Browser file manager#

Briefcase's browser app provides an organisation-scoped file manager. IAM owns authentication; the Briefcase API checks access for each operation. Browser controls reflect the rights returned by the API, rather than defining those rights.

Choose Continue with IAM. No organisation ID is required. Authenticate on auth.iam.teamofsilicons.com; IAM returns you to Briefcase automatically. The production callback is https://briefcase.teamofsilicons.com/auth/callback. Briefcase adds a per-attempt browser-bound state value to that callback and starts a normal, organisation-free IAM login. Opening an existing organisation file link supplies its workspace context automatically. You do not paste tokens, verification codes, or application secrets into Briefcase.

IAM asks you which organisations Briefcase may access. Login is always unscoped, but only those explicitly granted, active organisations are returned. New memberships are not automatically included. If there is only one, Briefcase opens it directly; otherwise choose a workspace. Use Workspaces & access in the sidebar to choose another without signing in again. The login remains unscoped when its tokens refresh. Organisation choices are updated at login and token refresh; IAM checks live membership on every file operation. Workspace selection does not change or enlarge IAM consent.

Choose Create or manage organisations in IAM from the organisation picker or Organisation settings to open IAM in a new tab. Organisation creation, membership, and invitations stay in IAM. The link is also available when your session has no active grants. Choose Review organisation access in IAM to authorise organisations, including any you have newly created or joined. An empty grant list requires reauthorisation, not cached workspace access.

A file link has the form /org/{org_id}/{path} on the website's origin. Opening one retains the target through the IAM callback without supplying an organisation to IAM. After authentication, Briefcase selects that workspace only if IAM included it in your grants. Otherwise review access in IAM or open a granted workspace; a file link cannot grant access.

The address bar follows folder navigation and opened files. Copy link copies the clean file URL without a token. Browser Back and Forward resolve their target again through Briefcase. Renamed or moved paths may no longer resolve; copy the entry's current link after changing its location.

Browse and manage files#

All files shows the organisation's top-level containers.
Public, My files, and team spaces open their respective folders.
Recent shows the 20 newest matching entries.
Search searches names and indexed contents. The Filter field accepts the expressions documented in the API guide.
Folder listings load 100 entries at a time; Load more retrieves the next page.
Upload file and New folder are available inside writable folders. From All files, New folder creates a top-level folder and asks for its Public, Private, or tag access boundary. The new folder stays alongside the reserved containers; its type does not move it inside one. To create inside Public or your Private folder, open that destination first. Nested folders inherit their parent's type.
Entry actions include download, rename, move, share, and move to bin, according to the rights returned for that entry.
Bin supports restoring deleted entries during their retention period.

If a Bin restore response is lost, retry Restore on the same entry while the page remains open. The browser keeps the operation identity for that deletion, so recovery confirms the original restore instead of repeating it. Deleting the entry again starts a new restore operation.

The details panel provides a preview, access information, version history, and activity history. Markdown previews format headings, lists, tables, and fenced code; embedded HTML appears as source, and links and external images remain inactive. Code and data formats such as JSON, XML, HTML, CSS, JavaScript, TypeScript, Python, Java, SQL, and YAML use syntax highlighting. Previewing code does not execute it.

CSV and TSV previews show a grid with spreadsheet column labels and row numbers, up to 200 rows and 50 columns. Values remain text, including formulas, leading zeroes, and large integers. Malformed or incomplete quoting is identified.

Text-based previews read at most 1 MiB and clearly identify truncated content; downloading retrieves the complete file. UTF-16 byte-order marks and supported declared character encodings are recognised. Parsing runs in a cancellable worker with a time limit, and the result appears in a script-disabled sandbox with no external-resource access. If formatting cannot finish, the preview shows escaped source instead. Preview requests and workers are cancelled when the selection changes. File content is never inserted as executable page markup.

If an upload response is lost, choose Retry same upload. Briefcase retains the file, destination, and operation identity for that retry while the page remains open. Do not replace the pending file if you intend to recover the same operation.

The gateway checks the filename, media type, destination, and current write permission before staging bytes. It checks the session and destination again before forwarding the file through the official client. Temporary-storage capacity is separate from your organisation's quota: an upload may need to wait if the browser gateway cannot reserve enough disk space. File size remains limited to 5 TiB, subject to your organisation's configured limits.

Open a file or folder's Access tab. Invite a Carbon, Silicon, verified email contact, or IAM tag using independent read/update rights, plus create rights on folders. Delete cannot be granted. Creators and organization administrators can enable anyone-with-link read/download access. Inheritance is shown explicitly, and protected private roots cannot be shared publicly.

Permanent links open public files and folders without login. Shared folders are browsable and downloadable as tar.zst. Private links return to IAM sign-in. The Versions tab pages through all immutable versions and restores by creating a new version. Logs show the past 365 days, including descendant changes in folder logs. See Sharing and audit logs.

Notifications#

The bell shows the unread count. Open it to see your latest 20 notifications, including grants and revocations. Historical requests and decisions remain readable. Mark all as read marks the entire inbox read, not just those 20 displayed items. The inbox refreshes when opened, when the window regains focus, or when you select Refresh.

Opening a notification resolves its stable entry identifier, so access is checked again and stale paths are not trusted.

Organisation settings#

Open Organisation settings from the sidebar. Usage reports stored bytes, the daily upload allowance, remaining capacity, and the next reset time. Storage includes retained versions and items in the bin.

The Storage configuration tab is where an organisation owner or authorised administrator can configure an organisation-owned S3 bucket. Enter its bucket name, region, AWS account ID, role ARN, prefix, and encryption mode. SSE-KMS also requires the KMS key ARN in that account and region. Do not enter AWS access keys or Silicon IAM application secrets.

Validate and configure bucket runs the backend's temporary create/read/update/ delete probe. The form reports S3 bucket configured only after a successful response. Failed validation leaves the previous storage selected. Existing file versions keep their recorded location; newly uploaded versions use the activated configuration.

If the outcome is uncertain, the form retains the exact request and locks its fields. Retry same configuration recovers that operation's result. A completed failed probe unlocks the form; Run a new validation starts a new operation after the external bucket or role has been fixed. Keep the page open while recovering an uncertain request. The operation ID is displayed for reference.

Test environments#

Open Test environments in the sidebar and choose Create. Enter a name and optional description. IAM test key (optional) accepts the 32-character IAM environment root key to join an existing IAM test world; leave it blank to provision a new one. This key is different from the ask_… Application secret returned after creation. The form masks the key and does not save it in browser storage. If a request has an uncertain outcome, retry the same operation with its fields unchanged.

To use an existing paired environment, enter its IAM test Application secret and a fresh test sign-in token in Enter with an app secret. A persistent banner identifies the active test plane, and Exit returns to production. The server stores the secret; the tab remembers only the public UUID. Limits are 2 GiB per environment and 10 active environments. Rotate secrets in IAM and replace the pairing to invalidate old selectors. See Testing environments.

Help in the sidebar and Documentation on the sign-in page open Briefcase Docs.

Sessions and local operation#

Session tokens stay in the Rust browser gateway. The browser stores only an HttpOnly session cookie and, in a test tab, the public environment ID in sessionStorage. Environment app secrets stay on the gateway during test sign-in. Signing out of a test session preserves production access. Sessions expire after at most eight hours; gateway restarts require signing in again. HTTPS uses Secure, host-only cookies.

See the browser development guide for build commands, local preview, origin configuration, and same-origin gateway deployment.

Browsers that support imperative WebMCP can expose read_visible_briefcase_files: a read-only snapshot of up to 100 entries already shown in the current listing. It neither fetches file contents nor changes files, permissions, or navigation. User-supplied names and paths remain untrusted content.