Files

The Files tab provides a file browser for the thread’s working directory. Instead of switching to an external IDE to inspect or organise files, you can do it directly inside Tarsk.

Opening the Files panel

Open the Files window from the chat dock taskbar (dimmed folder icon or + → Files). The file tree shows all files and folders in the thread’s directory (the .git folder is hidden at the root level).

Browsing Files

• Click a folder to expand it and view its contents.
• Click a file to open it in the editor panel for viewing or editing.
• Files and folders ignored by .gitignore are shown with a dimmed indicator, so you can see what the agent would skip.

Copying Files with Drag & Drop

Drag files from your file manager onto the Files window to copy them into the thread directory:

1. Drop a file onto a folder in the file tree to copy it into that folder (the folder highlights while you hover), or anywhere else in the tree or main editor area to copy it into the repository root.
2. Confirm the copy in the dialog that appears.
3. The file is copied into the thread directory and the tree refreshes.

You can drop multiple files at once. Dropped folders are skipped — drop individual files instead. Copying never overwrites: if a file with the same name already exists in the target folder, the copy fails with an error instead of replacing it.

Chat composer drops

You can also drop files onto any chat composer (main chat, floating/dock, or ask-user reply). The composer highlights while you hover. After you confirm, files copy into the repository root and, on the main composer, are added as attachments for the next message. Dropped folders are skipped, collisions are not overwritten, and dropping without a selected thread shows a toast instead of inserting an unusable path.

Creating Files and Folders

1. Right-click a folder (or use the toolbar button) and choose New File or New Folder.
2. Enter the name. File names must not contain / or \.
3. The file or folder is created immediately inside the selected directory.

Renaming

1. Right-click a file or folder and choose Rename.
2. Enter the new name. Names must not contain / or \, and cannot be . or ...
3. The item is renamed on disk immediately.

Deleting

1. Right-click a file or folder and choose Delete.
2. Confirm the deletion. On the desktop app, items are moved to the system trash. On the CLI, items are permanently deleted.

Caution

Deleting is immediate and (in CLI mode) irreversible. Deleted files are not staged in git — they are removed from disk.

Editing Files

When you click a file in the Files tab, it opens in an inline editor where you can view and modify its content. Changes are saved to disk automatically. This is useful for quick edits alongside the agent’s work, such as:

• Adjusting a configuration value
• Fixing a typo the agent introduced
• Adding a comment to a file

Markdown Preview

Markdown files (.md) open with a View/Edit toggle that renders formatted output alongside the raw source.

Media Preview

Image and video files (PNG, JPG, GIF, WebP, SVG, MP4, WebM, MOV, AVI, etc.) display inline previews. Media is loaded via blob URLs from the thread directory.

Mobile Layout

On narrow screens, the file tree can be toggled hidden to give more space to the editor panel. Use the tree visibility control in the Files toolbar.

Relationship to the AI Agent

The Files tab and the agent operate on the same filesystem. Changes you make in the Files tab are visible to the agent immediately, and vice versa. If you and the agent edit the same file simultaneously, the last write wins — so coordinate on which files you are each working on.

Tips

• Use the Files tab to quickly inspect what the agent has created or modified without leaving Tarsk.
• The Files tab is especially useful for reviewing files the agent created (images, config files, generated code) before committing.
• If you need a full-featured editor experience, use the Open in toolbar button to open the thread directory in your IDE instead.