diff --git a/src/__tests__/tools.test.ts b/src/__tests__/tools.test.ts
index b5f7602..209188d 100644
--- a/src/__tests__/tools.test.ts
+++ b/src/__tests__/tools.test.ts
@@ -1,6 +1,10 @@
 import { afterEach, beforeEach, describe, expect, it, vi } from "vitest";
+import { mkdir, mkdtemp, realpath, rm, writeFile } from "node:fs/promises";
+import { tmpdir } from "node:os";
+import * as path from "node:path";
 import { createSourceList } from "../lib/citations";
-import { TOOL_DEFINITIONS, WEB_TOOL_NAMES, executeTool, toolsFor } from "../lib/tools";
+import { createPolicy, type ApproveFn } from "../lib/files";
+import { TOOL_DEFINITIONS, WEB_TOOL_NAMES, executeTool, toolsFor, type ToolContext } from "../lib/tools";
 
 /**
  * Direct coverage for the tool layer.
@@ -40,10 +44,12 @@ afterEach(() => {
 });
 
 describe("tool registration", () => {
-  it("exposes all four tools to the model", () => {
+  it("exposes the four always-available tools to the model", () => {
+    // The file tools are in the list too, but they are gated by a preference, so the
+    // unconditional ones are what this pins.
     const names = TOOL_DEFINITIONS.map((tool) => tool.function.name);
 
-    expect(names).toEqual(["get_datetime", "get_location", "web_search", "web_fetch"]);
+    expect(names.slice(0, 4)).toEqual(["get_datetime", "get_location", "web_search", "web_fetch"]);
   });
 
   it("marks both web tools as cloud-dependent", () => {
@@ -469,3 +475,151 @@ describe("dispatch", () => {
     expect(fetchMock).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
   });
 });
+
+describe("the file tools", () => {
+  let home: string;
+
+  beforeEach(async () => {
+    // Resolved, because mkdtemp on macOS hands back a path under /var, which is a
+    // symlink: the policy would then be built on one path and check another.
+    home = await realpath(await mkdtemp(path.join(tmpdir(), "lam-tools-")));
+    await mkdir(path.join(home, "Downloads"), { recursive: true });
+    await writeFile(path.join(home, "Downloads", "notes.md"), "alpha\nbeta\n");
+  });
+
+  afterEach(async () => {
+    await rm(home, { recursive: true, force: true });
+  });
+
+  const context = (approve: ApproveFn = async () => true): ToolContext => ({
+    host: "h",
+    apiKey: "k",
+    files: { policy: createPolicy({ home }), approve },
+  });
+
+  it("is absent from the list unless file access is on", () => {
+    expect(toolsFor({ webEnabled: true }).some((tool) => tool.function.name === "read_file")).toBe(false);
+    expect(
+      toolsFor({ webEnabled: true, fileEnabled: true }).some((tool) => tool.function.name === "read_file"),
+    ).toBe(true);
+  });
+
+  it("leaves the web tools alone when file access is off", () => {
+    const names = toolsFor({ webEnabled: true }).map((tool) => tool.function.name);
+    expect(names).toContain("web_search");
+    expect(names).not.toContain("delete_path");
+  });
+
+  it("reads a file through the policy", async () => {
+    const result = await executeTool(
+      "read_file",
+      { path: path.join(home, "Downloads", "notes.md") },
+      context(),
+    );
+    expect(result.isError).toBe(false);
+    expect(result.content).toContain("alpha");
+  });
+
+  it("writes through the approval, and reports a decline as an error", async () => {
+    const written = await executeTool(
+      "write_file",
+      { path: path.join(home, "Downloads", "new.md"), content: "x\n" },
+      context(),
+    );
+    expect(written.isError).toBe(false);
+
+    const refused = await executeTool(
+      "write_file",
+      { path: path.join(home, "Downloads", "other.md"), content: "x\n" },
+      context(async () => false),
+    );
+    expect(refused.isError).toBe(true);
+    expect(refused.content).toContain("declined");
+  });
+
+  it("returns a policy refusal as an error the model can read", async () => {
+    const result = await executeTool("read_file", { path: "/etc/passwd" }, context());
+    expect(result.isError).toBe(true);
+    expect(result.content).toContain("outside the paths");
+  });
+
+  it("lists a folder", async () => {
+    const result = await executeTool("list_directory", { path: home }, context());
+    expect(result.isError).toBe(false);
+    expect(result.content).toContain("Downloads/");
+  });
+
+  it("searches for a file by name", async () => {
+    const result = await executeTool("search_files", { path: home, pattern: "*.md" }, context());
+    expect(result.isError).toBe(false);
+    expect(result.content).toContain("notes.md");
+  });
+
+  it("edits a file", async () => {
+    const result = await executeTool(
+      "edit_file",
+      {
+        path: path.join(home, "Downloads", "notes.md"),
+        old_string: "alpha",
+        new_string: "ALPHA",
+      },
+      context(),
+    );
+    expect(result.isError).toBe(false);
+    expect(result.content).toContain("1 occurrence");
+  });
+
+  it("deletes and moves", async () => {
+    const moved = await executeTool(
+      "move_path",
+      {
+        from: path.join(home, "Downloads", "notes.md"),
+        to: path.join(home, "Downloads", "moved.md"),
+      },
+      context(),
+    );
+    expect(moved.isError).toBe(false);
+
+    const deleted = await executeTool(
+      "delete_path",
+      { path: path.join(home, "Downloads", "moved.md") },
+      context(),
+    );
+    expect(deleted.isError).toBe(false);
+    expect(deleted.content).toContain("Deleted");
+  });
+
+  it("says a tool is unavailable when the context carries no policy", async () => {
+    const result = await executeTool("read_file", { path: "~" }, { host: "h", apiKey: "k" });
+    expect(result.isError).toBe(true);
+    expect(result.content).toContain("not available");
+  });
+
+  it("requires its arguments", async () => {
+    const read = await executeTool("read_file", {}, context());
+    expect(read.isError).toBe(true);
+    expect(read.content).toContain("path");
+
+    const search = await executeTool("search_files", { path: home }, context());
+    expect(search.isError).toBe(true);
+    expect(search.content).toContain("pattern");
+  });
+
+  it("labels every file tool for the activity line", () => {
+    const tools = toolsFor({ webEnabled: true, fileEnabled: true });
+    for (const name of [
+      "list_directory",
+      "search_files",
+      "read_file",
+      "write_file",
+      "edit_file",
+      "delete_path",
+      "move_path",
+    ]) {
+      expect(
+        tools.some((tool) => tool.function.name === name),
+        name,
+      ).toBe(true);
+    }
+  });
+});
diff --git a/src/lib/agent.ts b/src/lib/agent.ts
index d6d2e8a..10da8e3 100644
--- a/src/lib/agent.ts
+++ b/src/lib/agent.ts
@@ -249,6 +249,10 @@ export async function runAgent(options: AgentOptions): Promise<AgentResult> {
         now: options.toolContext.now,
         signal: options.signal,
         sources,
+        // The policy and the ledger travel with the turn, so a second write to a path
+        // the user already approved does not ask again, and a new question starts
+        // asking from the beginning.
+        files: options.toolContext.files,
       });
 
       const record: ToolCallRecord = {
diff --git a/src/lib/tools.ts b/src/lib/tools.ts
index a091195..4339667 100644
--- a/src/lib/tools.ts
+++ b/src/lib/tools.ts
@@ -1,4 +1,16 @@
 import { createSourceList, type SourceList } from "./citations";
+import {
+  deletePath,
+  editTextFile,
+  listDirectory,
+  movePath,
+  readTextFile,
+  searchFiles,
+  writeTextFile,
+  type ApproveFn,
+  type FileResult,
+  type PathPolicy,
+} from "./files";
 import { formatNow, getLocationContext, weekdayName } from "./location";
 import { webFetch, webSearch } from "./ollama";
 import type { GeoLookup } from "./geo";
@@ -8,11 +20,12 @@ import { errorMessage } from "./utils";
 /**
  * The tools Lam can call.
  *
- * All four are read-only. That is a deliberate boundary for this version: an
- * assistant that can silently act on the user's machine needs a confirmation
- * story first, and this release is chat-only. Anything with a side effect
- * (opening URLs, clipboard access, launching apps) belongs behind an approval
- * step that does not exist yet.
+ * All are read-only except the file tools, which are the one family here that can
+ * change the machine. They are bounded in three ways at once: they are absent from
+ * the tool list unless the user switches file access on, the policy in `files.ts`
+ * decides what they may touch, and every change is approved in a dialog before it
+ * happens. Nothing here opens a URL, touches the clipboard or launches a program:
+ * those would be side effects with no approval story of their own.
  */
 
 export interface ToolContext {
@@ -44,6 +57,14 @@ export interface ToolContext {
    * list is made on the spot when none is supplied.
    */
   sources?: SourceList;
+  /**
+   * The file tools' policy and approval step, when file access is switched on.
+   *
+   * Both arrive together because neither is usable alone: the policy decides what may
+   * be touched and the approval decides whether it happens. Absent means the tools are
+   * not offered at all, and a call that arrives anyway is refused.
+   */
+  files?: { policy: PathPolicy; approve: ApproveFn };
 }
 
 /**
@@ -123,26 +144,180 @@ export const TOOL_DEFINITIONS: ToolDefinition[] = [
       },
     },
   },
+  {
+    type: "function",
+    function: {
+      name: "list_directory",
+      description:
+        "List what is in a folder on the user's machine: names, which entries are directories, their sizes and how long ago they changed. Use it before reading a file to get the exact name, and to see what a folder holds.",
+      parameters: {
+        type: "object",
+        properties: {
+          path: {
+            type: "string",
+            description:
+              "Absolute path, or one starting with ~. A relative path is read as relative to the user's home directory.",
+          },
+          hidden: { type: "boolean", description: "Include dotfiles. Defaults to false." },
+        },
+        required: ["path"],
+      },
+    },
+  },
+  {
+    type: "function",
+    function: {
+      name: "search_files",
+      description:
+        "Find files by name under a folder, optionally only those whose contents contain a string. Use it when you do not know where something is. Credential files are never returned.",
+      parameters: {
+        type: "object",
+        properties: {
+          path: { type: "string", description: "Folder to search, absolute or starting with ~." },
+          pattern: {
+            type: "string",
+            description: 'Glob for the file name, such as "*.md" or "report*". Use "*" for everything.',
+          },
+          contains: {
+            type: "string",
+            description: "Only files whose contents contain this text, case-insensitively.",
+          },
+        },
+        required: ["path", "pattern"],
+      },
+    },
+  },
+  {
+    type: "function",
+    function: {
+      name: "read_file",
+      description:
+        "Read a text file. Lines come back numbered, and a long file comes back in parts: use offset and limit to continue from where the last read stopped rather than asking for the whole thing. Binary files are refused.",
+      parameters: {
+        type: "object",
+        properties: {
+          path: { type: "string", description: "File to read, absolute or starting with ~." },
+          offset: { type: "integer", description: "First line to return, counting from 1." },
+          limit: { type: "integer", description: "How many lines to return. Defaults to 200." },
+        },
+        required: ["path"],
+      },
+    },
+  },
+  {
+    type: "function",
+    function: {
+      name: "write_file",
+      description:
+        "Create a file, or replace one entirely, with the content you supply. The user approves every change in a dialog before it happens, and a refusal is final: do not retry it, say what you could not do instead. Prefer edit_file for a small change to an existing file.",
+      parameters: {
+        type: "object",
+        properties: {
+          path: { type: "string", description: "File to write, absolute or starting with ~." },
+          content: { type: "string", description: "The complete new contents of the file." },
+        },
+        required: ["path", "content"],
+      },
+    },
+  },
+  {
+    type: "function",
+    function: {
+      name: "edit_file",
+      description:
+        "Replace an exact string in an existing file, leaving the rest of it alone. old_string must appear exactly once, or pass all to replace every occurrence. Include enough surrounding text to make it unique, and never guess at the contents: read the file first.",
+      parameters: {
+        type: "object",
+        properties: {
+          path: { type: "string", description: "File to edit, absolute or starting with ~." },
+          old_string: {
+            type: "string",
+            description: "The exact text to replace, copied from the file.",
+          },
+          new_string: { type: "string", description: "The text to put in its place." },
+          all: {
+            type: "boolean",
+            description: "Replace every occurrence rather than requiring one.",
+          },
+        },
+        required: ["path", "old_string", "new_string"],
+      },
+    },
+  },
+  {
+    type: "function",
+    function: {
+      name: "delete_path",
+      description:
+        "Delete one file, or one empty folder. A folder with anything in it is refused, because Lam never deletes recursively. The user approves every deletion and it cannot be undone.",
+      parameters: {
+        type: "object",
+        properties: {
+          path: { type: "string", description: "File or empty folder to delete." },
+        },
+        required: ["path"],
+      },
+    },
+  },
+  {
+    type: "function",
+    function: {
+      name: "move_path",
+      description:
+        "Move or rename a file or folder. Both ends must be somewhere Lam may change, the destination must not already exist, and the user approves every move.",
+      parameters: {
+        type: "object",
+        properties: {
+          from: { type: "string", description: "Current path." },
+          to: { type: "string", description: "New path, which must not exist yet." },
+        },
+        required: ["from", "to"],
+      },
+    },
+  },
 ];
 
 /** Tools that need Ollama Cloud. A local Ollama server does not implement these endpoints. */
 export const WEB_TOOL_NAMES = new Set(["web_search", "web_fetch"]);
 
+/** Tools that read or change files, offered only when the user has switched file access on. */
+export const FILE_TOOL_NAMES = new Set([
+  "list_directory",
+  "search_files",
+  "read_file",
+  "write_file",
+  "edit_file",
+  "delete_path",
+  "move_path",
+]);
+
 /** Human-readable labels for the activity line in the UI. */
 export const TOOL_LABELS: Record<string, string> = {
   get_datetime: "Checking the time",
   get_location: "Checking your location",
   web_search: "Searching the web",
   web_fetch: "Reading a page",
+  list_directory: "Listing a folder",
+  search_files: "Searching your files",
+  read_file: "Reading a file",
+  write_file: "Writing a file",
+  edit_file: "Editing a file",
+  delete_path: "Deleting a file",
+  move_path: "Moving a file",
 };
 
 export function toolLabel(name: string): string {
   return TOOL_LABELS[name] ?? `Running ${name}`;
 }
 
-/** Filters out the web tools when the user has turned them off. */
-export function toolsFor(options: { webEnabled: boolean }): ToolDefinition[] {
-  return TOOL_DEFINITIONS.filter((tool) => options.webEnabled || !WEB_TOOL_NAMES.has(tool.function.name));
+/** Filters out the tools the user has switched off. */
+export function toolsFor(options: { webEnabled: boolean; fileEnabled?: boolean }): ToolDefinition[] {
+  return TOOL_DEFINITIONS.filter((tool) => {
+    const name = tool.function.name;
+    if (WEB_TOOL_NAMES.has(name)) return options.webEnabled;
+    if (FILE_TOOL_NAMES.has(name)) return options.fileEnabled ?? false;
+    return true;
+  });
 }
 
 function asString(value: unknown): string | undefined {
@@ -161,6 +336,42 @@ function isWebTool(name: string): boolean {
   return WEB_TOOL_NAMES.has(name);
 }
 
+/** The path argument every file tool needs, as the model wrote it. */
+function requirePath(args: Record<string, unknown>): string {
+  return typeof args.path === "string" ? args.path : "";
+}
+
+function missing(tool: string, argument: string): ToolResult {
+  return { content: `${tool} requires a "${argument}".`, isError: true };
+}
+
+/**
+ * Runs one file operation, once the context is known to have a policy.
+ *
+ * The missing-policy branch is not dead code: `toolsFor` keeps these tools out of the
+ * list when file access is off, so a call only arrives here if a model invents one, and
+ * then the honest answer is that the tool is not available.
+ */
+async function runFileTool(
+  context: ToolContext,
+  run: (files: { policy: PathPolicy; approve: ApproveFn }) => Promise<FileResult | ToolResult>,
+): Promise<ToolResult> {
+  const files = context.files;
+  if (!files) {
+    return {
+      content: "File tools are not available in this session. The user has not switched file access on.",
+      isError: true,
+    };
+  }
+
+  const result = await run(files);
+  // A missing argument is answered here rather than by the policy, so the callback is
+  // allowed to return either shape and this is where the two meet.
+  if ("isError" in result) return result;
+
+  return { content: result.content, isError: !result.ok };
+}
+
 /**
  * Runs one tool call and always resolves.
  *
@@ -188,6 +399,73 @@ export async function executeTool(
       case "web_fetch":
         return await runWebFetch(args, context);
 
+      case "list_directory":
+        return await runFileTool(context, (files) =>
+          listDirectory(requirePath(args), files.policy, { hidden: args.hidden === true }),
+        );
+
+      case "search_files":
+        return await runFileTool(context, (files) => {
+          const pattern = asString(args.pattern);
+          if (!pattern) return Promise.resolve(missing("search_files", "pattern"));
+          return searchFiles(
+            { path: requirePath(args), pattern, contains: asString(args.contains) },
+            files.policy,
+          );
+        });
+
+      case "read_file":
+        return await runFileTool(context, (files) =>
+          readTextFile(
+            {
+              path: requirePath(args),
+              offset: asCount(args.offset, 1, Number.MAX_SAFE_INTEGER),
+              limit: asCount(args.limit, 1, 5000),
+            },
+            files.policy,
+          ),
+        );
+
+      case "write_file":
+        return await runFileTool(context, (files) =>
+          writeTextFile(
+            {
+              path: requirePath(args),
+              content: typeof args.content === "string" ? args.content : "",
+            },
+            files.policy,
+            files.approve,
+          ),
+        );
+
+      case "edit_file":
+        return await runFileTool(context, (files) => {
+          const oldString = typeof args.old_string === "string" ? args.old_string : undefined;
+          const newString = typeof args.new_string === "string" ? args.new_string : "";
+          if (oldString === undefined) return Promise.resolve(missing("edit_file", "old_string"));
+          return editTextFile(
+            { path: requirePath(args), oldString, newString, all: args.all === true },
+            files.policy,
+            files.approve,
+          );
+        });
+
+      case "delete_path":
+        return await runFileTool(context, (files) =>
+          deletePath(requirePath(args), files.policy, files.approve),
+        );
+
+      case "move_path":
+        return await runFileTool(context, (files) => {
+          // `from` rather than `path`: this is the one file tool with two paths, and
+          // reading the shared helper here would have sent an empty source path.
+          const from = asString(args.from);
+          const to = asString(args.to);
+          if (!from) return Promise.resolve(missing("move_path", "from"));
+          if (!to) return Promise.resolve(missing("move_path", "to"));
+          return movePath({ from, to }, files.policy, files.approve);
+        });
+
       default:
         return { content: `Unknown tool "${name}".`, isError: true };
     }