Sharing your projects and starting the tunnel

Last reviewed: 28 Oct 2026

The tunnel is what lets an agent that lives elsewhere (ChatGPT, Claude on the web, Claude Desktop, Codex) read and change a project's files on your computer, through Naetive. Claude Code does not need it. This page is the exact steps; The tunnel explains what it is and how it protects you.

"Shared" here means reachable from this computer while the tunnel runs. Your files stay where they are. An agent reads one only when you ask it to, and what it reads travels to that agent, encrypted, the way pasting it would. The connection also tells Naetive which computer this is and which projects and folders it shares, so Connect can show them; see What leaves your machine.

Open source. The program that runs on your computer is in the Naetive repository; read what you are installing.

The one thing most people need

The install line from Connect already put the tunnel and the naetive command on this computer. Two things remain: say which projects this computer shares, and start the tunnel.

1. Share the project. The easiest moment is when you create it: in the project switcher, New project, tick Let ChatGPT and Claude on the web reach this folder. That box is off by default and is the only thing that gives those agents access to files.

For a project that already exists, one line in a terminal, from any folder:

naetive share --project my-project

It finds the project's folder on this computer by itself (a folder already linked to the project, a git checkout of the project's repository, or a folder named after the project in the usual places) and says which one it picked:

Shared: ~/code/shop-frontend is now my-project on this computer (found it: its git repository is github.com/you/shop-frontend).
Your agents can read and change files in it, and nothing outside it. Running commands is off (to allow it: naetive commands on).
A running tunnel picks this up within seconds. If none is running: ~/.naetive/start-tunnel.sh (from any folder).

If more than one folder could be it, it lists them and asks you to run it again naming the right one: naetive share ~/code/shop-frontend --project my-project. If the code is on GitHub and not on this computer yet, clone it first, then share the folder you cloned into. If there is no code yet, naetive share --project my-project --create makes an empty folder at ~/projects/my-project and shares it.

2. The tunnel starts by itself. On macOS, Linux and WSL, this computer's background service starts the tunnel as soon as it shares a project, keeps it running in the background, and starts it again when you log in. There is no window to keep open. naetive status says whether it runs.

If it ever stops, start it again from any folder:

~/.naetive/start-tunnel.sh

and stop it on purpose with ~/.naetive/start-tunnel.sh --stop (it then stays stopped until you start it).

On Windows (PowerShell) you still start it yourself, from any folder, and leave that window open:

& "$env:USERPROFILE\.naetive\start-tunnel.cmd"

Ctrl+C there stops it; the window then asks whether to end the job, type y.

Either way the tunnel belongs to the computer, not to a project: it shares exactly the projects on this computer's list, and says so as it starts.

3. Check it. In ChatGPT or Claude, open a new chat and ask it to list the files in the project. On Connect, the computer's row reads Files · my-project.

The extras

naetive shares lists what this computer shares, and whether commands are on.
naetive share <folder> --project <name> adds a project from a folder you name; naetive unshare <name> stops sharing one. Nothing in the folder changes. Both take effect within seconds, without restarting the tunnel.
Commands are a separate, per-computer permission, off by default. naetive commands on asks to let agents run commands on this computer, and prints a link: confirm on that page, signed in to Naetive (macOS and Linux; on Windows commands are not available yet, and the agent is told so). naetive commands off, or Turn off on Connect, turns it back off at once. naetive commands status says which it is. A command starts in the project's folder but runs as you, so it can reach anything you can.
Chats in a browser tab are a separate thing again: they need the console, and this browser paired with the computer (a Naetive box opens on the computer and you type the code shown in the browser; where no box can show, naetive pair). See Setting up this computer.
It updates itself. This computer takes each newer approved version of the tunnel, the console and the naetive command together, and restarts what changed. You never reinstall it by hand.
When Naetive deploys, the tunnel reconnects within seconds. A call in that moment can fail once; the next one works.
Cloud-sync folders (Dropbox, OneDrive, Google Drive, iCloud) cannot be shared as a whole. A project folder inside one can.

If it does not work

"Refusing to expose … your home directory": this computer has not been told which project folders to share yet, so it serves the folder it is started in, and your home folder is never served. Run the one line it names (naetive share --project <name>), then start the tunnel from any folder. That moves the computer over for good.
"several folders on this computer could be …": run naetive share <folder> --project <name> with the right one.
"could not find the code for …": name the folder, clone it from GitHub first, or use --create.
"Running commands is off on this computer": an agent tried to run a command. If you want that, naetive commands on, then confirm in your browser.
"This computer's shared folders changed outside Naetive" on Connect: the list of shared folders on that computer was edited directly, not with naetive share or the page. Check it with naetive shares and remove anything you did not mean with naetive unshare <project>. If the change was yours, press That was me, the list is right.
"This machine's key is no longer valid": you regenerated your key on Connect. Run the install line again on this computer, then start the tunnel again. What you shared stays shared.
The agent's reply says no tunnel is connected for your account: the tunnel is not running. Start it (step 2). Connect shows Files stopped in red when a tunnel you had running has gone. On macOS, Linux and WSL, naetive fix starts it again, and also tells you if two tunnels are running at once.