What Are Watch Folders?
Direct answer: Watch Folders automatically link exported audio files to the right project using confidence-based pattern matching. Unlike blind file syncing, Kora analyses filenames, timestamps, and project context to make suggestions you review and approve — and routes anything it is unsure about to the Watch Inbox rather than guessing.
What Watch Folders actually do
Watch folders are desktop-only. When enabled, Kora monitors your DAW project and export folders. When a new file appears, Kora:
- Recognises whether it is a DAW session or an audio export
- Infers the most likely project title, album context, and contact context
- Applies structured naming and metadata where it can
- Links the file into the right project, and the right album when applicable
- Surfaces suggestions and low-confidence cases in the Watch Inbox
The result is that your workspace stays current without manual importing.
Why this matters
This solves a specific professional complaint: my creative system should not require constant manual organisation.
With watch folders configured, Kora becomes a background layer that keeps projects discoverable, exports organised, DAW sessions launchable, and album context consistent — and keeps naming clean in the interface even when the files on disk are messy.
Auto-linking is confident, not silent
The distinction matters, because automation that acts on weak signals creates more cleanup than it saves.
Kora auto-links when confidence is high:
- New exports link to an existing project when the match is strong
- Projects link into an album when the album signal is strong
- “Create album” and “merge projects” suggestions surface when patterns are detected
Kora does not silently rewrite your workspace. When confidence is not high, the file routes to review instead of forcing an outcome.
The Watch Inbox
The Watch Inbox is the control panel that makes the automation safe to trust. It:
- Shows detected files and the context Kora inferred
- Surfaces parsing and naming issues
- Offers merge, link, and create actions
- Never hides uncertainty
If Kora is not sure, you will see it there rather than discovering a bad link later.
DAW launching
Once a DAW session is linked to a project, you can launch it directly from the Project details view on desktop. Configure your DAW application paths so sessions open reliably, and set multiple DAW links if you work across more than one. This is about staying in flow rather than hunting through folders.
Permissions and reliability
Watch folders use explicit allowed-directory permissions, which matters on macOS and for iCloud or external drives. Kora includes permission diagnostics so you can re-authorise and keep watches stable when a drive is remounted or a path changes.
The bottom line
Watch folders enable a genuine set-it-and-forget-it workflow for ongoing updates: your workspace stays current without manual importing, and the cases Kora cannot resolve confidently come to you instead of being guessed at.
Related pages
- Watch Folders & Auto-Linking
- How Export Flow prevents delivery mistakes
- Settings & Customization
- How do I avoid sending the wrong version?