Mounted Drive (WebDAV)
Mount Pixwel as a read-only network drive and browse every studio, project, asset, and file as folders — ideal for syncing and automation.
Beta. The mounted drive is an early-access feature and isn’t on production yet. Behavior may change before general release. The connection address is shared with beta participants — contact Pixwel to take part.
The mounted drive lets you connect Pixwel to your computer as a read-only network drive over WebDAV. Point Finder, Cyberduck, Mountain Duck, Windows Explorer, or rclone at it and your whole library shows up as folders:
studio / project / asset / file
Open a folder to drill in; open a file to download it. Everything you’d browse in the web app is there — scoped to exactly what your account can see — without opening a browser.
Why it’s useful
- Automation. Script against your files with
rclone(or anything that speaks WebDAV) — list, copy, and sync without clicking through the UI. - Overnight syncing. Deliverables often land while your team is asleep. A scheduled
rclonejob can pull new files the moment they’re available, so they’re waiting on your local storage or NAS by morning. - Familiar tools. Drag files out of Finder or Explorer like any other drive — no separate download manager.
Before you start
You’ll need an API token (a personal access token, prefixed pat_) — create one in Preferences. The drive uses HTTP Basic auth: put anything in the username field and paste your token as the password.
An API token carries your full account access. Don’t share it, and only connect over https://.
Connect
Pixwel provides the WebDAV connection address when you join the beta. Use it wherever the steps below show <webdav-address>.
In Finder, press ⌘K, enter https://<webdav-address>, and paste your API token as the password.
Finder probes every folder eagerly, so the first visit to a large directory can pause. Cyberduck or Mountain Duck feel snappier.
What to expect
- Read-only. You can browse and download; you can’t upload, rename, move, or delete through the drive.
- Your permissions apply. You see exactly the studios, projects, and assets your account has access to — the same as the web app.
- Archived projects are hidden.
- Fast browsing. Each folder loads the first time you open it and stays quick for a few minutes after. Opening an asset’s files can take a few seconds the first time while sizes are read.
- Direct downloads. When you open a file it streams straight from storage at full speed — Pixwel just hands your client the download link.
Automate overnight pulls
A scheduled rclone sync is the payoff. For example, mirror a project’s new deliverables to local storage every morning:
# cron: 6am daily — pull anything new since the last run
rclone copy pixwel:focus-features/anemone/ /mnt/deliveries/anemone/ \
--ignore-existing --transfers 8
Because downloads go straight to storage, large pulls run at native throughput.
Limitations
- Read-only — no upload, rename, or delete.
- Mac Finder’s eager folder-probing is the slowest experience; Cyberduck is recommended.
- A file’s modified date reflects when it was created in Pixwel, not its storage timestamp.
- As a beta, the endpoint and behavior may change.