---
title: Open a folder
description: Start a thread on a folder on your computer — what the trust sheet shows, folders with and without Git, parallel copies, and what the chips in a thread mean.
---

A thread belongs to one folder. The folder you pick is the folder I work on:
nothing above it, and nothing next to it.

## Open one

- **New thread** in the sidebar, ++cmd+n++ (++ctrl+n++ on Windows and Linux), or
  ++cmd+o++ from anywhere.
- On macOS, drop a folder on the Ysra icon in the Dock.
- On Windows, right-click a folder and choose **Open in Ysra**.

I won't open a whole disk, your whole home folder, a system folder, or my own
data folder. Pick the project folder inside it.

## The trust sheet

Before I read anything, I show what I found and ask.

![The trust sheet for a folder](../assets/screens/desktop/open-folder.webp){ width="1242" height="1118" }
/// caption
Trusting a folder before I read it.
///

| Row | Meaning |
|---|---|
| **folder** | Where it is on this computer |
| **branch** | The branch that is checked out |
| **revision** | The commit it is on |
| **uncommitted** | Files you have changed and not committed. I keep them read-only: I can read them, never overwrite them |

Then choose how to start:

| Option | What it does |
|---|---|
| **Agent** | I start on your first message |
| **Plan first** | Your first message becomes a written specification you approve before any code changes |
| **Autonomy** | **Governed** asks at each boundary. **Max** lets me go further and check my own work again |
| **Start a fresh thread instead of resuming the last one** | Otherwise I pick up the last conversation for this folder |
| **Work in a parallel copy** | Creates a branch `ysra/<name>` in its own folder under `~/.ysra/worktrees`, so this thread can't collide with others on the same project. Your open folder is not touched |

Choose **Trust & open**. The folder is remembered as trusted on this computer,
for the app and the CLI alike, so I don't ask again.

## Folders without Git

A folder without Git works. The sheet says:

```text
not a Git folder: I keep my own record of changes outside it, and add nothing to it
```

Diff, review and undo all work the same way. Nothing is created inside your
folder to make that possible.

## A folder inside another repository

If you open a subfolder of a larger repository, I work only in that subfolder:

```text
not its own Git folder (it sits inside acme, which I leave alone): I keep my own
record of changes outside it, and add nothing to it
```

To commit to the repository, open the repository's own folder instead.

## What the chips mean

At the top of a thread:

| Chip | Meaning |
|---|---|
| **Local folder** | I work on this folder, on this computer |
| **I can see this folder** | The app is open and connected to the folder. While it's reconnecting it says so; **I can't see this folder · retry** reconnects when you click it |
| **on edge-01** | The thread runs on a [device](devices-targets.md); this computer only shows it |
| **Running** | I'm working |
| **Docker: allowed for this session · Revoke** | You allowed Docker for this thread. See [Docker](docker.md) |
| **Preview ready** | There's a running version to look at. See [Previews](previews.md) |

In the message box:

| Chip | Meaning |
|---|---|
| **Local** | This thread works on a folder on this computer |
| the branch name | The branch the folder is on |
| **Auto** | Auto mode for this thread. See [Approvals and auto mode](approvals.md#auto-mode) |

## The app has to be open

I can only work on a folder while Ysra is open on the computer that has it. If
you close the app mid-task, I pause and pick up when you return. See
[Stop and continue](stop-continue.md).