Connect a network share to AI: thousands of folders searchable again
The network share on your own file server can be connected to AI. The assistant can explore the folder structure, track a document down by words from its name and open and read the file it finds, live from the server. Alongside that, files are synchronised into the knowledge base, so questions about content get answered without a search. The connector only reads: nothing on the file server changes.
How the assistant works its way through the file server
First see how it is laid out
For an unfamiliar question the assistant starts with an overview of the folders: which ones exist and where most of the files sit. If the structure runs deep, it zooms in on the folder that fits best.
Search on words from the name
Short, distinctive words work best: a client name, a project number, a year, a subject. Name several words and all of them have to appear, which keeps the list of hits short.
Narrow the search down
A search can be limited to one folder, to a certain kind of file or to documents from after a given date. With too many hits the assistant shows which folders they sit in and searches on inside the right one.
What is new or changed
For questions such as what has been added recently or which version is the latest, the assistant looks at what changed lately. It can also simply list the contents of one folder you already know.
Read the document itself
Once the right file is found, the assistant opens it and reads the content, straight from the file server. Long documents arrive in parts, so it never pulls in more than the question needs.
In the knowledge base too
Besides looking live, files are synchronised into the knowledge base. Questions about content that span several documents are answered from there, naming the file.
Questions that now land on a colleague
Industry and manufacturing
- Situation
- An engineer is after the latest drawing or manual for a machine, but there are folders per build year with similar names.
- What the agent does
- The assistant searches on the machine number, checks which files are most recent and opens the matching document.
- Result
- The right document is there within a minute, even when the colleague who knows the folders is off.
Healthcare
- Situation
- A team lead wants to know which version of a protocol applies now, while several versions sit side by side on the drive.
- What the agent does
- The assistant searches inside the protocol folder, checks what changed most recently and reads the document.
- Result
- The answer comes from the document that applies today, with the file name attached for checking.
Government
- Situation
- A case file needs a document from a few years back, and nobody remembers which department it was filed under at the time.
- What the agent does
- The assistant explores the folder structure, searches on the subject and shows which folders hold hits.
- Result
- The document surfaces without anyone having to walk the whole drive.
Back office
- Situation
- At the start of the week a department wants to know which documents have appeared in the shared folder since last week.
- What the agent does
- The assistant looks at what was added or changed recently and summarises what it is about.
- Result
- Nobody has to sort by modification date by hand to stay up to speed.
Access, scope and daily use
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1
Your own service account
Your administrator creates an account on the file server with read rights on the folders that may be included. What that account cannot see does not exist for the assistant.
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2
The starting folder sets the scope
You point out where the connector begins. Everything outside it stays out of view, so confidential folders simply stay out.
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3
What the assistant sees
The names of folders and files inside that scope, and the content of the document it opens. It does not read files it does not need.
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4
What gets recorded
Every question and every opened document lands in the log, with the folder it came from. That makes it clear afterwards what was consulted.
The file server stays yours
The network drive is often the most sensitive thing an organisation has, precisely because years of documents sit on it. The connector is set up so that nothing changes and nothing leaves.
Where the data lives: Nederland of de EU
Reading only
The connector reads: exploring, searching and opening a document. There is no way for the assistant to change, move or delete a file on the file server.
Rights from your own account
Access runs through an account your administrator creates and can switch off again. The rights of that account decide exactly how far the assistant gets.
Not every assistant gets the drive
You decide which assistants and which roles may use this source. A customer service assistant can reach the manuals without reaching the personnel folders.
On your own server
The model runs on our own server in the Netherlands. The documents from the file server are not sent to an American model provider and are never used for training.
Questions about the network share connector
Can I connect a network share to ChatGPT?
No. ChatGPT cannot reach a file server that sits inside your own network, and uploading documents from it to a public chatbot is out of the question for most organisations. IntraGPT connects the network share with an account you manage yourself, inside a scope you choose, and runs on its own server.
Does IntraGPT work with a Windows share or file server?
Yes. The network share is one of the systems IntraGPT connects as standard: exploring the folder structure, searching on file name, seeing what is new, and opening and reading a document it finds.
When do we use the knowledge base and when this connector?
For questions about content whose documents are already in the knowledge base, the knowledge base is faster, because the assistant then searches inside several documents at once. You reach for this connector when a file may be new or just changed, when you want one specific document by name, or when you need to know how the folders are laid out. In practice most organisations use both.
Can the assistant search on what is inside a document?
Not while searching the file server: that covers the names of folders and files. Only when it opens a document does it read the content. Questions that cut across the content of many documents are what the knowledge base is for, and the files are synchronised into it.
Can anything be lost or changed on our drive?
No. This connector only reads. The assistant cannot save, rename, move or delete a file, not even when somebody asks it to. All it does is look and read inside the folders you pointed out.
Do I have to type the location exactly as Windows shows it?
No. You can name the folder the way you know it, including when you copy it from the explorer. The assistant finds the matching folder inside the agreed scope and states in its answer which folder the document came from.
What does a network share connector cost?
Connecting is part of the project we run together. What drives the work is the size of the drive, which folders are included, how much has to go into the knowledge base and how the rights are divided. We work that out in the first conversation.
How long does setup take?
The account and the scope take a short conversation with your system administrator. After that the size of the drive decides how long the first synchronisation runs; searching and reading already work while it is still going.