Capabilities and limitations
This page summarizes what the current ADT release can do to a FileMaker file and a project. The installed filemaker help output is the authoritative contract for native FileMaker work, and each reference page defines exact inputs and errors.
Warning Layouts have the most known gaps Layouts and layout objects are the least complete area of ADT in this release. Charts can be read but not created or changed. Conditional formatting and an object's local styling overrides cannot be written. Theme styles can be applied to an object but not created. Only the body part is modelled, so header, footer, and summary parts are not created or resized. Layout folders cannot be moved, and a tab title that is a calculation is read-only. Expect an agent to report an unsupported layout operation more often than in any other area, and to fall back to duplicating an existing layout and editing the copy, which preserves everything the CLI cannot recreate.
Native FileMaker catalogs
Every catalog below is reached through the filemaker command line, which your agent drives. filemaker works on a file's schema: its tables, fields, relationships, scripts, layouts, security, and the other structures listed here. It does not read or write records. Data work goes through the agent's data tools, described in the next section.
Read means list and describe. Write means create, update, and delete unless the notes say otherwise.
| Catalog | Read | Write | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tables | Yes | Yes | Base tables. Creating a table does not create a layout for it. |
| Fields | Yes | Yes | Data types, storage, auto-enter, validation, and calculation options. Every field reference names its table occurrence. |
| Table occurrences | Yes | Yes | The nodes of the relationships graph, including position and color. |
| Relationships | Yes | Yes | Predicates, cascading create and delete, and sort flags. The relationship sort specification is not supported on any verb. |
| Graph notes | Yes | Yes | Notes drawn on the relationships graph. |
| Scripts | Yes | Yes | Scripts, folders, and separators, with 218 script steps writable by stable step identifiers. Steps the CLI cannot read yet are marked opaque and carried through a write unchanged. Unsupported step forms are reported, not approximated. |
| Layouts and layout objects | Yes | Partial | Seventeen object kinds, layout and object script triggers, themes, and named styles. See the note above for the gaps. |
| Value lists | Yes | Partial | Custom, field-based, and calculation lists. External value lists are read-only. |
| Custom functions | Yes | Yes | Functions and their folders. A function another calculation calls is not deleted. |
| Calculations | Validate and evaluate | No | A formula is parsed or evaluated in a table occurrence context and nothing is stored. |
| Accounts | Yes | Yes | ADT refuses to bind any account to Full Access, on create and on update. |
| Privilege sets | Yes | Yes | Built-in sets cannot be edited, and no set can be created as or promoted to Full Access. Every write requires a Full Access session. |
| Extended privileges | Yes | Yes | Built-in keywords cannot be deleted or renamed. |
| File authorizations | Yes | Revoke only | A new protected-file pairing must be created in FileMaker Pro with both files open. |
| External data sources | Yes | Yes | Stored references to other FileMaker files and data sources. ODBC credentials, stored tokens, and ODBC filter properties are deliberately not exposed. |
| Custom menus and menu sets | Yes | Yes | Menus, their items, and the sets a layout picks from. Legacy per-platform install flags are read-only; use the install calculation instead. |
| Base directories | Yes | Yes | Directories for externally stored container data. |
| Persistent data | Yes | Yes | FileMaker's per-file key-value store for add-on state. Dry runs refuse writes here. |
| Fonts | Yes | No | FileMaker interns fonts as layouts reference them. The catalog cannot be added to, renamed, or emptied directly. |
Data and Web Viewer apps
| Area | Read | Create or change | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Records | Yes | Yes | Record work does not go through filemaker. The agent's SQL access is read-only, and record writes use FileMaker data operations that respect the active account. |
| Web Viewer apps | Yes | Yes | ADT creates React and TypeScript apps, browser previews, generated typed clients, and FileMaker-hosted app content. |
Supported environment
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ADT development tools run on macOS.
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Live Web Viewer development needs FileMaker Pro 26.1 or later with Agent Access enabled; earlier 26.0 builds don't have Agent Access and aren't supported. See System Requirements.
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A connected file may be a local
.fmp12path, a file shared by FileMaker Pro, or a file hosted by FileMaker Server. -
Native schema, script, and layout work does not require FileMaker Pro to keep the target file open. Live Web Viewer development and agent data tools use an open FileMaker Pro session with Agent Access on.
Boundaries
ADT reports an unsupported operation instead of silently substituting a different FileMaker feature. A coding agent also cannot dismiss FileMaker dialogs, enable sharing, or grant itself credentials and privileges.