Set up a folder as a tool (desktop)

In the desktop edition, a folder tool connects a fixed root folder as a data source: the assistant can search it and read files and — if enabled — write files. You set this up in the Administration → Configured tools tab. For context see Configurable tools — overview.

Step by step

1. Set the root path — the one folder the tool refers to.
2. Choose the capabilities: read (search, read — including PDF, Word, Excel and PowerPoint) and optionally write (create, change). The default is read-only — writing must be enabled deliberately.
3. Decide whether the tool is available in chat and/or for agents, and verify with the test function.

Security guarantees

• Sandbox containment. All access is strictly confined to the configured root folder — the assistant cannot break out of it.
• Read-only by default. Without explicitly enabled write, the tool is read-only.
• Text files are PII-exempt. As with the built-in workspace, read text (code, configuration, Markdown) stays intact. → The PII shield
• Documents are checked. The assistant treats PDF and Office content like a chat attachment: with the PII shield on, the model sees personal data (e.g. an IBAN) only as a placeholder. If you do not want that for a tool, tick PII-exempt on it — documents then reach the model provider unchecked as well. Scanned PDFs without a text layer cannot be read. The shared switch for document readers applies here too.
• Writing with original values. If the model copies a placeholder into a file, write stores the original value in the folder.
• Admin-only.

Distinction from the built-in workspace

Not to be confused with the assistant’s built-in workspace (desktop) → Tools: workspace & Git (desktop). The folder tool described here is a data source self-configured by administrators against a deliberately chosen root folder. Working through many files one by one (“check every invoice”) works with both: the assistant reads each file in a run of its own and returns a table with one row per file. It uses only the folder tool’s read functions, so nothing is written. → Tools: Process many files or mails one by one