Learn what Model Context Protocol (MCP) is and why it matters for Claris FileMaker developers, enabling secure, flexible AI and LLM integrations.

This is the 2nd part, continuing on from the 1st part , we asked our most veteran consultant developer, Jonathan Taberner and the most recent addition, Salman Javaherai to contrast their experiences and provide an insight for our customers as to what a working day looks like for a professional Claris FileMaker Developer in 2026. Artificial IntelligenceI & Large Language Models in FileMaker Development How are you (or the team) experimenting with AI and LLMs within FileMaker? SJ: We’re experimenting with using an AI chatbot connected to internal knowledgebase. The idea is to give our team quick access to insights or historical solutions without having to dig through old documentation. It’s already proving useful for speeding up internal troubleshooting. JT: We are offering our customers natural language searches as part of standard development. What are the biggest opportunities you see for private AI in client solutions? SJ: A huge opportunity is for technical support teams, they could resolve tickets faster by having AI automatically referencing similar past issues, without the risk of leaking customer information or passwords. JT: The ability to run AI searches and summaries without sending data outside of the company network. Can you give an example where AI/LLMs made a meaningful impact in a client project (or could in the near future)? SJ: A practical near-term example is support ticket triage. AI could compare a new issue to similar historical cases and suggest likely pathways or fixes. It won’t replace support staff, but it will make them dramatically more efficient by removing repetitive searching. It could even make suggestions directly to the customer before the engineer has even read it, or it could guide the customer in the ticket submission process, by ensuring all required information is submitted (which is never a one size fits all process). JT: I am currently working on a solution for an Engineering customer to verify product certificates against UK ISO standard specifications. We are also looking at using AI as an OCR tool to extract text where the certificate is saved as an image. Collaboration & Problem-Solving What’s the toughest technical challenge you’ve solved recently—and how did you tackle it? SJ: One of the toughest challenges involved WebDirect worker machines not firing up reliably. The Claris documentation wasn’t quite clear on the networking requirements, so I built a testing environment and worked through it via trial and error, supplemented by advice from the Claris Community . Another challenge was a WebViewer freeze triggered by a hide condition—ultimately it turned out to be a FileMaker bug. I reported it and implemented a workaround, removing the hide condition and rethinking how layout objects were handled. JT: We recently collaborated with a third party designer for the development of the Venue Dashboard for Band On The Wall . The designs looked great but some were a challenge to replicate in Claris FileMaker while retaining a robust user experience. We used FileMaker’s hide/show layout objects to create the illusion of subsummary parts in a list – also made good use of card windows. We (and the client) were very pleased with the results! How does the team collaborate to brainstorm solutions or keep up with the fast pace of Claris updates? SJ: Our regular team meetings always include space for general questions, sharing discoveries, and helping each other think through architectural decisions. It creates a steady flow of knowledge and keeps us aligned with platform changes. JT: We regularly attend Claris Webinars and share development tips within the team. We discuss challenging or problematic development in our regular team meetings. We also have separate scheduled meetups to discuss and update documentation for client solutions. As a developer, how do you keep learning and staying sharp with new FileMaker features? SJ: I regularly read FileMaker blogs, subscribe to community newsletters, and watch YouTube channels like FileMaker Training and FMDisc . I’ve also been going through Claris’s “ Under the Hood ” videos, which offer great context for long term design choices, and deeper architectural understanding. JT: The best incentive I have is that I have never lost my excitement with what can be done with FileMaker – and as this is constantly evolving I always have something to be excited about. I keep an eye on Twitter(X) feeds and bookmark anything of interest for follow-up. Looking Ahead What do you think the next big trend in the Claris ecosystem will be? SJ: think integration of all the components will continue further, with Studio and Connect interacting with Claris FileMaker more seamlessly. JT: The ongoing enhancement of AI features and the evolution of AI services available. We are just at the start of this journey! How do you see AI, Claris Studio, and Claris Connect shaping the future of custom app development? SJ: I think AI will assist in app development, so the developer and client will have an initial and ongoing discussion with the AI, in order to build and maintain solutions. JT: These will all evolve to work more closely with FileMaker to extend capabilities. I also expect AI to integrate and assist with development (while still requiring experienced developer input!) What advice would you give to organisations still running their operations on spreadsheets or outdated systems? SJ: I’d ask them when they last felt passionate about the company mission. Spreadsheets are great for simple tasks, but once they’re being used as a core part of the business, they weigh everyone down by taking up mental energy, due to the inevitable mismatch between their design and company processes, not to mention the inconveniences of cleaning up mistakes made from incorrect data. JT: “Have a look at some of our solutions and see what is possible.” Most clients who come to us with one of these solutions will tell us of their woes with using outdated systems or trying to collaborate on projects using spreadsheets. They are usually excited to hear that data can be shared using FileMaker and that it only needs to be stored once.

The work of planning, designing, developing and supporting custom solutions using the Claris FileMaker platform is a core part of DataTherapy's service, providing interesting, challenging and rewarding work for our Team since inception. To celebrate our 31st year of business, we asked our most veteran consultant developer, Jonathan Taberner and the most recent addition, Salman Javaherai to contrast their experiences and provide an insight for our customers as to what a working day looks like for a professional Claris FileMaker Developer in 2026. Background & Daily Workflow What does a typical day look like for you as a FileMaker developer at DataTherapy? SJ: A typical day starts with checking emails and reviewing the progress of any overnight tasks or scheduled scripts, just to make sure everything ran as expected. From there, I usually move between project planning, actual development, and the occasional quote or scoping session for a client request. There is always a satisfying mix of planning, collaboration, problem-solving and building. JT: I usually have some project work on the go but need to balance this with routine tasks such as monitoring server backups and exports and also be available for any requests which come in from our customers with support contracts. If the issue is urgent we look at it straight away – if not we reply and schedule it. If I have the choice I prefer to do the most challenging work in the morning when I am sharpest but doesn’t always work out that way! We all mostly work remotely – I am either in my home office or a shared office space in town. How do you balance client meetings, design, coding, and testing? SJ: For me, it’s all about managing and adhering to my focus levels. Design and testing require the deepest concentration, so I treat those like “deep work” sessions in the Cal Newport sense —time where I try to minimise interruptions and really think through the architecture. Pen and paper, screen off, is really handy here. Coding and client meetings, on the other hand, have more natural breaks and tend to be a bit more caffeinated. When I’m stuck on a tricky problem, I’ll take a short break to let ideas percolate; the elegant solution usually arrives once your brain gets some space. JT: Working as part of a team it is good to spread this out a bit. We usually have several developers on an initial client call and are able to discuss, proof read proposals and sense-check plans, etc. Likewise with testing we can ask another member of the team to test a solution as an end user – even better if they have not been involved in the development progress! What do you enjoy most about building solutions on the Claris FileMaker platform? SJ: Claris FileMaker lets you build almost like a painter paints—you can design the interface, model the data, and shape the logic all in the same space, without constantly jumping between separate tools or layers. In FileMaker, it all happens immediately, right in front of you, which makes the process feel fluid, creative, and incredibly satisfying for both the developer and the client watching it come to life. JT: I am still amazed and excited by how quickly we can build solutions using FileMaker. I enjoy the challenge of trying to produce an elegant solution – efficient coding with a view to speed and robustness of the solution. Best of all is delivering a solution which exceeds the client’s expectations so they are happy and looking forward to the next enhancements. Expertise & Platform Evolution Which version of FileMaker did you first start working with and what is the biggest change or feature that excites your about the most recent FileMaker 2024 & FileMaker 2025 releases? SJ: I started developing back in FileMaker 6, just before the first major change of multi table files was introduced in version 7. In the latest releases, the features that stand out most to me are the improved JSON parsing and the enhanced WebDirect features—especially things like being able to properly disable the back button. JT: The first version of FileMaker I had was version 3. I became a professional developer on version 7 in 2005. It has to be the new AI features in FileMaker 2025 – we are already putting these to good use and this is just the beginning! Which recent FileMaker feature has had the biggest impact on the way you build solutions (e.g., JSON, transactions, script enhancements, Layout UI improvements)? SJ: Transactions have had a huge impact. They let us handle bulk record changes in a safe, controlled way without writing so much defensive code. The Execute FileMaker Data API step is another great addition—it simplifies minor record operations and simplifies scripts. And JavaScript in web viewers has opened the door to more standardised UI components and advanced reporting. JSON took me a little longer to get used to. For a while I just implemented for very specific cases such as bulk record transfers, but now I probably use it in every script for more minor things. JT: JSON – for interaction with third party APIs and a great way to pass data within a solution (eg script parameters). How do you ensure solutions remain scalable, secure, and future-proof? SJ: I try to stick to fundamentals: use as many of the ‘traditional’ FileMaker features as possible, keep the architecture clean, and avoid unnecessary complexity. I’m also cautious about unstored calculations—useful in the right contexts but expensive if overused. I’m also conscious of the risks of “premature abstraction”. You don’t need to eliminate every repetition in a script or calculation if doing so makes the logic harder to read, maintain, or adapt later. FileMaker solutions are inherently fluid—clients often request rapid changes, and we need to deliver quickly—so chasing the “perfectly abstracted” or “textbook-clean” version can actually slow things down. I’ve been caught out with adopting new FileMaker features the moment they appear. New tools are great, but it takes experience to judge when they’ll genuinely save time versus when they add unnecessary complexity. JT: We periodically review solutions which we support for possible enhancements using new features. We design solutions to be scalable to large datasets but some issues still only become evident after the solution is well in use. We are flexible in our coding and pool ideas as a team to achieve greater database efficiency. Claris Stu dio & Connect Have you integrated Claris Studio into your projects yet? What’s been your impression—where does it really shine? SJ: Yes, I’ve tested out Claris Studio integration, for “fire-and-forget” web forms where users need to submit data without having a FileMaker account. The more recent addition of direct access to FileMaker tables makes configuration (not having to use Claris Connect as an intermediary) that much quicker. It’s great to have a truly anonymous and secure way into the FileMaker data. JT: I am currently not significantly using Claris Studio. It has great potential but I still see it as a work in progress. How do you see Claris Connect changing the way clients approach integrations? SJ: Claris Connect lowers the technical barrier for clients who want to link their systems with external services like Mailchimp. Instead of managing APIs or custom scripts, Connect offers a more hands-off, approachable way to automate processes. It brings integrations within reach for organisations that previously would have seen them as too complex. For administrators it’s nice to have the option of having some automated processes outside FileMaker Server. JT: It is very quick and easy to set up an integration using Claris Connect – we use this in combination with custom API solutions. The triggers in Claris Connect are particularly useful. Can you share an example of how you’ve used these tools to streamline client workflows? SJ: One example is an events management client who needed a simple way for staff to submit availability without a set of credentials. Using Claris Studio, we built a clean, login-free submission process that feeds directly back into their FileMaker system. It removed admin overhead and gave staff a frictionless way to provide data. JT: We set up an integration for a jewellery studio between their FileMaker database and Shopify. Triggering when orders change status and uploading product details and pricing. This uses a combination of Claris Connect and custom API coding.

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