> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.oncortex.ai/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Automatic filing

> How much Cortex files for you, and how to set it

Items in the inbox can be filed by you, by your agent, or by Cortex itself. How much Cortex does on its own is a per-brain setting called its **filing mode**, which you set in the brain's settings. It ranges from "do nothing automatically" up to "file confidently and only ask when unsure".

## The three modes

<CardGroup cols={3}>
  <Card title="Off">
    Cortex files nothing on its own. Items wait in the inbox until you or your agent file them.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Suggest">
    Cortex does the work but does not commit it: it drafts the pages it would write and parks them, with its reasoning, in the review queue. Accepting is one click.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Automatic">
    Cortex files items it is confident about, and parks anything uncertain in the review queue as a ready-drafted proposal. The steady, hands-off mode.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>

In every mode, uncertainty always goes to you. Even on Automatic, Cortex never forces a filing it is unsure of; it parks it in the [review queue](/filing/review-queue) instead.

## Setting the mode

Open the brain, go to **Settings**, and on the **General** tab you will find **Filing mode**: three choices, Off, Suggest and Automatic, with a line describing each. Changing it is an **Owner** action, since it decides how autonomously the agent writes to the brain. Suggest and Automatic use AI to file items and draw on your workspace's daily allowance (below).

## What each brain starts on

* **Your work brain** starts on **Automatic**. It starts as yours alone, so confident filing there is safe, and it keeps your private memory tidy without effort.
* **New shared brains** start on **Suggest**. A shared brain is other people's space too, so Cortex suggests rather than commits until you decide how much to trust it.

You can leave these defaults as they are, or change them at any time if you are the brain's Owner.

## It cannot run away

Automatic filing has a daily allowance. Cortex will work through the inbox steadily, but it cannot burn through an unlimited amount of work in a burst. If there is more than a day's worth, it simply continues the next day. This keeps automatic filing predictable and stops any surprise from a sudden flood of items.

## Try it

1. Open your work brain, go to **Settings** then **General**, and find **Filing mode** (it starts on Automatic).
2. Drop an item in the inbox and watch it get filed without you.
3. On a shared brain you own, switch the mode to Suggest and see the difference: filings are proposed and parked for your approval.