Per-Entry Visibility Control for CloudProviders in Nautilus

Applications
1

Hi! I’m reaching out because I recently submitted a PR to the Nextcloud Desktop Client to add a config-file option for disabling CloudProviders integration. However, during review, the team suggested that this issue should really be addressed at the file manager level rather than in individual sync applications. They recommended I start a discussion here with the broader GNOME community.

When using sync clients that expose multiple CloudProviders mount points (e.g., Nextcloud with multiple synchronized folders), users often encounter cluttered file manager sidebars with entries they don’t want to see, while still wanting to keep the sync functionality active.

Current Behavior

  • Sync clients register all their synchronized folders as CloudProviders entries via libcloudproviders

  • Nautilus displays all registered entries in the sidebar with no way to selectively hide them

  • Users have limited options:

    • Disable the entire CloudProviders integration (loses sync client integration entirely)

    • Accept the clutter in the sidebar

    • Use workarounds like editing .desktop files (not viable on immutable distributions)

Use Cases Affected

  1. Multiple synchronized folders: Users syncing different local directories to different remote locations get many sidebar entries, pushing bookmarks and devices off-screen

  2. Duplicate bookmarks: Users who manually bookmarked folders alongside CloudProviders entries see duplicates

  3. Immutable distributions: Users on Fedora Silverblue, Kinoite, NixOS can’t easily apply file-based workarounds

  4. Non-technical users: Editing configuration files isn’t intuitive

Proposed Solution

Add per-entry visibility control for CloudProviders in Nautilus, allowing users to:

  • See all registered CloudProviders entries in a preferences panel

  • Toggle visibility of individual entries in the sidebar

  • Keep sync functionality intact regardless of visibility setting

Implementation Approach

  • Add a UI panel in Nautilus preferences to manage CloudProviders entry visibility

  • Store visibility preferences locally (dconf) without modifying libcloudproviders

  • Nautilus filters display based on these stored preferences

Related Issues

Questions for Discussion

  1. Is this a feature you’d consider for Nautilus?

  2. Would you prefer the implementation in Nautilus Preferences or GNOME Settings?

Looking forward to your thoughts!