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

# Files & terminal

> Your home folder and shell, on your terms

Beyond seeing and clicking, a linked machine can grant two deeper
capabilities — each with its own guardrails.

## Filesystem access

On the linked machine's card in the Console you'll find the **Filesystem
access** toggle. The disclosure next to it says exactly what it does:

> Lets this assistant read files from your home folder on request and save
> edited copies back — your originals are never overwritten. This exposes
> your entire home directory over a secure connection; turn it off any time
> to revoke access.

With it enabled:

* **Reading is on-request.** Your assistant doesn't crawl your disk. When
  you ask it to work with a file — *"grab the Q3 contract from my
  Documents"* — it browses to it and fetches that file over the secure
  channel.
* **Your originals are sacred.** When your assistant edits something, the
  result is saved back **as a timestamped copy alongside the original**, in
  a review location — never over the file you had. You look at the edited
  copy and decide what to do with it.
* **Sensitive corners are skipped.** Credential folders (`.ssh` keys and
  the like) and machine noise (caches, dependency folders) are excluded
  from what the assistant fetches.
* **Off means off.** Flip the toggle any time; access is revoked and the
  keys that enabled it are cleared — taking effect within about a minute,
  even mid-session.

<Tip>
  Filesystem access pairs beautifully with everything else: a file from
  your laptop can be summarized in chat, become a
  [data table](/canvas/data), or be updated and emailed on — without you
  ever moving it anywhere first.
</Tip>

## Terminal & shell commands

Your assistant can also run **commands on your machine** — the newest
addition to linked desktops:

* *"Run the backup script in my projects folder."*
* *"Check whether Docker is running and restart it if not."*
* *"Show me what's eating disk space in my home directory."*

Two firm rules govern this:

1. **Only commands you ask for.** The shell is for things you explicitly
   want executed on your machine. Your assistant won't run commands there
   on its own initiative for its own convenience.
2. **The shell is not a back door to your files.** Reading and fetching
   your files always goes through the filesystem access channel above, with
   its no-overwrite guarantees and exclusions — your assistant is expressly
   forbidden from using shell commands to dump or copy your file contents
   around them.

## Whose rules apply where

A quick contrast with [the assistant's own
computer](/their-computer/overview), where none of this ceremony exists —
it installs software, moves files, and runs commands freely on its own
machine. On *your* machine the defaults invert: everything is on-request,
originals are protected, and consent is checked continuously. Same
assistant, very different manners — by design.