diff --git a/tavern/tomes/file_tree/main.eldritch b/tavern/tomes/file_tree/main.eldritch
index 8b807f59d..0885f4dbc 100644
--- a/tavern/tomes/file_tree/main.eldritch
+++ b/tavern/tomes/file_tree/main.eldritch
@@ -1,33 +1,70 @@
 block_list = ["/proc","/sys","/lib","/libx32","/lib32","/lib64","/boot","/srv","/usr","/snap","/run","/dev","/cores"]
 
+usernfo = sys.get_user()
+windows = sys.is_windows()
 
-def file_list(path,tree):
+def can_read(f):
+    """Return true if the user can read this dir/file
+    """
+    # Bypass until windows perms are implemented
+    if windows:
+        return True
+    
+    PERM_READ = 4
+    f_user = int(f["permissions"][-3]) # User byte
+    f_group = int(f["permissions"][-2]) # Group byte
+    
+    # Check world byte first so it hopefully is fast
+    if int(f["permissions"][-1]) & PERM_READ:
+        return True
+    
+    # Are we root?
+    root = usernfo["euid"]["uid"] == 0
+    
+    # If the user isnt root and the user doesnt own the file, clear the user byte   
+    if not root and f["owner"] not in (usernfo["euid"]["name"], usernfo["uid"]["name"]):
+        f_user = 0
+    
+    # TODO: https://github.com/spellshift/realm/issues/570
+    # Will NOT match any group other than primary until #570 is fixed
+
+    # If the user isnt root and the group doesnt own the file, clear the group byte    
+    if not root and f["group"] not in (str(usernfo["egid"]), str(usernfo["gid"])):
+        f_group = 0
+
+    if (f_group & PERM_READ) | (f_user & PERM_READ):
+        return True
+    return False
+
+def file_list(path,tree, depth=-1):
     tree="|\t"+tree
+    if depth == 0:
+        return
     files = file.list(path)
     for f in files:
         if path+f['file_name'] in block_list:
-            print("Skipping: "+path+f['file_name']+"\n")
+            print("Skipping: "+path+f['file_name'])
             continue
         if f['type'] == "Directory":
-            print(tree+"|---"+path+"/"+f['file_name']+"\n")
-            file_list(path+"/"+f['file_name'],tree)
+            print(tree+"|---"+f['file_name']+"/")
+            if can_read(f):
+                file_list(path+"/"+f['file_name'],tree, depth=depth-1)
         if f['type'] == "Link":
-            print(tree+"|---"+f['file_name']+"\n")
+            print(tree+"|---"+f['file_name'])
         if f['type'] == "File":
-            print(tree+"|---"+f['file_name']+"\n")
+            print(tree+"|---"+f['file_name'])
 
-def main(path):
+def main(path, depth=-1):
     tree=""
+    depth=int(depth)
     if file.is_dir(path):
         print(path+"\n")
         if path == "/":
-            print("It looks like you're trying to list every file on the system.\n")
-            print("This generates a lot of data so I'm going to exclude less helpful directories\n")
-            print("If you really really want everything including /proc and /sys specify \"//\"\n")
-        file_list(path,tree)
+            print("It looks like you're trying to list every file on the system.")
+            print("This generates a lot of data so I'm going to exclude less helpful directories")
+            print("If you really really want everything including /proc and /sys specify \"//\"")
+        file_list(path,tree, depth=depth)
     elif file.is_file(path):
-        print("Error: Invalid Path ("+path+")\n")
+        print("Error: Invalid Path ("+path+")")
 
-main(input_params['path'])
-print("\n")
-print("\n")
+main(input_params['path'], input_params["depth"])
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/tavern/tomes/file_tree/metadata.yml b/tavern/tomes/file_tree/metadata.yml
index 5e42bd14b..0ee0a4c70 100644
--- a/tavern/tomes/file_tree/metadata.yml
+++ b/tavern/tomes/file_tree/metadata.yml
@@ -8,3 +8,7 @@ paramdefs:
   type: string
   label: File path
   placeholder: "/etc/"
+- name: depth
+  type: int
+  label: Recurse Depth
+  placeholder: "3, or -1 for infinite recursion"