Sessions & cloud sync

Every Santiago profile carries its own browser state — cookies, open tabs, history and site storage. Santiago keeps that state encrypted in the cloud and moves it with you, so you can stop a profile on one computer and pick it up exactly where you left off on another.

How cloud sync works

You don’t have to press a “sync” button. Santiago does it automatically around each browsing session:

• On launch — Santiago downloads the latest saved state for the profile and opens the browser with your cookies, logins, tabs and history already in place.
• While running — your activity stays in the live browser session.
• On stop — Santiago packs up the updated state and uploads it back to the cloud, so the next launch (on any device) starts from where you finished.

The state is stored encrypted in the cloud, not on your local disk long-term: when a profile stops, its local working copy is removed and the cloud copy becomes the single source of truth.

A profile has no “device”

A profile isn’t tied to the computer that created it. Log in to the Santiago app with your account on another machine, launch the same profile, and the same logged-in sessions appear. This is what makes Santiago profiles truly portable.

What gets synced

Everything the browser keeps for a profile travels with it:

Data	What it means for you
Cookies	Stay logged in to sites between sessions and across devices
Logins & saved passwords	Saved credentials follow the profile
Browsing history	Your visited pages and address-bar suggestions are preserved
Open tabs	The tabs you had open reopen on the next launch
Local storage & site data	Site preferences, drafts and app state are kept
Extension data	Installed extensions and their settings carry over

In short: when you reopen a profile, it looks and behaves just like you left it — on the same computer or a different one.

One active session at a time (exclusive lock)

A profile can run on only one device at a time. When you launch a profile, Santiago places an exclusive lock on it for your current device. While that lock is held, no other device — and no automation — can start the same profile.

This protects your accounts: two copies of the same profile running at once would create conflicting cookies, duplicate logins and corrupted state. The lock guarantees that your synced state always has a single, clean source.

What “locked” looks like

If you (or a teammate) try to launch a profile that’s already running somewhere else, it won’t start, and the profile shows the status In use on another device.

Santiago profiles move through these states:

Status	Meaning
idle	Stopped and ready to launch
launching	Starting up — downloading state and opening the browser
running	Active on this device (you hold the lock)
stopping	Closing — uploading the latest state
In use on another device	Locked by a session running elsewhere

How the lock is released

The lock clears on its own — you normally never manage it by hand:

• You stop the profile. Closing the browser window or clicking Stop in the app uploads the latest state and releases the lock. The profile returns to idle and is immediately available on any device.
• The other session goes away. If the device holding the lock loses connection or crashes, Santiago releases the lock automatically after about 5 minutes of silence. After that the profile becomes launchable again.

Tip

Stuck on In use on another device when you’re sure nothing’s running? Make sure you fully stopped the profile on the other computer (closing your laptop lid or losing internet does not stop it instantly). If it really was a crash or network drop, just wait a few minutes for the lock to expire, then launch again.

Don’t force two sessions

Because a profile holds your real logged-in sessions, running it in two places at once is exactly what the lock prevents — and what you should avoid. Always stop a profile on one device before opening it on another to be sure your latest cookies and tabs are saved.

If an upload doesn’t finish

Santiago is built so you never get stuck: even if the final upload after a session fails (for example, your internet drops at the wrong moment), the lock is still released so the profile isn’t left frozen as “in use”. In that case your previously saved state is kept — it may just be slightly out of date (missing the very last session) rather than lost.

If a launch can’t download the saved state, the browser won’t open and the app shows an error instead of starting with a blank profile. See Common errors if you run into this.

Working across devices: a quick walkthrough

1. On Computer A, launch a profile, log in to your sites, and browse as usual.
2. Click Stop (or close the browser). Wait for the profile to return to idle — that’s the upload finishing.
3. On Computer B, open the Santiago app and sign in with the same account.
4. Launch the same profile. Your logins, tabs and history are already there.

That’s the whole flow — there’s no export/import step for normal use.

Notes for automation and teams

• Automation launches a profile through the same lock. If a profile is already running (started by you in the app, or by another script), an automated launch will be refused until it’s free. See Launch profiles via API.
• Teams share one state per profile across all members. Because of the exclusive lock, only one teammate can have a shared profile open at a time — when they stop it, the next person gets the updated state. See Team overview and Sharing profiles.

Related pages

• Import & export cookies — move cookies in and out of a profile manually.
• Profiles overview — what a profile is and how to manage it.
• Launch your first profile — the basics of starting a session.
• Troubleshooting: common errors — fixes for launch and lock issues.