syncs in the Revit sync history.

File Locations

Item	Path
Settings	%AppData%\AUTOM8LABS\AutoSync\settings.json
Sync Logs	%LocalAppData%\AUTOM8LABS\AutoSync\Log\
Session Data	%AppData%\AUTOM8LABS\AutoSync\Sessions\
Admin Whitelist (shared)	{TeamStatusFolder}\admins.json
Admin Commands (shared)	{TeamStatusFolder}\command-{Machine}-{Pid}-{Guid}.json
Admin Results (shared)	{TeamStatusFolder}\result-{Guid}.json

How It Works

Sync Collision Prevention

The shared queue admits one participating session per central model and holds its turn until the sync completes. Different models have independent queues. Repeated requests for the same model and session do not create extra syncs. File-based central checks and Revit's contention handling provide additional protection.

Thread Safety

All Revit API calls must execute on Revit's main thread. Auto Sync's monitoring, scheduling, and team activity services run on background threads, but all actual Revit operations (sync, relinquish, compact, reload links) are executed via the ExternalEvent pattern - the only safe way to call the Revit API from background threads.

Frequently Asked Questions

Changelog