accessing the local filesystem from WebStorm on Linux?

I made a REST request and tried to export the request and I cannot browse the local filesystem at all. It looks like I'm somehow sandboxed away from it. I can't create a new folder either.

I also tried installing a plugin from disk (before I found it in a repository) and got the same behavior. The local filesystem is inaccessible in the file brower inside of WebStorm.

Also, if I just do file/open I see my home directory for just a second and then it disappears.

WebStorm 2016-3.1, on Ubuntu 16.04