> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.xpander.ai/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Trusted folders and access levels

> Agents only see the folders you trust on your computer, each read only or read and write. Add them in Settings or the composer, or answer an agent's request for a folder during a task.

Agents in Omni Desktop see nothing on your computer until you trust a folder. Each trusted folder has one access level:

| Access | Agents can |
| - | - |
| **Read only** | List the folder and read its files. |
| **Read and write** | Also create files in it and change them. |

Agents have no way to delete a file through a trusted folder. A file an agent saves under a name that is already taken is saved beside it, for example `report (2).md`, unless the agent was asked to replace it.

## Add a folder

* In [Settings](https://docs.xpander.ai/desktop/settings.md) > **Trusted folders**, choose **Add folder**, pick the folder and set its access.
* In the composer, click the folder chip in the laptop strip (it reads **Trust a folder** while none is trusted) and add one there.

Giving a folder **Read and write** asks you to confirm: **Let agents change files?**, then **Allow changes**.

Change a folder's access, or stop trusting it, in the same places. Stopping only takes the folder off the list; nothing on disk changes.

![Trusted folders list: one folder marked read only because the organization does not allow changes, another outside what the organization allows](https://mintcdn.com/xpanderai-099931d1/5kO48nCPjVxjKi_K/images/desktop/trusted-folders.png?fit=max\&auto=format\&n=5kO48nCPjVxjKi_K\&q=85\&s=17e56786a5fa1e7013d7c1901b4bd3f3)

Trusted folders in Settings, with notes where your organization's policy narrows them. Shown with sample data.

## The folder for new files

When more than one folder is **Read and write**, one of them is the **Default for new files**: where an agent saves a file you did not give a full path for, and where files from the cloud land. Choose **Make default for new files** on another folder in the composer's folder list to change it.

When an agent leaves new files only in its cloud workspace, the app saves them into this folder for you. Existing files are never replaced. To review them first instead, turn **Save new files to this Mac automatically** off in [Settings](https://docs.xpander.ai/desktop/settings.md) > **Notifications**: the conversation then shows the files created in the cloud with **Save to** the folder, or **Choose a folder**.

![Card reading 2 files created in the cloud, with Save to acme-site and a close button](https://mintcdn.com/xpanderai-099931d1/5kO48nCPjVxjKi_K/images/desktop/save-to-mac.png?fit=max\&auto=format\&n=5kO48nCPjVxjKi_K\&q=85\&s=2e8d6c1eaf7a84ad21501345195eb085)

Files an agent left in the cloud, ready to save to your Mac. Shown with sample data.

## When an agent asks for a folder

An agent that needs a folder you have not trusted asks for it during the task. The app asks **Allow access to a folder?**, shows the folder and what the agent says it needs it for, and notes when the folder is outside what your organization allows or when your organization only allows reading. Choose **Read only**, **Read and write**, or **Not now**.

![Allow access to a folder dialog for \~/code/app with the reason, and Not now, Read only, Read and write](https://mintcdn.com/xpanderai-099931d1/5kO48nCPjVxjKi_K/images/desktop/trust-prompt.png?fit=max\&auto=format\&n=5kO48nCPjVxjKi_K\&q=85\&s=92fbcd921a632f55e9dcab19ac183705)

An agent asking for a folder, with its reason. Shown with sample data.

If the window is not in front, a notification tells you **An agent asks to use a folder**, and macOS shows the same question. Your answer is saved: the folder stays trusted, for every conversation, until you stop trusting it in Settings.

## What your organization's policy changes

Your organization's [Desktop policy](https://docs.xpander.ai/desktop/admin.md#desktop-policy), and your own **Files** switch in [Settings](https://docs.xpander.ai/desktop/your-controls.md), decide what any trusted folder may be used for:

* **Files off**: agents cannot use files on this computer at all.
* **Read only**: every folder is read only, whatever you set. A read-and-write folder reads **Read only: your organization does not allow changes**.
* **Folder rules**: your organization may allow only certain folders. A folder outside them reads **Outside what your organization allows** and agents cannot use it.

The app and your xpander both check every file request against these rules: a path outside your trusted folders is refused on your computer, even when it is reached through a shortcut or a symbolic link.


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