A persistent federated folder within a federated content management system can be used to save federated search results, to act as a container in a workflow process, or a container for a set of documents or folders with similar characteristics. The federated folder and its associated storage structure have the capability to save its instances persistently. The federated folder operations can selectively create, retrieve, update, and/or delete an instance of a federated folder in addition to adding, retrieving updating and deleting its parts and its members. Seamless integration with the federated query is provided to operate on the federated folder transparently regardless of the locality of the user or the datastores the user is searching. Access rights for federated folders are enforced according to user's general privileges.