Answers first. Tickets last.

1. Grab the package from Downloads and verify the SHA-256 checksum.
2. Windows: unzip anywhere and run PlantStacks.exe. Linux: unpack the bundle and run ./install.sh (installs a systemd service).
3. Open https://localhost:8443/ — your browser will warn about the self-signed certificate (expected for a closed install; proceed).
4. The first-run wizard walks you through the admin account, your license, and your first item. Ten minutes, no internet required.

Full walkthrough: Install guide.

1. You received a .lic file by email (or the bundled 30-day trial is already active).
2. In the product: Subscription → Activate → paste the key or upload the file.
3. Command line alternative: node platformctl.js license install --file plantstacks.lic.

Licenses verify offline against a key embedded in the software — no activation server, so activation works on an air-gapped machine. If activation reports "signature invalid", the file was altered in transit (some mail systems re-encode attachments) — re-download it from the link in the same email.

1. Import/Export → Templates: download the typed template for items, opening stock, BOMs, customers or suppliers (QuickBooks presets included).
2. Fill it, upload it, and run the dry-run validation — it lists every problem row with the reason before anything is written.
3. Apply. Opening stock lands as ledger movements, so your on-hand starts reconciled.

Import looks wrong? Nothing is destroyed by a bad import — movements are append-only. Use dry-run first next time; to redo, reverse the opening-stock movements or restore last night's backup.

1. Turn on Inventory from Features (every feature is included on every plan).
2. Inventory → Items → New: give it a SKU, a name and a unit of measure, then save.
3. Open the item → Receive (or use the shop-floor Kiosk): enter a quantity and a location.
4. On-hand updates instantly and the movement is written to the append-only ledger with who and when — a live system with a full audit trail.

Want sample data to click around first? The first-run wizard can load a demo shop (3 items + a BOM), resettable anytime.

Multi-plant sync is secure and offline-tolerant — no VPN, no cloud. One plant is the hub (holds the reachable address); the others are spokes (outbound only, no inbound port to open).

1. On the hub: turn on Plants (multi-site) → Make this the hub → Generate a join code. You get a short XXXXX-XXXXX code that is single-use and expires in 15 minutes; it also carries the hub's certificate pin so the spoke trusts the right machine.
2. On the spoke: turn on Plants, choose Join an existing hub, and paste the code plus the hub's address (e.g. https://HUB-PC:8443).
3. Done. The spoke syncs outbound on a schedule; if the hub is unreachable, changes buffer and reconcile automatically on reconnect. Nothing is lost.

• Named seats are sign-in accounts for people who change things (managers, planners, buyers). Add them under Users; each uses one seat from your plan, with the narrowest role that lets them work.
• Shop-floor badges are employee-ID accounts for operators who only receive, issue, move, count, scrap and clock in/out at the Kiosk. They are unlimited and free on every tier and never consume a seat. Add them under Employees.

Rule of thumb: if someone only touches material on the floor, give them a badge, not a seat.

Normal here — and NOT a virus. PlantStacks runs on your own computer, not on the internet, so the browser can’t look up a public certificate for it. Nothing is going over the internet.

1. Chrome / Edge: click Advanced → Continue to … (unsafe). Firefox: Advanced → Accept the Risk and Continue. Once per browser — it remembers.
2. Optional (never required): remove the warning entirely by trusting this install’s certificate. Download it from https://<your-address>:8443/cert (saves as plantstacks.crt), then on each PC: double-click → Install Certificate → Local Machine → place in Trusted Root Certification Authorities.
3. Only do that for your own PlantStacks certificate — never for websites on the internet.

PlantStacks runs on ONE computer; it only works while that computer is awake.

1. Turn off sleep: Windows → Settings → System → Power → Sleep → Never (while plugged in). The screen may still turn off — that’s fine.
2. Restarts are handled: PlantStacks is installed as a service and starts itself back up after a reboot or Windows Update — Admin → Health shows "Starts automatically ".
3. Mystery outage? Health tells you when the host was asleep or off ("this computer was asleep or off from X to Y") so the cause explains itself.
4. Power flickers? A cheap UPS (battery box, ~$60) rides them out. Data is written so a hard power cut never corrupts what was already saved.

The Windows build is not yet code-signed, so SmartScreen shows an "unknown publisher" notice. That is expected; here is the safe path:

1. Verify the download first: Get-FileHash .\PlantStacks-1.0.2-win-x64-portable.zip -Algorithm SHA256 and compare with the value on Downloads. If it matches, the file is exactly what we published.
2. On the SmartScreen dialog choose More info → Run anyway.
3. If corporate antivirus quarantines it, ask IT to allow the verified file — the checksum is the evidence they need.

• "signature invalid" — the file was modified (usually by email re-encoding). Re-download from the original link; don't copy-paste the key out of a PDF.
• "expired" — renew from Manage subscription; install the fresh .lic the same way. Your data was never at risk: a lapsed license keeps the core, login and every record available.
• "seat limit reached" — you're adding user #11 on a 10-seat Starter. Deactivate an unused account or upgrade. Remember: shop-floor employee IDs are unlimited and never consume a seat — most "we need more seats" cases are really "make them floor accounts".
• Check Admin → Health — the license check there states the exact problem and the fix.

1. On the host machine, confirm it's up: open https://localhost:8443/ there.
2. From another PC use the host's name or IP: https://SHOP-PC:8443/ — not "localhost" (localhost always means "this machine").
3. Windows Firewall: allow inbound TCP 8443 for PlantStacks (the installer offers this; if it was skipped, add the rule in Windows Defender Firewall → Inbound Rules).
4. Both machines must be on the same network/VLAN — a guest Wi-Fi usually can't see the wired LAN.

Encrypted snapshots run nightly by default (Backups module). Admin → Health shows your last good backup at a glance.

1. Restore in-product: Backups → pick a snapshot → Restore.
2. Or from the command line: node platformctl.js restore --file <snapshot>.

Restore refuses to run? The two real causes: the snapshot's checksum doesn't match (use an older one — each night is independent) or the disk is full (free space, retry). Restores never partially apply; it's all-or-nothing by design.

On-hand is always the sum of movements — it can't silently drift; it can only reflect a movement that did or didn't happen. To pin it down:

1. Open the item → Movements: the full history of every receipt/issue/move/scrap with who and when. Find the unexpected row (or the missing one).
2. Physical mismatch with a clean history means an unrecorded real-world event — run a cycle count; the approved variance posts a correcting movement with an audit trail.
3. Multi-plant: check Plants → status; a spoke that's been offline shows pending outbox items — numbers converge when it reconnects.

1. On the spoke: Plants → status. "Hub unreachable" means a network problem, not a data problem — everything is buffered in the outbox and reconciles on reconnect. Nothing is lost.
2. Can the spoke reach the hub at all? From the spoke machine: https://<hub-address>:8443/healthz in a browser.
3. Join code "invalid or expired": codes are single-use and expire in 15 minutes — mint a fresh one on the hub (Plants → Make this the hub) and paste the new string.
4. "site limit reached": your plan's site count is used up — revoke an old plant (Plants → remove) or upgrade.
5. Remember the design: only the hub needs a reachable address. Spokes never need a port opened.

• Users: an admin resets any password from Users. MFA recovery codes were shown at enrollment — one signs you in when the phone is gone.
• The only admin is locked out? Go to the PlantStacks computer itself, open the sign-in page in a browser THERE (https://localhost:8443/), and click "Forgot the admin password?" — type the admin username and a new password. The link only works on that machine (any other PC is refused): being physically at the computer is the proof it’s really you. No command line needed.
• Used up your MFA backup codes? Get fresh ones any time from Security → Two-factor → Get new backup codes (needs a current code from your app).

Sign-in codes are computed from the time, so the #1 cause of "invalid code" is a clock that has drifted — common on a computer with no internet.

1. Check the PlantStacks computer’s clock first — date, time AND time zone. Fix it in Windows Settings → Time & language.
2. Check the phone’s clock — set it to automatic, or in Google Authenticator use Settings → Time correction for codes → Sync now.
3. Codes change every 30 seconds — wait for a fresh one and enter it promptly.
4. Locked out entirely? Use one of your saved backup codes, or see "Locked out" above.

Admin → Health flags an implausible clock for you (wrong date, running behind, or — with several plants — disagreeing with the other plants).

The whole migration is: install → restore → re-enter license.

1. On the old computer (if it still works): Backups → Back up now. Your nightly copies on the USB drive / network folder work too.
2. On the new computer: run the installer and create the owner account.
3. Copy the newest snapshot-….bak into the new machine’s backups folder → Backups → Restore → restart when asked.
4. Paste your license key under Subscription → Activate, and share the new "Your team connects at" address from the dashboard.

1. Updates never download or install themselves. If you switched on the optional update check, PlantStacks tells you when a new version exists; otherwise glance at Downloads now and then.
2. Download the new installer and run it on the host computer. Your data is kept — records, users and settings live outside the program folder; the installer only replaces the program.
3. Updates are signed — the app refuses a package that isn’t genuinely from us.

1. In the app, open Health (or the ? Help drawer) and click "Something’s wrong".
2. It runs every self-check, shows the results in plain English, and saves a small support file — system status only, none of the data you’ve entered.
3. Email that file to support@plantstacks.com with a sentence about what you were doing. It’s usually all we need.

Everything is self-serve at Manage subscription — change tier or term, update the card, download invoices. Upgrades issue a fresh license immediately; install it like the first one. Tiers only change seats + sites; features never change, so an upgrade is never a migration.

PlantStacks reminds you in-app starting 30 days before your subscription ends (again at 14, 7 and 1 day) — nothing is ever shut off silently. If the date passes, there’s a grace period, then paid features pause; the app, your sign-in and every record stay available, and renewing switches everything back on.

Cancel anytime from Manage subscription; the refund window is in the refund policy. When a subscription lapses, your installation keeps running: core, login and every record stay available for reading and export — only paid features pause. Your data is on your machine; we couldn't hold it hostage if we wanted to.