AI is genuinely useful for FileMaker development, but only if it stops guessing. Left to its training data, a model invents functions that don't exist, and emits layout and schema XML that FileMaker rejects silently — no error, the object just never appears.
These are open tools and specifications that fix that: the knowledge an AI needs to generate FileMaker that actually works, and the tools to check what it produces. Much of it is reverse-engineering FileMaker's undocumented clipboard XML — the formats Claris has never published, where a wrong guess pastes silently and breaks. The rest is giving the model the vocabulary and verification it otherwise lacks.
Start here
FileMaker AI Vocabulary Every FileMaker 26 function and script step in ~7,000 tokens, so an AI stops inventing things that don't exist. The cheapest way to make any model better at FileMaker — no XML required.
Generation — paste-ready FileMaker XML
Script XML Skill (XMSS, XMSC, XMFN) The full script step ID dictionary, plus the hidden paste-handler rules that decide whether your XML survives the trip into FileMaker.
Layout XML Skill (XML2) All 18 layout object types mapped, every flag decoded, element order confirmed against native output. Verified across 45+ layouts in 10 production files.
Field, Table & Value List Definitions (XMFD, XMTB, XMVL) Field, table and value list definition XML — auto-enter, validation, storage, calculation options, and the three value list source arms — verified down to the individual option level.
Analysis — read, audit and clean existing XML
XML Inspector (SaXML) Full-catalog dependency analysis of a Save as XML export, entirely in the browser. Finds unreferenced fields, silent-failure risks, broken references, and diffs two versions of a solution against each other.
XML Scrubber (SaXML + others) Strips API keys, passwords and internal hostnames out of FileMaker XML before you hand it to an AI tool.
Verified, not guessed
Every finding here is marked so you know exactly how sure I am: ✓ round-trip tested · ◎ observed in native exports · ○ inferred
All CC BY 4.0.
Andrew Kear · Claris Partner · Claris MVP · clockworkct.co.uk