File manager

1. Where you are, and where you can go

The File Manager opens scoped to this application's root directory. You cannot navigate above it — the Up one level button stops there, and the server refuses any path outside it outright:

That boundary is enforced on the server, not just hidden in the interface, so it holds regardless of what a request asks for. Other applications on the same server, and the system directories around them, are not reachable from here.

The htdocs rule

Inside the application root, editing is only enabled inside htdocs.

Outside htdocs the Actions column disappears, New Folder, New File and Upload are hidden, and the permission values stop being clickable. This is deliberate: htdocs is your application's own content, and the folders beside it are managed by the platform.

If the toolbar looks unexpectedly bare, check the path — you are almost certainly one level above htdocs.

Team members cannot delete

Deleting — and the Trash view with it — requires more than the htdocs rule: a user with the team member role never sees the delete action or the trash, even inside htdocs. They can create, edit and upload; they cannot remove.

2. The toolbar

Selecting one or more rows adds a second set:

3. The file list

Clicking a column header sorts by it; clicking again reverses.

Three kinds of entry, distinguished by icon:

A symlink opens what it points at. In a Laravel application the storage link is the one you will meet most often.

An empty folder reads Directory is empty.

4. Per-row actions

5. Viewing and editing files

Both open a full Monaco editor — the same engine as VS Code — with syntax highlighting chosen from the file extension, word wrap on, and a dark theme.

• View is read-only, with Close.
• Edit offers Cancel and Save, confirming File saved successfully.

Archives and directories have no view or edit action; there is nothing sensible to show.

The public-folder confirmation

Opening a file for editing under htdocs or public first asks:

This is worth reading rather than clicking through. Files in that folder are served to the internet. A syntax error there takes the site down immediately, and a file placed there is reachable by anyone who guesses the URL. The prompt exists because that folder is the one where a mistake is instantly public.

6. Uploading

Three ways, all landing in the current folder:

Upload opens a dialog where you choose a target path, then add files or a whole folder. Selected items are listed with a Remove beside each, and the dialog shows No files selected yet. until you add something.

Folder upload preserves structure — subdirectories are recreated on the server rather than being flattened.

Drag and drop anywhere on the page uploads to the folder you are viewing. The page highlights while you drag.

Uploads are processed one file at a time, with a progress banner, ending in Upload complete. A failure on one file is reported by name and does not stop the rest.

7. Copy, Move, Compress, Extract

All four ask for an absolute path, pre-filled with the current folder.

Extract handles .zip and .tar.gz.

Because these take a path rather than a picker, type it carefully — a mistyped destination is a valid path, and the operation will happily use it. Destinations outside the application root are refused by the server.

8. Changing permissions

Clicking a permission value opens Change Permissions, with two ways to set it:

• Octal — three digits, 0–7 each, defaulting to 755
• A checkbox grid — read, write and execute for owner, group and other, which updates the octal value as you click

9. Deleting, and the Trash

The delete dialog opens with a Move to Trash toggle on:

The Trash view

Reached from the toolbar, listing each deleted item with:

Empty: Trash is empty — files moved to trash will appear here.

10. Sensible practice

• Copy before you edit. One click, and it is the difference between a typo and an outage.
• Take a backup before bulk changes. The Backup & Restore tab exists for exactly this.
• Upload an archive and extract it rather than uploading many files.
• Check the path before acting. Move and Copy accept any absolute path inside the application root, including a wrong one.
• Leave 777 alone.
• Don't rely on the trash.
• Use the editor for small changes. For anything substantial, work locally and deploy — the editor has no history, no diff and no rollback.
• Be careful with .env. It is editable here, it holds your credentials, and a mistake in it takes the application down.

11. Common problems

12. How this relates to other places

The division worth remembering: File Manager is for a few files; SFTP is for many. For a large deployment, use SFTP or Git rather than the browser.