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Local FS

Index files from a folder on your computer

✅ Ready📖 Documentation Available

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What is this?

Local FS lets you point PipesHub at a folder on your computer so you can search the files in it from PipesHub chat and the knowledge base. Four things to know up front:
  • It works through the PipesHub desktop app. The desktop app on your computer reads the folder and sends the files to PipesHub. The PipesHub server never opens the folder itself.
  • PipesHub only reads the folder. It doesn’t move, rename, copy, or delete anything.
  • There’s no login. No password, no API key, no cloud account. You just pick a folder.
  • It’s a personal connector — you set it up under Workspace Settings → Your Connectors, and the files you index are searchable by you inside PipesHub. It is not shared with the rest of your team.

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Words you’ll see

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One thing to know first — the folder belongs to one computer

Each Local FS instance belongs to the computer where you first turn sync on. From then on:
  • PipesHub only syncs that instance while the desktop app is open and signed in on that computer. If the app is closed or the computer is off, syncs are skipped and pick up where they left off when it’s back.
  • The file contents are also read from that computer when PipesHub indexes them, so indexing pauses while it’s offline too.
  • You can’t move an instance to another computer. To sync a folder on a different computer, set up a new instance there.
A folder on a server, or one mounted into a Docker or Kubernetes container, can’t be synced with Local FS — only folders the desktop app can see.

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What you need before you start

  1. The PipesHub desktop app, installed and signed in on the computer that has the folder. Local FS can’t be set up from a web browser. The app is available for Windows and Linux. These links download the current release; every installer is also on the latest release.
  2. A PipesHub account where you can open Workspace Settings (profile menu at the bottom of the main sidebar) and see Your Connectors under the Personal section.
  3. A folder you want to make searchable.

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Setup

Setup

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Step 1 — Open Local FS in the PipesHub desktop app

  1. In the desktop app, open your user profile menu at the bottom of the left sidebar, then choose Workspace Settings.
  2. In the workspace settings sidebar, under Personal, click Your Connectors.
  3. Find the Local FS card.
  4. Click + Setup on the card.
Your Connectors catalog with Local FS and + Setup
A panel slides in from the right with two tabs: Authenticate Instance and Configure Records. You’ll fill them in order.
Local FS is a personal connector — set it up from Workspace Settings → Your Connectors, not Workspace Settings → Connectors (team scope). Open Workspace Settings from the profile menu at the bottom of the main sidebar; do not use the Personal section of the main app sidebar (that area is for actions like toolsets, not connector setup).
In a web browser, clicking + Setup on Local FS shows Desktop app required instead of the panel. Open the desktop app and start again there.

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Step 2 — Name the instance (Authenticate Instance tab)

The first tab is Authenticate Instance. Local FS has no login, so you’ll see a banner that says No authentication required for this connector. That’s normal — there’s nothing to paste.
Authenticate Instance tab — no credentials needed
  1. In Instance name, type a short name you’ll recognise later (for example My laptop or Work notes).
  2. Click Next → at the bottom.
The instance name is just a label for you. Pick something descriptive — when you add a second folder later, this is how you’ll tell them apart.

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Step 3 — Pick the folder and how often to sync (Configure Records tab)

The panel moves you to the Configure Records tab. This is the only tab where you actually have to make choices.
Configure Records tab with Sync settings and the Local folder field
Under Sync settings there are two choices:
  • Sync Strategy
    • Scheduled — PipesHub syncs on its own at the interval you pick, while the desktop app is open.
    • Manual — only syncs when you press Sync / Full sync yourself. The first sync still starts when you turn on Sync Enabled.
  • Sync Interval — how often a scheduled sync runs. The default, 1 Hour, is a good starting point.
Under Additional settings:
  • Local folder — the folder you want to index. Click Choose folder to pick it, or type the full path.
  • Include subfolders — leave this on to index everything inside the folder. Turn it off to index only the files at the top level.
  • Batch size — leave it as the default unless someone has told you otherwise.
Not sure what to pick? Scheduled, 1 Hour, Include subfolders ON, batch size as-is — that’s the right answer for most people.
Each folder can only be synced by one instance on a computer. Picking a folder that another Local FS instance on this computer already syncs is refused.

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Step 4 — (Optional) Narrow down what gets synced

If your folder has lots of files you don’t care about (build outputs, photos, downloads), you can tell PipesHub to skip them.Scroll to Indexing & sync filters and click + Add filter.
Indexing & sync filters with + Add filter
The available filters:File Extensions has two operators: In (“only these”) and Not in (“everything except these”).Quick examples:
  • PDFs only — File Extensions · In · .pdf
  • Skip videos and archives — File Extensions · Not in · .mp4, .mov, .zip
  • Recent files only — Modified Date · Is after · pick a date
When you’re done, click Save Configuration at the bottom of the panel.
No filters? That’s fine for small folders. PipesHub will just sync everything it can read.

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Step 5 — Turn sync on

After you save, you’ll land on the Local FS instance page with one row — your new instance.
Local FS instance row with Sync Enabled toggle
Right now the row shows Sync Paused — nothing is happening yet.
  1. Find the Sync Enabled toggle on the right of the row.
  2. Click it on.
The status flips to Sync Enabled, this computer becomes the instance’s owner, and the first sync starts right away. You don’t need to press Sync yourself.
Turn sync on from the desktop app on the computer that has the folder. A web browser, or the desktop app on a different computer, can’t turn it on.

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Step 6 — Watch progress

Click anywhere on the instance row to open the Overview panel on the right.
Overview panel with record stats and sync actions
In the panel you can see:
  • Total — how many files PipesHub has found.
  • Completed — files that are fully indexed and searchable.
  • Processing — files being read right now.
  • Queued / Not Started — files waiting their turn.
  • Failed — files PipesHub couldn’t read (usually a corrupt or protected file, or a file over 100 MB).
  • Sync / Full sync — re-run a sync any time. Sync picks up only what’s changed; Full sync rescans the whole folder.
  • Manage Configuration — re-opens the two tabs from Steps 2–4 if you want to change the folder or filters later. Settings can only be changed in the desktop app; in a web browser this view is read-only.
That’s it! 🎉 Once Processing and Queued drop to zero, your folder is fully searchable in PipesHub.

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The desktop app keeps track of changes

While it’s open, the desktop app watches the folder and keeps a list of every file added, edited, renamed, moved or deleted. If the app was closed, it compares the folder with what it saw last time when it starts again, so changes made in the meantime aren’t missed.Nothing is sent until PipesHub runs a sync. A sync asks the desktop app for that list of changes, and PipesHub then fetches the contents of each new or edited file from the desktop app to index it.

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First sync (full scan)

The first time, the desktop app walks every file in the folder you chose (and every subfolder, if you left that option on) and sends the list to PipesHub. Bigger folders take longer, since every file is read once.Tip: filtering by file extension (e.g. PDFs only) makes the first sync faster.

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Later syncs (just what changed)

After the first sync, PipesHub only gets what’s different since last time:
  • New files — added to search.
  • Edited files — re-indexed.
  • Renamed or moved files — updated in place, without re-indexing if the contents didn’t change.
  • Deleted files — removed from search.
These are usually quick.Full sync walks the whole folder again, like the first sync. Use it if search seems out of step with the folder.

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Files that are skipped

The desktop app ignores system and temporary files such as .DS_Store, Thumbs.db, desktop.ini, editor swap files and .tmp files, and the contents of .git, node_modules, __pycache__ and .venv folders. Shortcuts and symbolic links are not followed.

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Who can see the synced files?

Local FS is registered as a personal connector. Only your PipesHub user can search the files indexed by your instance. It does not change permissions on disk in any way.

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Scheduled vs Manual

Scheduled runs on its own at the interval you picked, as long as the desktop app is open on the computer that owns the instance. Set it once and forget about it.Manual only runs when you click Sync or Full sync. Useful when:
  • You just dropped a batch of files into the folder and want them searchable now.
  • You’re testing filter changes.
You can click Sync or Full sync from the desktop app or from a web browser, but the desktop app must be open on the computer that owns the instance.

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Fully searchable (text inside the file)

These get parsed so you can search the actual contents:
  • Documents — PDF, DOCX, DOC, PPTX, PPT, XLSX, XLS
  • E-books — EPUB, unless copy-protected (DRM). Their text is searchable, but they can’t be previewed in PipesHub; download the book to read it
  • Plain text and data — TXT, MD, MDX, CSV, TSV, JSON, YAML, HTML
  • Code — .py, .js, .ts, .java, and most others
  • Images — JPG, JPEG, PNG, WebP, SVG, HEIC, HEIF

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Stored but not searched inside

These show up by filename and metadata, but their contents aren’t indexed:
  • Other document formats — ODT, RTF, XML, …
  • Images — GIF
  • Video and audio
  • Archives (ZIP, RAR, …)
  • Other binary files
Password-protected PDFs and Office files can’t be indexed unless they’re unlocked. Files over 100 MB can’t be read from the desktop app and show as Failed.

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Troubleshooting

Local FS only syncs while the desktop app is open and signed in on the computer that owns the instance.
  • Open the PipesHub desktop app on that computer and sign in.
  • If the instance shows Desktop offline, it belongs to a computer that isn’t connected. Clicking Sync shows a message naming that computer. Open the app there, not on a different computer.
  • Skipped syncs aren’t lost — the next sync picks up every change made in the meantime.
  • The folder may have been renamed, moved, or deleted. Open the instance in the desktop app, click Manage Configuration, choose the folder again, and save.
  • If the folder is on an external drive or network share, make sure it’s connected.
  • Make sure your user account on that computer can open the folder.
Files already indexed stay in search until the folder is back.
  • Turn sync on from the desktop app, not a web browser.
  • If the instance was first enabled on another computer, it belongs to that computer and can only be turned on there. To sync from this computer, set up a new instance here.
  • The folder might genuinely be empty, or all the files might live in subfolders while Include subfolders is off.
  • Your filters might be excluding everything — open Manage Configuration and double-check.
  • The files might all be skipped types (see Files that are skipped under How syncing works).
  • Allow a minute or two for indexing to finish — large files take longer. The desktop app must stay open while files are being indexed.
  • Check the file type is one PipesHub can read inside (see What PipesHub can read).
  • Password-protected PDFs and Office files won’t be indexed, and files over 100 MB fail.
  • If Enable Manual Indexing is on, files are synced but not indexed until you choose them.
  • Make sure Sync Strategy is set to Scheduled and Sync Interval has a value.
  • Confirm Sync Enabled on the instance card is on (not paused).
  • Make sure the desktop app is open and signed in on the computer that owns the instance. Scheduled syncs are skipped while it isn’t.
While the desktop app is running with sync on, your operating system (especially Windows) may block renaming or moving the folder, because the app is watching it. Turn sync off for that instance, or quit the desktop app, then try again.

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Frequently asked questions

No. The desktop app only reads files to build search records. It never writes back to your folder.
Local FS is registered as a personal connector — only your PipesHub user can search files indexed by your instance. For team-wide file sharing, use a cloud connector (S3, GCS, Azure Blob, Google Drive, OneDrive, etc.).
On the next sync, PipesHub notices it’s gone and removes it from search.
Yes. On the Local FS instance page click + Add another instance, give it a different name, and point it at a different folder. Each instance has its own filters and its own on/off toggle.
No. Local FS only reads folders through the PipesHub desktop app, so the folder must be on the computer running the desktop app.
Instances can’t be moved. Set up a new Local FS instance in the desktop app on the new computer, and delete the old one.
The path is saved in your PipesHub configuration. There are no credentials to leak — only the path string itself.