Frequently Asked Questions

Answers to the things people ask most.

Is Flow free?

Yes. Flow is free to download and use. There are no subscriptions, no feature gates, and no usage limits on the editor itself.

The only thing that might cost money is using a cloud AI provider (Anthropic, OpenAI, etc.) for ghost suggestions and error explanations — those use your own API key and are billed by the provider. But AI features are entirely optional, and you can use a local model instead at no cost.

Does Flow need an internet connection?

Not for core editing and compilation. Flow works fully offline with the bundled Tectonic engine and your existing documents.

Internet is needed for:

• Downloading templates from CTAN (cached locally after first download)
• Tectonic's initial package downloads (cached after first use)
• Cloud AI features (ghost suggestions, error explanations with a cloud provider)
• Checking for app updates

Once packages and templates are cached, you can work offline indefinitely.

What LaTeX engines are supported?

Flow bundles Tectonic, which is the default and requires no extra setup. If you have TeX Live installed on your system, Flow also detects and offers pdfLaTeX, XeLaTeX, and LuaLaTeX.

You can switch between engines in Settings > Compiler.

Can I use my own templates?

Absolutely. Open any .tex file with File > Open or drag it onto the editor window. Flow's fillable detection works on any template — it'll find empty fields, placeholders, and template markers regardless of where the file came from.

How do I set up a local LLM?

Go to Settings > LLM Providers, select "Local" as your provider, and click "Browse & Download" to see available models. Pick one that fits your hardware (smaller models for older machines, larger ones for GPUs with plenty of VRAM). Once downloaded, click "Load" to start it.

See the AI & Ghost Suggestions guide for the full details, including available models and GPU acceleration info.

Does Flow support collaboration?

Not currently. Flow is designed as a local-first, single-user editor. Your files live on your machine and you have full control over them.

If you need to collaborate, you can keep your .tex files in a Git repository or a shared folder, and each person can edit with their own Flow instance.

Where are my files stored?

Your .tex files are saved wherever you choose — Flow doesn't impose a project structure or move your files to a special location. When you save, you pick the directory.

Flow's own data (settings, template cache, local models) is stored in your user data directory:

• macOS — ~/Library/Application Support/Flow/
• Windows — %APPDATA%\Flow\
• Linux — ~/.config/Flow/

How do updates work?

On macOS, Windows, and Linux AppImage, Flow checks for updates automatically in the background. When an update is available, it downloads quietly and installs the next time you quit the app. No manual intervention needed.

On Linux .deb and .rpm installs, you update through your system package manager — re-download the latest package from the download page and install it.

What platforms does Flow support?

Flow runs on:

• macOS — Universal binary (Intel + Apple Silicon), macOS 11+
• Windows — Windows 10 and later
• Linux — AppImage (universal), .deb (Debian/Ubuntu), .rpm (Fedora/RHEL). Both x86_64 and ARM64.

Can I use Flow for academic papers / theses / journals?

Yes. Flow works with any document class — article, report, book, memoir, journal-specific classes, university thesis templates, etc. If it compiles with standard LaTeX, it works in Flow.