PrimeFlow File Linking

Most apps make you upload your files and keep a copy inside them. PrimeFlow does the opposite. It places a live window onto the file that already lives on your computer. No copy. No extra storage. No lock-in.

Your photos are still in your photo folder. Your samples are still in your samples folder. Your research is still in your research folder. PrimeFlow just shows them on the canvas, connects them to the work they belong to, and turns a map, a plan, or a project into a place where your real files live alongside your tasks, projects, and people.

What you can do

What linking means in plain terms

You point PrimeFlow at a file or a folder on your computer. PrimeFlow shows it on the canvas - a photo as a photo, an audio sample as a playable clip, a video as a player, anything else as a file card you can open with a click.

Your file never moves. PrimeTask never makes a copy of it. It never changes the file. If you open your folder in the operating system, everything is exactly where you left it.

Linking is the primary way files live on a canvas. A small number of file types work best as uploads - notably PDFs, because PrimeTask reads and renders them on the canvas - but for everything else, linking is the default.

PrimeTask picks the right view automatically

Drop a file onto a canvas - from the Node Library, from the right-click menu, or straight from your computer - and PrimeTask shows it the right way without you picking anything:

• Images appear as images you can see and caption.
• Audio clips appear with a player and play inline - no app switching to listen.
• Videos appear with a player and can be sent to PrimeTask's universal floating player (see Media Player).
• PDFs appear ready to read inline on the canvas, with full page navigation - PDFs are uploaded so PrimeTask can read and render their contents (see A note about PDFs below).
• Anything else appears as a file card you can open with one click in the app you'd normally use.

You never have to tell PrimeTask what kind of file something is. It already knows.

Where linking happens

• File node - link one specific file to a canvas.
• Folder node - link a whole folder and see everything inside. See PrimeFlow Folder Node.
• Drop files from your computer - drag files straight from your operating system onto the canvas. The right node appears for each one automatically.
• Project note and task attachments - can link to files on your computer instead of making a copy. See Task Attachments and Project Notes.

For the underlying nodes, see PrimeFlow File and PDF Nodes and PrimeFlow Media and Link Nodes.

Workflows that make linking shine

The photographer

Link the folder of a shoot. Every photo appears on the canvas. Connect each image to the client contact, the wedding, or the campaign it belongs to. Your shoot folder stays yours. Your canvas becomes the story of the project, the people, and the work.

The audio producer

Point PrimeFlow at your samples folder and every sample becomes a playable clip. Audition them inline with the canvas open. Drag the ones you want onto the track's project. No copying. No duplicates. No second library to maintain.

The music producer

Link your session folder. Project files, stems, and reference tracks sit next to the release plan, the mix tasks, and the collaborators. The session folder stays the source of truth.

The game designer

Link the art and sound assets folder. See every sprite, texture, and sound effect on the canvas. Drag the assets you need onto a level map, a mechanic plan, or a narrative map, and connect them to the tasks that ship them.

The video editor and YouTuber

Link the b-roll folder. Drop clips onto an episode plan. Connect them to the project, the release date, and the checklist of things that still need shooting. Your clips stay in your raw footage folder. The canvas shows the story you're building with them.

The designer

Link your components and references folder. Connect items to the tasks that implement them, the projects they serve, and the clients they're for. Reference material becomes part of the work instead of living in a separate tool.

The freelancer

Link the client deliverables folder. Connect each file to the CRM contact, the company, and the project it belongs to. When a client asks about a file, it's one click from their record.

The writer

Link your research folder. Reference docs, web clippings, quotes, and outline drafts sit next to the piece you're working on. Every connection is a step in how the article came together.

The architect and the engineer

Link the blueprints folder. Connect each drawing to the milestone it satisfies, the review task it triggers, and the team member responsible for sign-off.

The real estate agent

Link the property photos folder. Connect each listing to the buyer contact in CRM. When a buyer asks to see properties that match, the canvas already has them lined up.

The event planner

Link vendor contracts and floor plans. Connect each document to the supplier contact in CRM and the event project. Everything a venue walkthrough needs is on one canvas.

The coach and consultant

Link session materials to a client's CRM record. A client's whole history - their notes, the worksheets, the files they've shared - becomes one place you can open before every meeting.

The researcher

Link the dataset folder. Pull the files that matter onto the project map. Your raw data stays raw. The canvas is your view on it.

The trip diary

Plan a trip in PrimeFlow - places, accommodation, transport, ideas. During the trip, update the plan, log the people you met in CRM. When you return, link the photo folder for that trip. Every photo appears as a node you can connect to the places, events, and people it belongs to. What would have been a folder you'll forget becomes a memory you can actually revisit, with context, for years.

Where linking gets its power

Once a file is on the canvas, it can connect to anything else - tasks, projects, contacts, companies, notes. Files stop being loose attachments and become part of the map of your work.

A sample connected to a track. A photo connected to a client. A blueprint connected to a milestone. A PDF connected to the deal that needs it. A video connected to the task that ships it. This is what turns PrimeTask into a genuine workspace for creative professionals, freelancers, teams, and anyone whose files belong to their work.

For connection behavior, see PrimeFlow Connections and Edges.

Things worth knowing

A note about PDFs

The PDF node is a real reader - you open the file, flip through pages, and read its contents on the canvas. For PrimeTask to read and render the pages, the PDF is uploaded when you drop it in, so it stays with the canvas and reads reliably across devices. Everything else on this page - images, audio, video, and general files - links without copying.

Your files never leave your computer

PrimeTask reads them where they live. It doesn't upload, copy, or transform them. Your folder structure is still the source of truth.

Moving or renaming a file breaks its link

If you move or rename a file on your computer, the canvas can no longer find it. Keep linked files in stable folders, or re-point the node to the new location.

Cloud folders work too

Folders synced by iCloud, OneDrive, Dropbox, and similar services appear as regular folders on your computer. Linking them works the same as linking any other folder.

Uploads still exist

For files you want an independent copy of - for example, a file you'll archive inside a Space regardless of where the original lives - uploads still work. PDFs are the one format where an upload is the normal path, so PrimeTask can read and render the pages on the canvas. Linking is the default for everything else.

Removing a node never deletes the file

Taking a file node off a canvas removes the canvas reference only. The file on your computer is untouched.

Files and Spaces

Linked files live on the canvas that links them. A canvas belongs to a Space, and the Space shares its canvases according to your Space settings. Your filesystem is still the file's home.

macOS and Windows

File linking works on macOS and Windows, the two platforms PrimeTask ships on. On macOS, iCloud-synced folders behave like any other folder - see iCloud Sync.

Common questions

Where to go next