Agent file system
Agents can now work with files directly during a conversation using a mounted, path-based file system, then explicitly present the files they want to show back to you. This is the wider rollout of Autohive’s file-first agent harness, and it’s available on all plans.
Previously, agents mostly worked with files indirectly (for example, through workspace content access or file attachments). With this file system, an agent can list, read, write, edit, search, and delete files by path as part of its normal working process, then hand the results back to you as a viewable or downloadable file.
Where agent files live
An agent’s file system is organised into a small set of paths, each with a different purpose:
| Path | What it’s for |
|---|---|
/content/workspace | Your workspace’s durable Content area — the same files and folders you manage yourself. See Content area. |
/conversation-inputs | Files uploaded into the current conversation. |
/outputs | Durable files the agent creates during the conversation that should stick around. |
/scratchpad | Temporary working space backed by the conversation’s own sandbox. Useful for intermediate work that doesn’t need to be kept. |
/skills | Files bundled with a skill the agent has loaded. |
Files under /content/workspace persist the same way anything else in your Content area does. Files under /scratchpad are temporary and scoped to the current conversation’s sandbox.
What agents can do with files
Agents equipped with this file system have access to a set of path-based file tools:
| Tool | What it does |
|---|---|
| List directory | Lists the files and subfolders at a given path. |
| Read file | Reads a file’s contents by path. Supports reading a specific slice of a large text file rather than the whole thing. |
| Write file | Creates a new file at a path with the given content. |
| Edit file | Applies one or more exact find-and-replace changes to an existing file, rather than rewriting the whole thing. |
| Search file contents | Searches within a single file for a pattern, similar to a command-line search. |
| Delete file | Deletes the file or folder at a given path. |
| Save to Content area | Copies a file from the conversation (e.g. something under /conversation-inputs or /outputs) into your workspace’s durable Content area. |
| Present | Publishes a specific file back to you in the chat interface — see below. |
Presenting files back to you
The Present tool is how an agent explicitly shows you a file it’s produced or found, rather than just mentioning it in text. When an agent presents a file:
- Supported file formats open directly in Autohive’s built-in viewer, alongside the conversation.
- Any other file format is offered to you as a download instead.
- Presented files can be up to 10 MB.
Presenting a file requires an active conversation — it’s how an agent shows you something, so there needs to be a chat for it to appear in.
Deleting files doesn’t require approval
Deleting a file or folder through this file system does not require your approval before it happens, even if you’d normally expect deletions to be sensitive. This is because:
- Deleted files are soft-deleted, meaning they can be recovered if something is removed by mistake.
- Agents have generally gotten more capable at working safely with files.
Availability
The agent file system and the Present tool are available to agents on all plans. No separate setup is required to switch it on — it’s part of how agents already work with files during a conversation.