Your First Family Tree

You are the maintainer of this tree. That means you decide who is added, who is invited, and what is visible. Take that responsibility seriously. Your family trusts you with it.

The terminal

Iwacu uses a command terminal at the bottom of the screen. Tap the 🌳 button to open it. You can resize it by dragging the top edge.

Do not be put off by the terminal. It is the fastest and most precise way to work with the tree. Every command is short, and this guide shows you exactly what to type.

Load the demo first

Before building your real tree, run the demo. It shows you what the app looks like with real data, and gives you a mental model of how it works.

tree demo

You will see a three-generation Rwandan family tree. Explore it. Click on people. Use the family show gen1 command to open the family group chat for the first generation. When you are ready to start your own tree:

tree clear

This removes everything and gives you a blank slate.

Add people

Start with yourself. Then add your parents. Then their parents. Work backward from what you know.

person add me --first Ishimwe --last Rwema --gender male --born 1998-11-02

The short name (the first word after add) is an alias — a shortcut you use in other commands. You can use any short name you like. Keep aliases simple: me, father, mother, gpa, gma.

Create the family structure

The fastest way to create a couple and their family node in one step:

family couple parents father mother --first1 Habimana --gender1 male --last1 Rwema --born1 1970-03-20 --first2 Uwera --gender2 female --last2 Mugabo --born2 1973-05-18 --name "Habimana Family"

This creates both people and the family node in one command. Then add children:

family child parents me
family child parents sister --first Ineza --last Rwema --gender female --born 2001-04-14

If you prefer to add people one at a time, you can use person add followed by family new:

person add father --first Habimana --last Rwema --gender male --born 1970-03-20
person add mother --first Uwera --last Mugabo --gender female --born 1973-05-18
family new parents father mother --name "Habimana Family"

Set yourself as the focal person

me me

This tells the tree who you are. Your name will appear in group chats and on the map of who is connected.

Add your own family (if you have one)

If you are married with children, you have your own family node. Use family marry to create it — this links you as a parent in a new node while keeping your role as a child in your parents' family.

family marry myfamily me wife --first Umutoni --last Kamanzi --gender female --born 1999-07-08 --name "Ishimwe Family"
family child myfamily child1 --first Hirwa --last Rwema --gender male --born 2025-01-15

Look at what you built

The visual tree updates automatically after every command. You do not need to navigate to it. Click on any person to see their details in the side panel. Click the 💬 icon on a person to open a direct chat. Click the 💬 icon on a family card header to open the family group chat.

Save your work

Your tree is saved automatically to a local database after every change. You do not need to do anything — closing and reopening the app will restore your tree exactly as you left it.

For an off-device backup, or to send your tree to someone else, export it:

tree export

Copy the YAML output and keep it somewhere safe — a file on your phone, a cloud note, a printed sheet. To restore it on a fresh install, paste it directly into the terminal.

Check all your aliases

At any time, type:

aliases

This shows every shortcut you have created and what person or family it refers to.