File and Folder Operations

Computer Use excels at file management tasks. Claude can navigate file managers, create folders, rename files, and organize your documents.

The Text Editor Tool

For direct file manipulation, use the text_editor tool:

tools = [
    {
        "type": "text_editor_20250124",
        "name": "str_replace_editor"
    }
]

Available Commands

Command	Description
`view`	Read file contents
`create`	Create new file
`str_replace`	Replace text in file
`insert`	Insert text at line

Example: Organize Downloads

task = """
Organize my Downloads folder:
1. Create subfolders: Documents, Images, Code
2. Move .pdf files to Documents
3. Move .png and .jpg files to Images
4. Move .py and .js files to Code
5. Report what was moved
"""

result = run_agent(task)

Claude will:

Open the file manager
Navigate to Downloads
Create the folders
Select and move files by extension
Return a summary

Using Bash for File Operations

The bash tool is more efficient for bulk operations:

tools = [
    {
        "type": "bash_20250124",
        "name": "bash"
    }
]

Example task:

task = """
Use the terminal to:
1. Find all .log files older than 7 days in /var/log
2. Create a backup directory with today's date
3. Move those files to the backup
4. Compress the backup folder
"""

Combining Visual and CLI

The most effective agents combine both approaches:

task = """
1. Open the file manager and find the project folder
2. Use terminal to run 'npm install'
3. Check the file manager for new node_modules folder
4. Report the size of node_modules
"""

Best Practices

Practice	Reason
Use bash for bulk operations	Faster, more reliable
Use visual for unknown layouts	When you don't know paths
Confirm before deletion	Safety check
Log all operations	Audit trail

Warning: Always test file operations in a sandbox first. Never run on production data without verification.