# Nonreplicated File Provider extension Build a File Provider extension that hosts and manages the user’s local files. ## Discussion A nonreplicated File Provider extension must perform all of the following tasks: - Create placeholders for remote files that you download only as needed. - Intercept coordinated reads from the host app, so that your file provider can download or update the file with data from the remote server before the read occurs. - Trigger a notification after coordinated writes from the host app, so that the extension can upload the changes to the remote server as needed. - Enumerate the stored documents and folders. - Execute actions—such as importing, moving, renaming, or deleting items—on the stored documents and folders. Your File Provider extension can add custom actions to the file browser’s context menu using the framework. You can also define custom services to communicate with the host app using . Use these interfaces to add features that aren’t provided by the base API. ### Support drag and drop If your application acts as a drag source for remote documents, override your subclass’s method, and return the URL for the dragged item. This URL is the value returned by your extension’s [`urlForItem(withPersistentIdentifier:)`](/documentation/FileProvider/NSFileProviderExtension/urlForItem(withPersistentIdentifier:)) method. The URL may refer to a local file or, if you don’t have a local copy, to the file’s placeholder. If the URL points to a placeholder, the system calls your File Provider extension’s [`startProvidingItem(at:completionHandler:)`](/documentation/FileProvider/NSFileProviderExtension/startProvidingItem(at:completionHandler:)) method, giving you the opportunity to download the file. ## Topics ### Nonreplicated extension [`NSFileProviderExtension`](/documentation/FileProvider/NSFileProviderExtension) The principal class for the nonreplicated File Provider extension. [Content and Change Tracking](/documentation/FileProvider/content-and-change-tracking) Create enumerators to specify your file provider’s content, and track changes to that content. --- Copyright © 2026 Apple Inc. All rights reserved. | [Terms of Use](https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/terms/site.html) | [Privacy Policy](https://www.apple.com/privacy/privacy-policy)