The AI Assistant is a chat assistant built into the Files.com Web App that lets any logged-in user ask questions about their account and take actions on their behalf. You can ask about files, transfers, automations, and more. The assistant reads your logs, drafts changes, and applies them with your approval.

The assistant runs entirely within the permission scope of the logged-in user. It cannot access files, folders, or settings the user cannot already access, and it cannot perform actions the user is not already permitted to take.

Every action it performs is recorded in the audit log under the user's account, exactly as if the user had acted directly. The assistant can read file contents within your permission scope, but those contents are not transmitted to AI providers.

Site Administrators can enable or disable the feature by user type, or turn off all AI features sitewide.

Like all AI systems, the assistant can make mistakes. Review its responses and confirm any proposed actions before they are applied.

Permissions and Scope

The AI Assistant runs under the session credentials of the logged-in user. It has access to the same files, folders, logs, and settings that the user's account can already access. It cannot take actions the account does not permit and cannot reach files or folders outside the user's permitted scope, regardless of how the request is phrased.

Access by Permission Level

Site Administrators have access to everything on the site: all files, folders, users, groups, logs, automations, Remote Servers, Share Links, and settings. The only exception is Child Sites, which require logging in to that Child Site directly.

Workspace Administrators have full admin access within their assigned Workspace and cannot reach the default workspace or other Workspaces.

Folder Admins have full control over their assigned folders and subfolders, including settings, permissions, and automations scoped to those folders.

Read-only Administrators can ask questions about site configuration, logs, and users but cannot apply changes. They can take actions within folders where they hold separate folder permissions.

Group Admins can ask about and manage users within their own group.

Standard Users can ask about and act on the files and folders their permissions allow. They cannot access site settings, logs, or other users' data.

Partner Users interact entirely within their Partner scope. Partner Administrators can additionally ask questions about and manage users within their own Partner.

Security and Privacy

Files.com processes AI Assistant interactions in accordance with the Files.com Privacy Policy. The assistant displays a notice about AI limitations and accuracy when you open it. Your use of the AI Assistant is subject to the Files.com Terms of Service.

AI Providers and Model Training

Files.com uses third-party AI providers including Anthropic, OpenAI, and AWS to power the AI Assistant. Our agreements with those providers require that your data is handled in accordance with the Files.com Privacy Policy. Your inputs are not used to train AI models.

AI providers do not have access to your file contents. The AI Assistant can access metadata, logs, and configuration data within your permitted scope, but it does not read or transmit the contents of your files to AI providers.

Files.com employees can access chat contents for quality control and improvement of the AI Assistant.

Data Retention

Files.com retains chat session records and messages for 30 days.

Audit Logging

All actions the AI Assistant takes on your behalf are recorded in the audit log under your user account. They appear alongside your own direct actions with no distinction in how they are attributed.

What You Can Do with the AI Assistant

The AI Assistant answers questions, and it can also make changes on your behalf so you do not have to click through the steps yourself. When it proposes a change, it shows you exactly what it plans to do and waits for your approval before doing it. Any logged-in user can use the AI Assistant within their own permission scope.

If you find yourself asking the assistant to run the same prompt on a repeating basis, a Site Administrator can set it up as an AI Task so it runs automatically on a schedule or file trigger instead. For recurring workflows that follow fixed rules rather than judgment, Automations are a better fit than either, though creating one requires Site Administrator, Workspace Administrator, or Folder Admin access.

Asking Questions and Reviewing Logs

The assistant answers questions about your files, folders, transfers, and site configuration. You can ask it to find and explain issues in your logs, review what automations are active, audit access to a folder, or investigate sync errors against a Remote Server.

Some examples:

"Show me everything uploaded to /Contracts/Pending last week and who uploaded it."
"What happened with the sync errors to the claims gateway over the weekend?"
"Which automations failed last night and why?"
"Which users have not logged in for the past 90 days?"
"Show me all files deleted this month and who deleted them."
"What automations are currently active, and what do they do?"
"How many Share Links are active on my site, and how many are missing an expiration date?"
"Who has access to the /Finance/Payroll folder?"
"Copy all files in /Projects/2026/Final to /Archive/2026 and rename each one to include today's date."
"Create a Share Link for the /Deliverables/ClientA folder that expires in 7 days."

Generating Reports and Files

The assistant can analyze data on your site and produce formatted reports, charts, and exports. When it generates a file, it delivers it as a Snapshot link directly in the chat. No folder is required. The link is private to you, and the snapshot expires after 24 hours.

Some examples:

"Analyze file transfer activity from the last 30 days and create a dashboard showing total uploads, total downloads, failed transfers, top users, top folders, and busiest protocols."
"Review Automation run history from the last 7 days and create a report showing successful runs, failed runs, skipped runs, and the most common failure reasons."
"Analyze files submitted through Inboxes this month and create a chart showing submissions by partner, file type, upload date, and missing expected files."
"Review active Share Links and create a report showing link owners, linked folders or files, expiration dates, access settings, and links that may need review."
"Analyze AS2 transmission activity from the last 30 days and create a scorecard showing trading partners, successful transmissions, failed transmissions, MDN status, and retry patterns."

The assistant can also generate multiple files in a single session. For example, an interactive HTML dashboard paired with CSV exports of the underlying data:

"Analyze file transfer activity, Automation run history, and Share Link usage from the last 7 days. Create an interactive HTML dashboard with separate tabs for each area, and export the raw data for each section as its own CSV file."
"Review all Inbox submissions and AS2 transmissions from the last 30 days. Create an interactive HTML dashboard showing per-partner volume and success rates, and include a CSV listing each partner, their submission count, last activity date, and any partners with no activity in the period."

Each file is delivered as a separate Snapshot link in the chat. To save the files, simply drag and drop them into the folder you want to save them in.

Making Changes

Describe a change, and the assistant locates the resource, shows you the exact proposed action, checks for conflicts, and waits for your confirmation before doing anything. For example: "Rename the 2024-Draft folder inside /Clients/Acme/Deliverables to 2024-Final." The assistant finds the folder, confirms the new path and that nothing will be overwritten, and only proceeds after you confirm.

Applying Metadata in Bulk

The assistant can read structured files and apply Custom Metadata from their contents. For example: "For each XML file in /Submissions/Inbound, examine the file contents and apply Custom Metadata to each file that matches the keys and values in the XML file."

Getting Guidance on Features and Configuration

The assistant has access to Files.com's full public documentation and can answer how-to questions about any feature, walk you through setup steps, or explain how something works without you having to search the docs yourself.

Some examples:

"How do I set up SIEM integration?"
"How do I configure folder permissions for external users?"
"What are the steps to onboard a new Partner?"
"What is the difference between a Workspace and a Child Site?"
"How do I install the Files.com CLI and what commands are available for uploading files?"

Enabling and Disabling the AI Assistant

Files.com is committed to making all AI features opt-out. Site Administrators can disable the AI Assistant for specific user types or turn it off entirely for the site.

Disabling all AI features blocks the AI Assistant and the Remote MCP Server. The Local MCP Server, which uses standard API keys, is not affected by this setting.

Site Administrators can also restrict the AI Assistant by user type. Access for Site Administrators, Workspace Administrators, Folder Admins, and all regular users can be controlled independently. All four default to enabled.

MCP Dynamic Client Registration is off by default. Enable it only when connecting MCP clients that require DCR, like Cursor or Codex.