Set Up PARA Folder Structure

Create your PARA folder structure and configure para-files.

Step 1: Choose Location

Where should your PARA folders live?

# Option A: Default location
~/Documents/PARA

# Option B: Custom location
~/PARA
/Volumes/ExternalDrive/PARA
~/Dropbox/PARA  # For sync across devices

Step 2: Create PARA Folder 

# Create the directory
mkdir -p ~/Documents/PARA

Step 3: Set PARA_ROOT

Tell para-files where your PARA folder is:

# Option A: Environment variable (temporary)
export PARA_FILES_PARA_ROOT=~/Documents/PARA

# Option B: .env file (permanent)
cat > .env << EOF
PARA_FILES_PARA_ROOT=~/Documents/PARA
EOF

# Option C: Add to shell profile (permanent)
echo 'export PARA_FILES_PARA_ROOT=~/Documents/PARA' >> ~/.zshrc
source ~/.zshrc

Step 4: Create Folder Structure

Let para-files create the structure:

# Quick: Create basic structure
uv run para-files init

# Or: Include subfolders for all routes
uv run para-files init --subfolders

This creates:

PARA/
  0_Inbox/           - Unclassified files
  1_Projects/        - Active projects
  2_Areas/           - Ongoing responsibilities
  3_Resources/       - Reference material
  4_Archives/        - Completed items

Step 5: Verify Setup 

# Check configuration
uv run para-files config --show

# Should show your PARA_ROOT

# Check folder structure
ls -la ~/Documents/PARA/

Step 6: Test First Classification 

# Classify a test file
uv run para-files classify ~/Downloads/test_document.pdf

# See where it would go
uv run para-files move ~/Downloads/test_document.pdf --dry-run

# If satisfied, move it
uv run para-files move ~/Downloads/test_document.pdf

Manual Folder Creation (Optional)

If you prefer to create folders manually:

mkdir -p ~/Documents/PARA/{0_Inbox,1_Projects,2_Areas,3_Resources,4_Archives}

Then para-files will use them automatically.

Troubleshooting

“Directory does not exist” error?

# Create it first
mkdir -p ~/Documents/PARA

# Then set PARA_ROOT again
export PARA_FILES_PARA_ROOT=~/Documents/PARA

PARA_ROOT not being used?

# Check what's configured
uv run para-files config --show

# Verify PARA_FILES_PARA_ROOT matches

Permission denied?

# Check permissions
ls -ld ~/Documents/PARA

# Fix if needed
chmod 755 ~/Documents/PARA

Next Steps