# Files

> An assistant's files stay between tasks and after its workspace sleeps. Browse and preview them in the Files view, and see where repositories live.

Each assistant's workspace has a real folder of files. What the assistant creates there stays put: between one task and the next, and after the workspace goes to sleep and wakes again. You do not need to ask it to save anything.

## What persists

| Situation | Are the files still there? |
| --- | --- |
| The next task starts | Yes |
| The workspace goes idle and sleeps | Yes |
| The workspace wakes on your next request | Yes |
| You press Reset on the Computer page | No, Reset removes the workspace and its files |

Installed tools persist the same way. The first start sets up the assistant's tools, and later starts skip that step.

## Browse and preview

Open [the Computer page](https://stellarfirm.ai/app/computer), or the **Computer** tab in a chat, and choose **Files**.

- A breadcrumb at the top starts at **Home**, the assistant's working folder, and shows where you are.
- Open a folder to list what is inside. Open a file to preview it.
- Previews are capped in size. A binary file shows only its size.
- Images such as screenshots from the browser preview as pictures when they are small enough.
- Nothing is cached. The view loads fresh each time you open it, and **Refresh** reloads it while you watch a task run.

You can only see inside the assistant's working folder. Paths that try to leave it, including with `..`, are refused.

> [!NOTE]
> The Files view is read-only. To change a file, ask the assistant in chat.

> [!SOON]
> A one-press Download button for files is Coming soon. Until then, preview a file and copy what you need, or ask the assistant to put the result in a pull request or paste it into the chat.

## Repositories live in the workspace

When you connect a source-control tool such as [GitHub](/docs/integrations/github), the Coder clones your repository into its own workspace, before its first task. It never clones onto your computer and never works in a folder on your machine.

That has a few practical effects:

- Your own copy of the repository is never touched while the Coder works.
- Each Coder has its own copy, so several Coders never trip over each other's files.
- Your login for the repository is passed to a single command at a time. It is never written into the repository settings or shown in the Files view.
- If the clone fails, the job stops as **Blocked** before any coding, with a plain sentence saying what to fix, such as the token not being able to read that repository.

What happens to the work afterwards depends on your house rules. The Coder can open a pull request for review, and merge when your house rules allow it. Pushing waits for your Approve unless your house rules allow it. See [approvals](/docs/ceo/approvals) and [house rules](/docs/ceo/house-rules).

## Good habits

- Ask for a short summary of where things are: "Coder, list the files you changed and where they are."
- Keep large generated files out of the repository. Ask the Coder to save them in a separate folder instead.
- Keep what matters in your repository or a document you control. A workspace is the assistant's desk, not your archive.

```prompt title="Find out what changed"
Coder, list every file you created or changed in your workspace for [task], with one line on what each is for. Tell me where the folder is.
```

```prompt title="Save a report in the workspace"
Coder, write your findings on [topic] to a file called [report-name].md in your workspace, then tell me the path so I can open it in the Files view.
```

---

Source: https://stellarfirm.ai/docs/workspaces/files