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Folder Portals

A folder portal links a real folder on your computer into Undra, so you and the AI can work on those files right where they live. Nothing is copied. Your files stay exactly where they are on disk, and Undra simply gets a window into them.

This is how you point Undra at an existing project, a folder of notes, or a messy downloads directory, and start working without importing or moving anything.

Link a real folder, keep an AI chat right inside it, and let it edit your files with a backup and one-click undo.

What a portal is

  • A link, not a copy. The portal is a live, two-way connection to a real folder. Edit a file through Undra and the file on disk changes. Change the file on disk and Undra sees the new version.
  • Your files stay yours. Undra does not move your folder into its own storage. It just gets permission to read and write inside that one folder.
  • Desktop only. Folder portals work in the Undra desktop app. They are not available in the web demo.

Mount a folder

There are two ways to create a portal:

  1. From the command palette. Open it with Ctrl/Cmd + K, search for Mount folder portal…, and pick any folder on your computer.
  2. By dragging. Drag a folder from your file manager (Finder or Explorer) straight onto the Undra window.

Either way, Undra shows a short permission prompt with the exact folder path, then adds the folder to your sidebar, named after the folder itself. Expand it to browse the real files inside.

Folders only

You mount a folder, not a single file. Everything inside the folder, including subfolders, comes along with it.

Let the AI work in it

Open an AI chat inside a portal folder and the AI can:

  • Read any file in the folder to understand what is there.
  • Propose changes: create new files, edit existing ones, rename, move, or delete.

The AI is locked to that folder. It can touch files inside the portal and nothing else, not the rest of your computer and not the rest of your workspace. That boundary is automatic.

How changes stay safe

This is the part that makes portals comfortable to use. The AI never quietly rewrites your files. Every change goes through a simple, reversible flow.

  1. The AI proposes. You get a preview card in chat that lists every change it wants to make, file by file, with sizes.
  2. Safe changes apply on their own. Creating, editing, renaming, and moving are reversible, so by default they apply right away. Every file that gets overwritten is backed up first.
  3. Deletions always ask. Removing a file always waits for you to click Apply. Always, even a single one.
  4. Everything is undoable. One click undoes a whole run of changes. Anything overwritten or deleted is moved into a hidden .undra-portal-trash folder inside the portal, so you can recover it.

Prefer to review everything?

If you would rather approve every single change yourself, open Settings, go to AI, and turn off Auto-apply safe file changes. After that, even safe edits wait for your Apply before touching disk.

Deletions are backed up, not vaporized

When you approve a delete, the file is moved to .undra-portal-trash inside the portal, not erased. It is gone for good only when you empty that folder yourself.

Remove a portal

Right-click the portal in the sidebar and choose Unmount portal. Undra stops mirroring the folder and gives up its access.

Your real files on disk are never deleted by unmounting. If you added Undra items inside the portal, those are kept and the folder simply becomes a normal workspace folder.

What portals are good for

  • Work on a real project in place. Point a portal at a code or writing project and ask the AI to make a change across several files at once, then review and undo in one click if you do not like it.
  • Reorganize a folder. Aim a portal at a pile of loose files or notes and have the AI sort, rename, and tidy, with every move backed up.
  • Bring a folder into your thinking. Browse and reference real files next to your notes, plans, and canvases, without copying them in.

Good to know

  • Desktop app only, not the web demo.
  • Large folders show up to 500 items per folder in the sidebar. The AI can still read everything in the folder beyond that.
  • The backup folder (.undra-portal-trash) is hidden from the sidebar, but it is there on disk if you ever need to recover something by hand.
  • Portals show every file. They do not hide things based on a .gitignore, so everything in the folder is visible and editable.

Where to go next