# Projects & workspaces

A project is a folder you've opened. Attach one to a session and it becomes the working directory agents read and write in. Foxora only ever touches the folders you open — nothing else on your machine is in reach.

## Three ways to start a workspace

During onboarding — and any time after, from the Command Center — you choose where a session works:

- 01Open a folderPoint Foxora at a folder already on your machine. It attaches to the active session as a project and becomes the working directory. The editor opens on it immediately.Open folderWhere to start → Open a folder.
- 02Clone a repoGive Foxora a Git URL and it clones the repository into a fresh folder, then opens it as the session’s project — ready to build, test, and commit.Clone a repoWhere to start → Clone a repo.
- 03ScratchpadNo setup, no folder. The scratchpad drops you straight into a conversation for quick questions, planning, or anything that doesn’t need files on disk. You can open a folder later without losing the thread.ScratchpadWhere to start → Scratchpad — jump in with no setup.

## The active working directory

A session can have more than one project attached, but exactly one is active — that’s the working directory agents operate in, and the folder the editor shows. The link runs both ways: switching sessions opens that session’s active project, and opening a brand-new folder attaches it to the session you’re in.

> Working dir vs. pathA session’s working directory is its view of a project. When a session runs in an isolated worktree, the working directory is that worktree; otherwise it’s the shared folder path. The editor follows whichever is in effect.

## Foxora only touches what you open

This is a hard boundary, not a convention. Agents read and write inside the folders attached to a session and nowhere else — the rest of your machine is out of reach. Opening a folder is how you grant access; closing or detaching it takes the access away.

> Group sessions by projectWorking across a few repos? Switch the sidebar to group by project to see every session, bucketed under the folder it touches.