Folders

Folders provide organization within Categories, helping you group related Elements together.

What Are Folders?

Folders exist within Categories and provide a way to organize Elements. While Categories separate Assets from Messages, Folders let you group related Elements by project, environment, or any criteria that makes sense for your team.

Folder Hierarchy

The Shelf supports a simple hierarchy:

Category
└── Folder
    └── Elements (Assets or Messages)

Folders exist only at one level — there are no sub-folders. If you need additional organization, use naming conventions (e.g., "Production-DB", "Staging-DB") or create more Folders.

Creating a Folder

To create a new Folder:

1. Navigate to the desired Category (Assets or Messages)
2. Click the New Folder button (or right-click in the folder area)
3. Enter a Name for the Folder
4. Optionally add a Description
5. Click Create

Folder Naming Guidelines

• Use clear, descriptive names
• Include environment indicators when relevant (Prod, Staging, Dev)
• Use consistent naming patterns
• Avoid special characters that might cause issues

Common naming patterns:

Pattern	Example	Use Case
By Environment	Production, Staging, Development	Environment-specific Assets
By Project	Invoice-Processing, Data-Sync	Project-specific Elements
By Type	Databases, APIs, File-Systems	Type grouping within Category
By Team	Finance, Engineering	Team ownership

Managing Folders

Renaming a Folder

1. Navigate to the Category containing the Folder
2. Right-click the Folder or click the menu
3. Select Rename
4. Enter the new name
5. Confirm to save

Deleting a Folder

caution

Deleting a Folder removes all Elements within it. This action cannot be undone.

1. Right-click the Folder
2. Select Delete
3. Confirm the deletion

All Elements in the Folder are permanently removed from the Shelf.

Folder Organization Patterns

Environment-Based

Organize by deployment environment:

Assets/
├── Production/
│   ├── Primary-DB-Connection
│   ├── API-Gateway-Config
│   └── Backup-Service
├── Staging/
│   ├── Staging-DB-Connection
│   └── Test-API-Config
└── Development/
    ├── Local-DB-Connection
    └── Mock-Service-Config

Project-Based

Organize by project or application:

Messages/
├── Invoice-System/
│   ├── Invoice-Format
│   ├── Customer-Schema
│   └── Payment-Types
├── HR-Platform/
│   ├── Employee-Schema
│   └── Timesheet-Format
└── Common/
    ├── Error-Response-Format
    └── Standard-Headers

Type-Based

Organize by specific type:

Assets/
├── Databases/
│   ├── PostgreSQL-Prod
│   ├── MySQL-Analytics
│   └── MongoDB-Logs
├── Cloud-Storage/
│   ├── S3-Primary-Config
│   ├── GCS-Archive-Config
│   └── Azure-Backup-Config
└── Message-Queues/
    ├── Kafka-Main-Config
    └── RabbitMQ-Events-Config

Folder Contents

Each Folder displays:

• Name — The Folder name
• Description — Optional explanatory text
• Element Count — Number of Elements in the Folder
• Last Modified — Date of most recent change

Best Practices

1. Be consistent — Use the same organizational pattern across Categories
2. Keep it flat — Aim for 3-10 Folders per Category; create more Categories if needed (though only Assets and Messages are available)
3. Use clear names — Folder names should indicate contents at a glance
4. Add descriptions — Help teammates understand Folder purpose
5. Review regularly — Merge empty or duplicate Folders
6. Don't over-organize — Too many Folders make browsing harder

See Also

• Categories — Top-level Shelf organization
• Elements — The Assets and Messages stored in Folders
• Shelf Overview — Introduction to the Shelf concept