---
title: "A folder on this machine"
description: "Connect a local folder or a mounted network drive to a meinGPT data source."
canonical_url: "https://meingpt.com/en/docs/integrations/vault/sources/local"
language: en
---

# A folder on this machine

This is the most common case and the reason the Outpost exists: a folder sits on the machine (or is mounted there as a drive), and meinGPT should be able to search it. The source and search index stay there; you decide per folder on the Outpost what may leave for a request.

**Only with your own Outpost**

Only an Outpost can read a folder on a machine. Without your own Outpost this
source type does not exist — you connect your storage in meinGPT directly
instead (SharePoint, Google Drive, S3 …).

## It is two steps, in two places

The connection is made of two halves, and the order is not arbitrary:

|     | Where              | What                                                                                                    |
| --- | ------------------ | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| 1   | **In the Outpost** | Share the folder — pick the path, data retrieval, and local source access.                              |
| 2   | **In meinGPT**     | **Adopt** the reported folder under _Shares_, name it, and then grant **Access**. That is what decides **who** may find it. |

The machine reports its folders itself; meinGPT can only adopt what was reported. The data source in meinGPT does not know where the folder is — that exists only on the Outpost machine. The Outpost does not know who may search — that exists only in meinGPT.

**One setting, one owner**

Data retrieval and source access are set exclusively on the Outpost. meinGPT
only displays the values most recently reported by the device and can neither
change nor widen them. In the platform you manage adoption, the name, user
access, and any narrower tool policy.

### Share the folder in the Outpost

**Shares** tab → **Share** → **A folder**.

The path must be **absolute** — `C:\Data\Quotes` or `/srv/documents`. **Choose folder** opens the operating system's file dialog.

![The first step of the share wizard: choose a folder path, with the analysis below it — how many files are directly readable, need OCR, or aren't supported.](/images/vault/sources/bind-wizard-folder.webp)

The same wizard immediately continues with two more steps for release level and source access — the next two steps on this page. There is no ID to type: the machine reports the folder to meinGPT itself once you save.

### Decide how much it releases

Open the folder's row. At the very top: **What this folder releases**:

| Level                       | What travels to meinGPT                                                    |
| --------------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Text only** _(default)_   | the extracted text of the documents found. The files stay on this machine. |
| **Text and original files** | the file itself as well — it then leaves the machine.                      |

The decision is made here, not in meinGPT: whoever binds the folder is the person who knows whether its files may leave the building. The platform only displays this device report.

### Set source access

**Read only** is the default. **Read and write** allows meinGPT to explicitly
create, edit, rename, or recoverably delete small text files inside the shared
folder. Data retrieval and source access are independent: permission to retrieve
original files does not grant write access.

When saving, the Outpost checks the operating-system permission. Before every
change it checks the current local policy and target path again. Create and
rename never overwrite; edit and delete retain the previous file in the local
recovery area. The platform can only narrow this local ceiling.

### Adopt it in meinGPT and share it

**Settings → Outposts → Manage → Shares.** The reported folder is listed there with its path. **Use as source**, give it a name — from then on it is a collection like any other.

![A reported, not-yet-adopted folder in meinGPT with the "Use as source" button.](/images/vault/deployment/adopt-folder.webp)

That does not yet make it visible to anyone but you. In the list of document collections, click **Access** and add the people, teams, or assistants that may work with it — that is what decides **who** finds the documents.

![The "Share source" dialog: set access for the workspace, or add individual members and teams.](/images/vault/deployment/share-dialog.webp)

### Let it index

If the Outpost is running, the pass starts on its own. If the status bar at the bottom says `Stopped`, nothing happens — press **Start** first. The row under **Shares** only shows whether the folder is already usable. Open the folder and switch to **Processing** to follow file discovery, text extraction or OCR, and the keyword and vector indexes separately.

## Network drives

A network drive works as a local folder **if it is permanently mounted from the Outpost process's point of view**:

- **Windows:** a UNC path (`\\server\share\folder`) or a mapped drive. Careful: mapped drive letters are per user session. If the Outpost runs as a different account it will not see `Z:\` — use the UNC path instead. Details on [SMB shares](/en/docs/integrations/vault/sources/smb).
- **Linux:** a mount point from `/etc/fstab` that survives a reboot.

The folder must be readable by the account the Outpost runs as. Grant that
account operating-system write access only when **Read and write** is enabled
for this exact folder in the Outpost.

## What gets read, and what does not

The Outpost reads the folder **including subfolders** and picks up new, changed and deleted files on later runs.

What it cannot process, it skips — and that is the thing that decides answer quality. Open the folder under **Shares**. **Source documents** lists the affected files with the concrete reason; **Processing** shows exceptions while building the search indexes.

Typical large bars and what they mean:

- **`.zip`** — archives are not unpacked. If the quote is inside a ZIP, nobody finds it.
- **`.msg`** — individually exported Outlook mails. There is currently no dedicated mailbox source — only individually exported messages are read.
- **`no extension`, `.exe`, `.dll`, `.pyc`** — no text inside, correctly skipped.
- **Images and video** — no text that can be extracted as-is.

**A folder you release is open to everyone who can see the data source**

File and directory permissions do **not** travel. Anyone allowed to see this
data source in meinGPT finds every document in it — including someone who
could not open the folder in Explorer. Check that before you release it, not
after.

There is one beta exception: **Windows user permissions (Beta)** can be enabled per workspace, and it makes each user's real NTFS permissions apply to search, download, and file changes — but only for folders bound as a local NTFS folder on this machine itself. Network drives and shares connected via UNC path are excluded from this feature; the rule above still applies to them. Talk to your account contact if you'd like to test this beta feature.

## When nothing gets indexed

1. **Status bar:** does it read `Running`? If not, press **Start**.
2. **Shares → folder → Source documents:** is this the expected path, and which file reports which error?
3. **Shares → folder → Folder activity:** the failed synchronization names the cause and the next action.
4. **Processing:** if files failed during extraction or while building the keyword or vector index, the exception is shown at the affected stage.

### [SMB share](/en/docs/integrations/vault/sources/smb)

Mount a Windows or Samba share first, then bind it exactly like a local
folder.

### [Console & operations](/en/docs/integrations/vault/operations)

Status, activity, protocol and diagnostics.