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Make RaiDrive drives work with AI agents and background apps

Fix the cases where an AI tool does not see a RaiDrive drive, does not see new files, or slows down on a large storage. Most of them depend on when the AI tool starts and which Windows account runs it.

Connect the drive before the AI tool starts

Keep Reconnect at program start on. It is on by default for new drives. Then the drive is connected as soon as RaiDrive starts, before you open the AI tool. If you connect the drive later and the AI tool does not see it, restart the AI tool.

Claude Desktop does not attach a folder on the drive

Sometimes nothing happens when you click Select Folder in Claude Desktop: the folder picker closes and no folder is added. Then the drive's settings do not work with Claude Desktop in your version of RaiDrive. See What each drive setting allows. Other AI tools work with any drive setting.

Background agents and services

By default a drive is Private. RaiDrive connects it only for you, while you are signed in to Windows. Programs you start see it. Programs you start with Run as administrator see it too. Programs that run outside your sign-in do not see it:

  • Windows services (programs Windows runs in the background, without a window)
  • Scheduled tasks (in Task Scheduler) set to run whether or not the user is signed in
  • Other Windows accounts

For an AI agent that runs like this, set the drive to Local Disk + Public. The steps are in Set the drive to Local Disk + Public. The drive is then visible to the whole PC. With Reconnect at boot on, it connects when Windows starts, before anyone signs in. (Reconnect at program start takes this name with this combination.) Local Disk requires a plan that includes it — see Local Disk.

Application lock

With Disconnect after idle time in Lock, RaiDrive disconnects the drives when nobody uses the keyboard or mouse for the set time. An AI agent that works alone does not count as use. Turn this option off on a PC where agents run while nobody is at the PC.

New or changed files do not appear

Files that someone adds to the storage in another way — in a web browser, or on another PC — do not appear on the drive at once. With Update storage changes asynchronously on, RaiDrive checks the storage for changes at a set interval. An AI tool may not see a file that was uploaded a moment ago. Wait for the next check, then ask the AI tool again. Files that the AI tool itself writes on the drive appear at once.

Files whose names start with a dot

RaiDrive marks files whose names start with a dot (.gitignore, .env) as hidden. Tools that skip hidden files do not list them — for example PowerShell's Get-ChildItem (the command that lists files) shows them only with the -Force option. Ask the AI tool for the file by name, or tell it to include hidden files.

Large storages

An AI tool that searches or indexes (builds a list of every file on) a whole drive makes RaiDrive list every folder of the storage. On a large storage this takes long. It also sends many requests to the storage service. RaiDrive's memory use grows with the number of files listed. Open the AI tool in the folder it needs, not at the top of the drive (for example Z:\). Or mount only that folder. See also Why does RaiDrive's memory usage keep growing?