Agent can't see shared files

What you see

• You shared a file or folder with a project, but the agent says it cannot find it.
• The agent says your shared files are not available in this session.
• The agent can see a shared folder, but gets "access denied" on one file or subfolder in it.
• Files you shared before a Levee update are no longer there.
• A program or tool in a shared folder will not start.

Why it happens

The agent can always use its project folder. Anything else you share appears inside the sandbox on the L: drive, under a path that mirrors where it really is, for example L:\local\c\Users\alex\Documents\Reports or L:\network\finance\share\budgets. See Sharing files.

The agent can only open a shared item when all of these are true:

• The item is shared with this project, and has not been revoked.
• The L: drive was connected when the project started.
• You can open the item yourself. Levee opens shared files as you, with your own Windows permissions.
• The item is really inside what you shared, not a link to somewhere else.

What you can try

Check that the item is shared

1. Open the project in the Levee app and select the Access Policy tab. (In Easy mode, switch to Advanced in Settings > Experience > Mode first.)
2. Look in the File access section. Click Refresh file access to see the latest list.
3. If the item is missing, click Add file or Add folder and share it again.
4. Tell the agent where to look, for example "the budget file I shared from my Documents folder".

A running project gets the change at once. If Levee says "The change was saved, but the running sandbox could not apply it. Stop and start the project to apply it.", stop the project and start it again.

The agent says the shared files are not available in this session

This means the L: drive could not be connected when the project started. The agent can still use its project folder.

1. Look at the notice Levee showed when the project started. It starts with "started without the workspace view".
2. Stop the project and start it again.
3. Start the project from the Levee app while you are signed in at the computer, not from a remote or background session.
4. If the notice comes back, send it to your IT team.

The agent gets "access denied" on one item

1. Try to open the same file yourself, from the same Windows account. If you cannot, the agent cannot either. Ask the file's owner for access.
2. If you shared the item as Read-only and the agent tries to change it, Levee asks you first. Look for an Access Request and approve it, or share the item again as Read and write. See Approvals.
3. If the item is a shortcut-style link (a symbolic link or junction) that points outside the shared folder, Levee does not follow it. Share the real location instead.

A file on a mapped drive cannot be shared

If you see "A file on a network drive could not be linked to its network location. Reconnect the network drive and try again. If the problem continues, contact support.", Levee could not find the network location behind the drive letter (for example Z:). Open the drive in File Explorer so Windows reconnects it, then share the item again.

A file on a USB stick or other removable drive

Levee only shares items from a drive inside your computer or from a network share. Removable drives are refused with "File requirement path is not allowed". Copy the files to your computer or to a network share first, then share them from there.

Shared files disappeared after a Levee update

Items shared with older Levee versions are not used until you share them again from the Levee app. Share them again on the Access Policy tab.

A program in a shared folder will not start

This is expected. Sharing is for documents and data: Windows cannot start a program from the L: drive, or load the files a program needs from it. If the agent needs a tool, ask your IT team to provide it as an AI tool or a plugin. See Sharing files.

The project folder was moved

If the project does not start and says "The project folder was moved and its file access could not be verified.", move the folder back to where it was. Or remove the project from Levee, create it again, and share your files again.

For your IT team

How it works

Shared items are served by LeveeFS: the LeveeFs driver and the LeveeFSHost service on the computer. Every file is opened as the signed-in user, so Windows file and share permissions still apply. Symbolic links and junctions on the way to an item are refused, never followed.

The grant list is kept by the Levee service in SYSTEM-only storage, not in the project folder. Editing project.json does not grant anything. Grants made with Levee 0.52.3 or earlier were archived once as inactive evidence, and those projects start with no active grants until the user grants again from the app.

Checks

Get-Service LeveeFs, LeveeFSHost
levee audit tail --lines 200
levee log tail --component service --project <project-id> --since 1h --level Warning
levee log tail --component fs.service --project <project-id> --since 1h

In the audit trail, look for:

• grant.added and grant.removed: what the user shared and revoked.
• grant.skipped: a grant that is not a path on a local fixed drive or a \\server\share path was left out of the sandbox at start or at a policy reload.
• fs.denied: an access LeveeFS refused, with the path.
• SecurityFsAttachRefused: shared items could not be connected, for example because the active Windows session belongs to another user than the project's owner.

Shared items need the owner's own session

If the user is not signed in interactively at the computer, or another user holds the active session, Levee cannot open shared items as the project's owner. The project still starts, but no shared item is served. Start the project from the Levee app in the owner's own session.

"started without the workspace view"

The rest of the notice gives the reason. See the table in Project won't start or stop. In every case the view is left unmounted, never unrestricted.

LeveeFS is missing

The Levee installer installs LeveeFS. If LeveeFs or LeveeFSHost is missing, repair or reinstall Levee. If the installation fails, see Installation fails a check.

Policy

Your organization's file rules apply on top of what users share and can require approval for some accesses. See File access beyond the project.

Before you open a request

Send the grant.*, fs.* and ContainerStarted audit events and the service and fs.service logs for the project. See Collecting logs for support.