Description

A plugin that continually postpones sync-as-you-type using a trashed notebook.

Additional Information

Auto Sync Block

This desktop-only Joplin plugin creates a notebook named [Reserved] directly in the trash, or updates an existing trashed notebook with that exact name. It updates the notebook every 10 seconds. Joplin's desktop sync-as-you-type delay is currently 15 seconds, so these changes keep rescheduling that sync while the plugin is running. While a sync is running, the plugin pauses its updates. After the sync completes, it restarts the 10-second timer, with the next update occurring on the first timer tick. The automatically triggered sync upon starting and exiting the app remains unaffected.

On the mobile app, using the same approach would be too aggressive, as the sync-as-you-type delay is only 1 second, and making updates more frequently would drain a lot of battery. However, an existing workaround for mobile exists. In Joplin, open Configuration > Synchronisation, and enable the Synchronise only over WiFi connection setting. Then, so long as you are connected to internet via mobile internet only, the sync will not automatically trigger while typing, if you disable Joplin's regular synchronization interval as well.

Install

In Joplin, open Tools > Options > Plugins, select the gear menu, choose Install from file, and select plugin.mrjo118.auto-sync-block.jpl.

Restart Joplin after installation. Disable Joplin's regular synchronization interval as well; this plugin only postpones sync-as-you-type and does not affect the independent recurrent-sync timer. If you do not wish to see the [Reserved] notebook in the trash, you can collapse the trash to avoid showing all folders under it. Note that if you empty the trash, the notebook is automatically re-created, so deleting it is not an issue.

Limitations

Duplicate [Reserved] notebooks can occasionally be created. When you set up a new device with the plugin installed, a duplicate is created because the plugin cannot initially see the notebook that already exists on the sync target. When end-to-end encryption (E2EE) is enabled, a duplicate can also be created if an update to the notebook is downloaded from another device and remains encrypted after the sync has completed, when the plugin next searches for it, but this should rarely happen. You can delete some or all of the [Reserved] notebooks; the plugin will then re-create just one if necessary.