---
title: "Asset Management"
description: "Organize, browse, and use files in your NodeTool workflows."
canonical: https://docs.nodetool.ai/asset-management
markdown: https://docs.nodetool.ai/asset-management.md
product: NodeTool
source: https://github.com/nodetool-ai/nodetool/blob/main/docs/asset-management.md
---

# Asset Management

NodeTool lets you store and organize files used in your workflows. Assets can be images, audio clips, videos, PDFs, 3D models, or any other resources referenced by nodes.

---

## Where this fits

Assets are the shared material between NodeTool's surfaces. **Workflows** read assets and write new ones; **sketches** open an asset and render an edited one back; **timelines** import assets as clips and export a finished video asset. The Asset Explorer is the one store all of them read from and write to, so a file produced in any surface is immediately usable in the others.

See [Key Concepts → How everything fits together](key-concepts.md#how-everything-fits-together) for the full loop.

---

## Asset Explorer

The **Asset Explorer** is the central hub for managing your files. Open it from the left sidebar.

![Asset Explorer](assets/screenshots/asset-explorer.png)

### Views

- **Grid view** -- Thumbnails with previews, best for visual assets like images and videos
- **List view** -- Compact rows with metadata columns, best for large libraries

Switch between views using the toggle in the toolbar.

### Navigation

- **Folder tree** -- Browse your directory hierarchy in the left panel
- **Search** -- Full-text search across file names, tags, and metadata
- **Infinite scrolling** -- Large libraries load progressively for performance

### Uploading Files

- **Drag and drop** files directly into the Asset Explorer
- Use the **Upload** button in the toolbar
- Drop files onto a workflow node to create an input node automatically

### Working with Assets in Workflows

![Drag Asset to Canvas](assets/screenshots/screenshot-placeholder.svg)

Drag any asset from the Asset Explorer directly into the workflow canvas. NodeTool automatically creates the appropriate input node based on the file type (image input, audio input, etc.).

---

## Asset Viewers

![Asset Preview](assets/screenshots/screenshot-placeholder.svg)

NodeTool includes specialized viewers for common file types:

| File Type | Viewer Features |
|-----------|----------------|
| **Images** | Zoom, pan, pixel inspection |
| **Audio** | Waveform display, playback controls, scrubbing |
| **Video** | Frame-by-frame playback, timeline scrubbing |
| **PDF** | Page navigation, text selection, zoom |
| **Text** | Syntax highlighting, line numbers, copy excerpts |
| **3D Models** | Interactive 3D preview with rotation and zoom |

Open any asset in its viewer by double-clicking it in the Asset Explorer. Use the toolbar within the viewer to zoom, scrub, or copy content.

---

## Collections

![Collections Explorer](assets/screenshots/collections-explorer.png)

Collections group related assets for use in RAG (Retrieval-Augmented Generation) workflows and organized project management.

### Creating Collections

1. Open the **Collections** panel from the left sidebar
2. Click **New Collection** and give it a name
3. Drag assets from the Asset Explorer into the collection

### Using Collections in Workflows

Collections integrate with document indexing and vector search nodes. When you connect a collection to an indexing node, all assets in the collection are processed and made searchable.

---

## Metadata and Tags

- Assets automatically track metadata: file size, type, dimensions (for images/video), duration (for audio/video)
- **Tag files** to make searching easier as projects grow
- Tags are searchable from the Asset Explorer search bar

---

## Document Indexing

Text-based assets (PDFs, text files, documents) can be indexed for vector search:

1. Add documents to a **Collection**
2. Connect the collection to an **Index** node in your workflow
3. Use **Vector Search** nodes to query the indexed documents
4. Combine with language models for Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG)

See [Indexing](indexing.md) for detailed setup instructions.

---

## Storage

Assets are stored locally under the NodeTool data directory (`~/.local/share/nodetool/assets` on macOS/Linux; `%APPDATA%\nodetool\assets` on Windows) by default. You keep full control of your data.

For deployed instances, assets can be stored in:
- **S3-compatible storage** -- AWS S3, MinIO, or compatible services
- **Supabase Storage** -- Integrated with Supabase auth

See [Storage](storage.md) for backend configuration.

---

## Next Steps

- [Indexing](indexing.md) -- Set up document indexing for RAG workflows
- [Storage](storage.md) -- Configure storage backends
- [Workflow Editor](workflow-editor.md) -- Use assets in your workflows
- [Example: Chat with Docs](workflows/chat-with-docs.md) -- Build a RAG workflow with your documents