What Claris has announced.

  • FileMaker 2026, released in June 2026. A developer can now annotate fields and tables so AI models understand what the data means. Google Gemini joins the AI models FileMaker already worked with, and AI work can run on its own server, apart from FileMaker Server.
  • Agentic development (AI that does the work itself). Claris is making FileMaker something the AI coding tools developers already use, such as Claude Code, Cursor and Codex, can work on directly. The AI reads how a file is built and writes FileMaker scripts and structure changes on its own. Claris aims this at developers and presents it as a way for them to get more done.
  • Two optional server add-ons, paid separately. Remote Backup sends an encrypted copy of your data offsite every 20 minutes. Standby Server keeps a second server in sync, ready to switch to.
  • Claris Studio will be discontinued on March 15, 2027, so Claris can concentrate on FileMaker. What that means if you use Studio.
  • Claris says it will ship improvements between the yearly releases, not only with them.

What it changes for you.

Routine changes can get faster. A developer working with these tools can turn a well-defined change around in less time. Ask yours whether they use them, and whether that shows up in what you pay.

Documentation is worth more. AI tools work from what the system tells them: field names, comments, and now annotations. A system that's documented and annotated is one any developer can pick up, with or without AI tools. That documentation belongs in your name.

Your data can answer questions. The same AI features let people ask the system things in plain English. That's something you add when it's worth it to you. Here's what it looks like in practice.

What it leaves alone.

Your system keeps running as it is. Nothing in these announcements forces a rebuild or a migration. The new developer tools need FileMaker 2026, so upgrading is the entry ticket if you want them, and you pick when.

The basics of keeping a FileMaker system safe are the same as last year: it's documented, it's backed up somewhere you've tested, and the accounts are in your name.

Decisions that are yours.

  1. Whether AI tools may work on your system, and which ones. When a developer points an AI tool at your files, your structure, and sometimes your records, go to an AI provider. Ask which provider, what gets sent, and whether it's kept. Then decide. The other route Claris offers is running the AI model on a machine you own, so the data never leaves the building. Search across your documents can run on modest hardware. Writing and summarizing with a capable model takes a machine with a lot of memory, and the models that fit on it are still smaller than the cloud ones. Cloud is cheaper and more capable, and whatever you send leaves the building for good. Local keeps it in, for the price of a machine. Decide which records you're willing to have out there.
  2. When to move to FileMaker 2026. Test it on a copy first, and upgrade when your calendar allows.
  3. Whether the server add-ons are worth it. Offsite backup isn't new. FileMaker shops have sent backups offsite for years with a scheduled script and a storage service such as Backblaze, at low cost, so check what you already have before paying for Remote Backup. Standby Server is the newer idea. Price it against what an hour of downtime costs you.
  4. Whether to put AI features in front of your staff. Plain-English questions, summaries, searching your documents. In some businesses that saves hours every week; in others nobody would use it. Start with one question you'd actually ask.

None of this needs doing this quarter. All of it is worth one conversation with whoever looks after your system.

How I'd help.

If you want a second read on what any of this means for your system, the triage call is free. If you want it in writing, the System Assessment puts your options on paper, and the quote that follows prices them.

Common questions

Do I need to do anything about Claris's AI announcements?
Not this quarter. Your system keeps running as it is, and nothing in the announcements forces a rebuild or a migration. What they give you is a few decisions to make on your own schedule: whether AI tools may work on your system, when to move to FileMaker 2026, and whether the new server add-ons are worth paying for.

Will AI replace my FileMaker developer?
Claris aims its AI tools at developers and describes them as a way to get more done, not as a substitute. Someone still has to know your business rules and check what the AI writes. What changes is how fast a good developer can work.

Is my data sent to an AI company?
Only if someone sets it up that way. FileMaker's AI features and a developer's AI coding tools both talk to an AI provider that you or your developer chooses, or to a model running on hardware you own. Anything sent to an outside provider has left the building, whatever its terms say today. A model on hardware you own keeps it in.