CiviQ is built offline-first. That means it works completely without internet — and not in a 'basic features work' way. Everything works: logging expenses, viewing transactions, checking budgets, adding income. The connection is only needed to sync to the server.

What works offline

  • ✓ Log any expense
  • ✓ Log income
  • ✓ View all transactions (cached from last sync)
  • ✓ Check budget status
  • ✓ View account balances
  • ✓ Add money to goals
  • ✓ View notifications

What requires connection

  • ✗ AI insights (needs server to process)
  • ✗ Generating reports
  • ✗ Initial setup (first time you open the app)
  • ✗ Uploading receipt photos

How sync works

When you go offline, every action you take gets added to a local sync queue. Each item in the queue has a unique ID to prevent duplicates. When your connection returns, the queue processes automatically in the background.

Example
You enter the Bengaluru Metro at MG Road. No signal. You:

1. Log ₹15 Metro fare
2. Log ₹280 lunch at the station food court
3. Check your food budget (shows correct balance even offline)

Train arrives at Indiranagar. Signal returns. Both expenses sync automatically in the background. You see a green 'All changes synced' toast. Your phone didn't need to be in your hand.
💡 The offline mode works after your first online session. If you've never opened CiviQ with an internet connection, it won't have any data to show offline. Open it once on WiFi and you're set.

The 'Pending sync' indicator

Transactions logged offline show a small 'Pending sync' badge in the transaction list. This badge disappears after the transaction successfully syncs to the server.

⚠️ If you clear your browser data, you lose unsynchronised offline entries. Sync before clearing browser storage.