Stacks Documentation
Everything you need to install, organize, and query with Stacks.
Getting Started
Stacks is a free native Mac app. Download it from the Mac App Store or from stacks.support/download, install it in under a minute, and you're ready to start organizing — no account, no sign-up.
Installation
Download Stacks from stacks.support/download.
Open the downloaded package and drag Stacks to your Applications folder.
Launch Stacks. On first run, macOS may ask to confirm you want to open it — click Open.
Grant Stacks access to the folders you want to organize (macOS will prompt you on first access).
You're ready. No account or login required.
Visual Stacks
A stack is a named collection of files — think of it as a smart folder with personality. You can assign colors, labels, and icons to each stack to make your workspace scannable at a glance.
Creating a stack
Click the + button in the Stacks sidebar.
Name your stack (e.g., "Client Contracts 2025" or "Tax Documents").
Choose a color and optional icon.
Drag files into the stack from Finder, or use the "Add Files" button.
Rearrange stacks by dragging them in the sidebar.
Note: Stacks do not move or copy your files. They reference the original file location. Deleting a stack removes it from Stacks but leaves your files untouched.
Managed Files
Managed Files are documents you've chosen to make queryable via AI. You are always in control of which files are managed — nothing is indexed without your explicit action.
When a file is set to Managed, Stacks processes its content locally and makes it available for natural language queries. Unmanaged files are never read beyond their filename and metadata.
Making a file Managed
Right-click any file inside Stacks and select "Set as Managed".
Or select the file and press ⌘M.
Stacks will process the file — this is instant for most documents.
The file now appears with a small indicator showing it's queryable.
To remove Managed status, right-click → "Remove from Managed" — no tokens are used for removal.
Note: Supported formats for Managed Files: PDF, DOC, DOCX, TXT, MD, RTF, XLS, XLSX, CSV, HTML. Image files require OCR to be enabled.
Natural Language Queries
Once files are Managed, you can ask questions about them in plain English. Stacks sends your query and the relevant document context to the Stacks AI and returns an answer — using one token per query.
Running a query
Press ⌘K anywhere in Stacks to open the query bar.
Type your question in plain English. Examples: "What are the payment terms in the Acme contract?" or "Which invoices from Q3 are over $10,000?"
Press Return. Stacks processes the query using your token balance.
The answer appears with citations linking to the source documents.
Click any citation to jump directly to the relevant file.
Note: One query = one token. Queries that span many large documents may count as 2–3 tokens for very high context volumes. Stacks will always show token cost before confirming.
External Storage
Stacks can index files from external cloud storage services. Connected drives appear alongside your local folders in the Stacks sidebar. Files are never copied to your Mac — only the file index and metadata are stored locally. When you query a cloud-stored Managed File, Stacks fetches its content on-demand and processes the query.
Amazon S3
Open Stacks → Preferences (⌘,) → Integrations.
Click "Add Cloud Storage" and select Amazon S3.
Enter your AWS Access Key ID and Secret Access Key. For enterprise setups, you may paste an IAM Role ARN instead.
Enter your S3 bucket name and an optional path prefix to limit which folder Stacks indexes.
Click "Verify & Connect" — Stacks will confirm access and begin building your local file index.
Files remain in S3 at all times. Stacks only stores the index locally.
Note: Stacks requires s3:ListBucket and s3:GetObject permissions. We recommend creating a dedicated IAM user with a least-privilege policy.
Dropbox
Open Stacks → Preferences → Integrations → Add → Dropbox.
Click "Sign in with Dropbox" — your default browser opens.
Authorize Stacks to access your Dropbox (read-only access is sufficient).
Return to Stacks and choose which top-level folders to include in your index.
Stacks will sync the file listing within seconds. New files added to Dropbox sync automatically.
Note: Stacks uses OAuth 2.0. Your Dropbox password is never seen or stored by Stacks.
Google Drive
Open Stacks → Preferences → Integrations → Add → Google Drive.
Click "Sign in with Google" and choose your account.
Grant Stacks read-only access to Google Drive (Stacks never modifies your files).
Select which My Drive folders and Shared Drives to include.
Click "Start Indexing" — Stacks will build the local index in the background.
Note: Supports both personal Google accounts and Google Workspace (formerly G Suite). Shared Drives require at least Viewer access.
Microsoft OneDrive
Open Stacks → Preferences → Integrations → Add → OneDrive.
Click "Sign in with Microsoft" and authenticate with your personal or work/school account.
Approve the permissions request (read-only file access).
Choose which OneDrive folders to include in Stacks.
SharePoint document libraries connected to OneDrive are also available for selection.
Note: Works with personal Microsoft accounts, Microsoft 365 Personal/Family, and Microsoft 365 Business plans.
Box
Open Stacks → Preferences → Integrations → Add → Box.
Click "Sign in with Box" and enter your Box credentials.
Authorize the Stacks app in Box's permission dialog.
Select which Box folders and sub-folders to index in Stacks.
Stacks builds the index. Files updated in Box sync automatically via webhooks.
Note: Supports Box Individual, Business, and Enterprise accounts.
iCloud Drive
No setup required if iCloud Drive is enabled on your Mac.
In System Settings → Apple ID → iCloud, ensure iCloud Drive is turned on and "Optimize Mac Storage" is off if you want all files available locally.
Stacks will automatically detect your iCloud Drive folder (~/Library/Mobile Documents) and you can add it as a regular local stack.
Files downloaded to your Mac are instantly available for organizing and querying.
Note: iCloud Drive files must be downloaded locally (not "optimized") to be added as Managed Files for querying.
SharePoint
Open Stacks → Preferences → Integrations → Add → SharePoint.
Enter your Microsoft 365 organization URL (e.g., yourcompany.sharepoint.com).
Sign in with your work or school Microsoft account.
Browse available Sites and select the Document Libraries you want to index.
Click "Connect" — Stacks indexes the selected libraries and keeps them in sync.
Note: Requires a Microsoft 365 Business or Enterprise plan. You must have at least Read access to the selected document libraries.
Backblaze B2
Open Stacks → Preferences → Integrations → Add → Backblaze B2.
Enter your B2 Application Key ID and Application Key.
Select the bucket you want to index.
Optionally specify a folder prefix to limit the scope of the index.
Click "Connect" — Stacks will verify access and begin indexing.
Note: Stacks is compatible with any S3-compatible storage endpoint. You can also use MinIO, Wasabi, or any custom S3 endpoint via the "S3-Compatible" option.
OCR
OCR (Optical Character Recognition) lets you make scanned documents, photos of text, and image-based PDFs queryable. OCR is opt-in — you enable it per file.
Enabling OCR on a file
Right-click any image or scanned PDF inside Stacks.
Select "Enable OCR for this file".
Stacks processes the document locally using macOS Vision APIs — no data is sent to any server at this step.
Once OCR is complete, you can set the file as Managed and query it normally.
Note: OCR quality depends on scan resolution. Documents scanned at 300 DPI or above produce the best results. Handwritten notes may have reduced accuracy.
Token System
Stacks uses a simple, transparent token system. The app is free — you only pay for queries.
1 query
= 1 token
$20
= 1,000 tokens
Never
expires
Buying tokens
Go to Stacks → Account → Buy Tokens.
Select how many packs you'd like to purchase (each pack = 1,000 tokens for $20).
Complete payment via Apple Pay or credit card.
Tokens are added to your balance immediately.
Your balance is shown in the bottom-left corner of the Stacks sidebar.
Note: Token packs can be stacked — buying 5 packs gives you 5,000 tokens. Tokens are tied to your Stacks account and can be used on any Mac where you're signed in.
Mac Requirements
Stacks is built exclusively for macOS using native Apple frameworks for maximum performance and privacy.