Orion Docs

Fix: Jupyter cannot read workspace skills in hidden folders ​

Use this guide when you connect Orion to a Jupyter server and workspace skills under dot-directories (for example .orion/skills/.../SKILL.md) do not appear or fail to load. Jupyter Server’s contents API hides dot-prefixed paths by default, which can make those files return 404 or omit them from listings.

Orion discovers skills under .agents/skills and .orion/skills (relative to the notebook workspace root, plus user-level .agents/.orion at the server root). Those paths are hidden folders, so they are affected the same way until the server allows hidden paths.

When you need this ​

  • Skills you added under .orion/skills or .agents/skills never show up in Orion, or loading them fails.
  • Your notebook root is something like research/, and paths such as research/.orion/skills/... should work but the server behaves as if the files are missing.

Fix: allow hidden files in Jupyter Server ​

  1. Open or create the Jupyter Server config file.

    macOS / Linux (POSIX)
    Default path: ~/.jupyter/jupyter_server_config.py

    Windows
    Default path: %USERPROFILE%\.jupyter\jupyter_server_config.py
    In PowerShell you can open the folder with:

    powershell
    explorer "$env:USERPROFILE\.jupyter"

    If the file does not exist, generate a template (same command on macOS, Linux, and Windows when jupyter is on your PATH):

    bash
    jupyter server --generate-config

    The command prints the path it wrote (usually under ~/.jupyter/ or %USERPROFILE%\.jupyter\).

  2. Add this line (or uncomment and set it if the file already contains it):

    python
    c.FileContentsManager.allow_hidden = True

    This is the supported setting for Jupyter Server’s default file contents manager: it allows listing and reading hidden files and directories through the API Orion uses.

  3. Restart the Jupyter Server so the change applies, then reconnect from Orion if needed.

Older Notebook classic server (6.x) ​

If you run the classic jupyter notebook stack instead of jupyter server, use jupyter_notebook_config.py in the same Jupyter config directory (~/.jupyter/ or %USERPROFILE%\.jupyter\) and set the same trait if your version exposes it. Current JupyterLab and jupyter server use jupyter_server_config.py.

Notes ​

  • Without this setting, dot-prefixed paths can return 404 or be skipped in directory listings; enabling hidden access addresses that for all hidden paths the server serves, not only Orion skills.
  • If your organization restricts Jupyter configuration, ask whoever runs the server to set allow_hidden (or an equivalent supported by your deployment).

Last updated April 2026.

Apache-2.0 Licensed