US Patent 11003685 Commit protocol for synchronizing content items

In some embodiments, a client generates an operation modifying a local copy of a content item on a user account at a content management system and records an intent to commit the operation to a journal of revisions at the content management system. Based on the operation, the client sends to the content management system a first request to commit the operation at the journal, the first request including a cursor identifying a current position of the client in the journal. The client sends, to the content management system, a second request for a status of the commit and, based on the second request, determines whether the commit of the operation to the journal has succeeded. Based on whether the commit of the operation to the journal has succeeded, the client determines whether to update one or more tree data structures on the client and clear the intent to commit.