> ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.truecourse.dev/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Local folders > In local mode, a folder on the machine can be connected as a repository. Runs always work on a copy. When the server runs with `TRUECOURSE_MODE=local`, the server and you share a filesystem, so a folder on the machine can be connected as a repository. It appears as the **Local folder** provider. A hosted deployment has no machine of yours to point at, so it does not offer this. ## Connect a folder Open **Code**, press **Connect repository**, and pick **Local folder**. Enter the folder's full path on this machine, then go through the Context step and press **Connect and start onboarding**. The folder has to be: * an absolute path, starting at the root; * a folder that exists; * a git repository. TrueCourse identifies what a run produced by the commit it ran on, so a folder without git is refused. A folder that is already connected is refused as well. Each refusal says which of these it was. The repository is named `local/`. Two folders with the same name get a counter, so they stay two repositories. ## Runs never touch your folder Every run copies the folder into a directory of its own and works there. Your checkout is read, copied and left exactly as it was. ## Keeping its documentation fresh A folder has no webhook. Its Repository [source](/guard/web-sources) re-reads in two cases: when you press **Sync now**, and when a file under the folder changes, which the server watches for. ## What a folder does not have A folder has no account behind it and no branch the provider tracks. A run reads whatever is checked out, so the repository's Settings tab shows no default branch. Local mode also has no sign-in and exactly one workspace, so there are no invitations. See [Installation](/installation#run-it-locally). ## Next steps A local run from start to first results. The list and the repository console.