Connect a FileMaker file

Requires ADT installed — see Install ADT. ADT works with hosted or local FileMaker files; open the file in FileMaker Pro before connecting it.

Create a project

  1. Ask your agent to create the project.

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    Create an ADT project called my-project and connect the file I have open in FileMaker Pro.

    The name becomes the directory name — lowercase alphanumerics, -, and _ only. ADT needs three things: what the project is called, which FileMaker file to connect, and — if the target directory already exists and isn't empty — whether to abort, clear, or overwrite.

    You do not need to know the file's address. ADT asks FileMaker Pro what it has open and lists each file with the target it would record. If exactly one usable file is open, the agent uses it. If several are open, it picks from the list or asks you, so naming the file is enough. Only when the file is not open anywhere does the agent need a full target such as fmnet://host/Inventory or a path to a .fmp12.

    Note  Connecting is non-fatal If the connect step fails, the project is still created and usable — the connection can be retried on its own.

  2. Confirm the result.

    A successful project looks like this:

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    my-project/
    ├── .git/
    ├── .gitignore
    ├── AGENTS.md
    └── adt.json

Connect a file

  1. Connect a file, or another one.

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    Also connect Inventory to this project. It's open in FileMaker Pro.

    A file name is all the agent needs when the file is open in FileMaker Pro. For a hosted file that is not open on your machine, add the host: "connect Inventory on fms.example.com". A full fmnet:// target or a .fmp12 path is only a fallback.

    Creating the project already connected one file. Connecting again records an additional file or re-points an existing entry. It's safe to repeat and writes nothing but adt.json. If the file needs an account to open, the connect step asks for it once and records the account name, never the password.

    Your agent can do this from anywhere inside the project — ADT walks up to find adt.json.

Store the account's password

adt.json records a username, never a password. If the file's account needs one, store it in your macOS keychain so ADT and the filemaker CLI can use it without ever putting it in a command, a config file, or your shell history:

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filemaker --file="fmnet://localhost/Inventory" --username="api_user" --store-credentials

This prompts for the password once, saves it to the keychain under that file/username pair, and exits without opening the database. From then on, pass --keychain instead of --password to any filemaker command, and ADT's own tooling looks it up the same way once a username is on record. To rotate or remove it:

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filemaker --file="fmnet://localhost/Inventory" --username="api_user" --forget-credentials

Warning  Never pass --password on the command line --password is visible to anyone who can list processes on the machine. Use --store-credentials instead, except in one-off scripted contexts where you're already sourcing the password from a secret manager.

Note  Just testing? Skip credentials with auto-login For a local dev or scratch file, you can avoid handling credentials at all: in FileMaker Pro, open File → File Options, and set the file to log in automatically with a [Full Access] account. ADT and filemaker can then open the file with no --username or password at all. This is convenient for testing, but don't ship a production file that auto-logs-in with Full Access — anyone who opens it gets full access with no credential prompt.

Verify the connection

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Check my ADT setup and this project, and tell me whether the file is ready.

The agent reports an overall state of ready, degraded, or blocked, and fixes what it can.

See Troubleshooting for what each state means and what only you can fix.