Connect your on-prem files & systems (Local Connector)

Plank usually works with files you keep in your workspace. But a lot of real work lives somewhere else — on a company network drive (a shared folder like Z:\Finance), or inside an internal system like 1C that only exists on your office network and isn't on the public internet.

The Local Connector is a small app you install on your own Mac or Windows computer. Once it's running, Plank can — when you ask — open a specific file from that network drive, work on it, and save it back. It can also reach internal web systems like 1C. Nothing is uploaded in bulk: only the files you actually work on are ever accessed.

The Local Connector is an early feature and is rolled out gradually. If you don't see it yet, it isn't available for your account.

How it works, in plain terms

You stay in control of what Plank can reach:

• You pick one folder to share — say your Finance network drive. Nothing above or outside that folder is reachable.
• You can optionally add an internal service like 1C.
• The connector gives you a connection link and a token. You hand those to Plank the same way you set up any other integration, and the agent uses them to find and open files for you.

Then you can just ask, in chat: "Find the investor presentation on my network drive and let's work on it." Plank lists what's there, opens that one file, and you work on it normally.

Setup

1. Install the connector on your computer and sign in.
2. Choose the one folder to share (for example, your network drive).
3. (Optional) Add an internal system like 1C.
4. Copy the connection link + token the app shows you, and give them to Plank the same way you set up other integrations.

Good to know

• Your computer has to be on. Plank can only reach your files while your computer is running and the connector app is on. If it's asleep or closed, Plank will tell you the connector is offline rather than hang.
• Saving is safe. When Plank saves a file back, it writes it in one safe step so a half-finished save can never corrupt the original.
• If a colleague has the file open, Plank may not be able to save over it — it will tell you it couldn't save rather than overwrite their work. (On some network drives this protection is still being finalised — if in doubt, make sure the file is closed elsewhere before asking Plank to save.)
• Only what you open leaves your network. The connector never copies your whole drive — just the individual files you work on.