GranularPrivacy and access
Control what an AI agent can touch: give it extra folders to edit or only read, and choose whether it asks before changing files or running commands.
Updated 2026-10-20
Settings → Privacy & access shows everything Granular and its agents can reach: your computer's own permissions (microphone, screen recording, accessibility) and every folder your projects use. From each chat you can also add extra folders, set each one to Can edit or Read only, and choose how much the agent checks with you before it changes files.
Open Privacy & access
- Click the Settings button (the gear icon).
- Click Privacy & access.
You can also press ⌘K (Mac) or Ctrl+K (Windows) and type "Privacy".
Changes you make here apply from each chat's next message.
System access
These are permissions your computer controls, not Granular. The page shows whether each one is on, and a button that opens the right place in your computer's settings.
| Permission | What Granular uses it for |
|---|---|
| Microphone | Dictation and voice mode. |
| Screen Recording | Screenshots of other apps and screen sharing. |
| Accessibility | Letting an agent click and type in other apps. |
Each row shows one of: Allowed, Not allowed, Not asked yet or Unknown. Click Open System Settings (Mac) or Open Windows Settings (Windows) to change it there. When you come back to Granular, the page checks again.
On Windows, Screen Recording and Accessibility show Not needed on Windows, because Windows doesn't ask apps for these.
Folders
The Folders group lists every project, with:
- its main folder, marked Main folder · Full access
- the extra folders pinned to the project, each with a Can edit or Read only switch and an Unpin button
A pinned folder comes with every new chat in that project. Folders you added to a single chat aren't listed here. Change those from the chat itself (see below).
If a project has no pinned folders, it says No pinned folders - pin one from a chat's folder chips.
Give a chat extra folders
A chat always works in one folder, its working folder. You can give it more folders, for example a brand folder it should read from, or a second project it should change.
Above the message box is a row of folder chips. The first chip is the working folder.
- Click the Add a folder button (the folder with a plus) at the end of the row.
- Click Choose a folder… and pick a folder. You can also drag a folder from Files onto the row.
- The folder appears as a new chip, set to Can edit.
To change a folder, click its chip:
- Under Access, choose Can edit or Read only.
- Click Pin to project to bring this folder into every new chat in the project. Click Unpin from project to stop.
- Click Remove from this chat to take it away from this chat only.
If the project has pinned folders, the Add a folder menu lists them under Pinned to this project. Click one to switch it on or off for this chat.
What Read only means
When a folder is Read only, the agent can open and read its files, but it can't create, change, move or delete anything in it. This holds even when the read only folder sits inside a folder the agent can edit.
- The agent's own file tools refuse to write there.
- Granular also blocks common terminal commands that would write there, such as copying, moving or deleting files. On Windows this covers PowerShell and Command Prompt commands too.
This is a strong guard, not a guarantee. A program or script the agent runs could still change files, because commands run with your own permissions on your computer. Keep anything you can't afford to lose backed up.
To let the agent change the folder, switch it to Can edit.
Areas agents never change
Whatever folders you give a chat, the agent's file tools won't change the places on your computer that hold passwords, keys and system settings. These include the hidden folders for SSH keys and other credentials, your shell settings files, the Library folder in your home folder on a Mac, and the AppData folder on Windows.
On a Mac, cloud-drive folders such as Dropbox, Google Drive, OneDrive and iCloud Drive live inside Library. If you add one of those folders to a chat as Can edit, the agent can work in it as normal.
How much a chat checks with you
In a Claude chat, a pill next to the model name sets how the agent treats file changes:
| Mode | What happens |
|---|---|
| Auto-allow | The agent changes files in the chat's folders without asking. |
| Ask first | The agent checks with you before it creates or changes a file, or runs a command. |
| Plan (read-only) | The agent reads and plans, but changes nothing. |
Every new chat starts in Auto-allow. Each chat remembers its own mode, so switching one chat doesn't change the others. Helper agents that a chat starts use the same mode as that chat.
With Ask first, a card appears in the chat, for example Permission · change file, with the file's path and the buttons Allow, Always allow and Decline. Always allow lets that kind of file change go ahead from then on. Commands always ask again; they have no Always allow.
Read only folders and the protected areas apply in every mode, including Auto-allow.
Limits
- The permission mode pill appears in Claude chats only. Read only folders and protected areas apply to Claude, Codex and Gemini chats.
- Privacy & access can't turn system permissions on or off. Only your computer's settings can.
- Permissions for connected apps (Gmail, Slack and so on) are set per app. See App permissions.
Troubleshooting
If the agent says a folder is read only
Click the folder's chip and choose Can edit, or switch it in Settings → Privacy & access. The change applies from your next message.
If the agent says a path is in a protected area
That place holds passwords or system settings, and agents can't change it with their file tools. Move the work to a normal folder, or make the change yourself.
If the agent can't see a folder you pinned
Pinned folders come with new chats. In an existing chat, open Add a folder and click the folder under Pinned to this project.