--- title: "Organizing Environments" description: "Group component environments into a drag-and-drop folder tree in the workspace rail" source_url: https://ai-ops.com/docs/components/environment-folders --- # Organizing Environments The environment rail on the left of the **Components > Environments** workspace is a tree. Environments sit in it directly, or inside folders you create to group them. Folders are organizational only: they do not affect scan rates, execution order, permissions, or anything the component engine does. They exist so an installation with fifty environments is still navigable. Folders are new in Koios 1.2. --- ## How the Tree Reads Folders come first at every level, then environments, both sorted A→Z. Names containing numbers sort in human order, so `Line 2` comes before `Line 10`. ```text Line 1 ← folder, 3 environments beneath it Chillers ← subfolder, 2 environments Chiller A ← environment Chiller B Blending Line 2 ← empty folder Sandbox ← environment at the top level ``` Each row carries what you need to pick from the list: | Element | What it shows | |---------|---------------| | **Folder row** | A chevron, a folder icon, the name, and a count of every environment beneath it — including those in its subfolders | | **Environment row** | A status dot, the name, and the configured scan rate | | **Footer** | The total number of environments, and a **moving…** note while a move is saving | An environment that is not in a folder sits at the top level. That is where new environments land — the create form has no folder field, so file it after you create it. --- ## Creating a Folder To create a folder at the top level, click the folder icon in the rail header and give it a name. To create one inside an existing folder, right-click that folder and choose **New folder inside**. Names are limited to 128 characters and must be unique among their siblings, ignoring case — two folders called `Line 1` and `line 1` cannot sit in the same place. The same name in a different parent is fine. --- ## Filing Environments Drag an environment onto a folder to file it there. Drag it onto blank space below the tree to lift it back to the top level; the list draws a border to show it will accept the drop. Dropping an environment **onto another environment** files it wherever that one lives. This is how you file an item beside something you can already see, rather than hunting for the folder row. Sibling order is always alphabetical, so dropping above or below a row does not reorder anything. If you would rather not drag, right-click the environment and choose **Move to…**. Pick a destination from the list — folders are listed by their full path, with **Top level** at the top — and click **Move**. > [!TIP] Duplicates stay put > Duplicating an environment places the copy in the same folder as the original, so a line's environments stay together as you build them out. --- ## Moving and Nesting Folders Folders move exactly the way environments do: drag a folder onto another folder to nest it, drag it onto blank space to lift it to the top level, or right-click it and use **Move to…**. Two limits apply: - **A folder cannot go inside itself or any of its own subfolders.** The rail refuses the drop, and the **Move to…** list leaves those destinations out. - **Folders nest five levels deep.** The whole subtree counts, not just the folder you are dragging: a folder that is already three levels tall cannot move somewhere that leaves it only two. A move that would break the limit is rejected and a notification explains why. --- ## Renaming a Folder Right-click the folder, choose **Rename**, edit the name, and click **Rename**. The same uniqueness rule applies as when creating: the new name must not match a sibling, ignoring case. Environments are renamed from the environment bar, not the rail — see [Component Environments](https://ai-ops.com/docs/components/environments.md). --- ## Deleting a Folder Right-click the folder and choose **Delete folder**. The confirmation tells you how many environments are involved. **Deleting a folder never deletes an environment.** Everything the folder holds is lifted one level up: - Environments directly inside it move to its parent folder, or to the top level if the folder was already at the top - Subfolders move to the parent whole, keeping everything inside them Only the folder row itself is removed. > [!WARNING] Name collisions block the delete > Because the contents move up a level, the delete is refused when that would put two identically named folders side by side — either a subfolder sharing the deleted folder's name, or a subfolder whose name already exists at the destination. The message names the folder to fix. Rename one of them and delete again. --- ## Finding an Environment The filter box at the top of the rail matches environments by name and description. While a filter is active the tree flattens into a plain list of matches, each showing its folder path so you can tell two similarly named environments apart. Clear the box to return to the tree. Opening an environment expands whatever folders it lives in, so the rail always shows you where you are. Folders you collapse yourself stay collapsed. --- ## What the Tree Remembers The two halves are stored differently, and it is worth knowing which is which: | What | Where it lives | Who sees it | |------|----------------|-------------| | The folders themselves, and which folder each environment is in | The configuration database | Everyone — one shared structure for the installation | | Which folders are expanded, and the width of the rail | Your browser | Only you, on that browser | So reorganizing the tree changes it for every user, while expanding a folder is yours alone. Expansion state resets if you clear your browser data or sign in from a different machine; the folder structure does not. Folder actions themselves — create, rename, move, and delete — are treated as housekeeping and do not appear in the event log. Filing an environment is different: dragging one into a folder saves a change to the environment, so the event log records **Environment configuration updated** against it, and a running environment reloads the way it would after any other configuration edit. --- ## Permissions Every folder action — create, rename, move, delete, and filing an environment — needs the same permission as managing environments. Without it the rail is fully readable and every folder control is visible but disabled, with a tooltip saying which permission is missing. --- ## What's Next - [Component Environments](https://ai-ops.com/docs/components/environments.md): create environments, set scan rates, and configure execution - [Component Canvas](https://ai-ops.com/docs/components/canvas.md): add instances and wire them together - [Stacks](https://ai-ops.com/docs/components/stacks.md): give an environment its own Python packages