How to Organize a Synology NAS With AI

TL;DR: Synology's AI features, as of DSM 7.4, help you find files and configure the NAS. None of them renames or moves files. To have AI organize a Synology, you run an assistant that can read the files where they are: The Drive AI does this with a small Docker container that you start in Container Manager. It connects out to the service, so nothing is opened to the internet. It catalogues the shares you mount, reads a file only when a task needs it, and shows every rename and move as one plan you approve. The files never leave the NAS.

Most office Synologys look the same after a few years. There's a Scans share full of scan_0412.pdf, a Clients share where every person filed things their own way, and an Old stuff (do not delete) folder that is now the biggest thing on the volume.

File Station is good at moving files you already know about. It can't tell you what scan_0412.pdf is. That's the part AI is useful for.

Does Synology have AI that organizes files?

Not yet. Synology announced DSM 7.4 in June 2026 with three AI features, and none of them files anything:

DSM Agent is an advisor for setting up and configuring the NAS, due in Q3 2026. Synology says a later DSM Agent 2.0 will add "agentic workflows", without a date.
AI Search in Synology Drive finds files from a natural-language description. It needs a model with GPU support and is due in Q4 2026.
AI Console, which predates 7.4, connects third-party AI models to Synology Office and MailPlus for writing and summarizing. It works inside those apps, not in File Station. (Synology Knowledge Center)

Synology Photos groups photos by faces and places, but that's for photos, not for a folder of contracts.

So the gap is the same as in Google Drive a year ago. Search is getting smarter, but nothing reads a file, works out what it is and puts it in the right place under the right name.

What does an AI need to organize files on a NAS?

Three things, and they're worth checking in any tool you consider:

A way to read the files in place. Copying ten years of shares to a cloud service just to sort them defeats the point of owning a NAS.
A plan before it acts. A rename across 4,000 files should be a list you can read, not something that has already happened.
A way back. Moves and renames should be reversible as one change, and deletions should land in the share's recycle bin, not vanish.

The rest of this guide sets this up with The Drive AI. The folder advice applies whatever tool you use.

How do you connect an AI assistant to a Synology?

You run a small helper container on the NAS. The image is published for both Intel/AMD and ARM, so it runs on any Synology that runs Container Manager. That's most Plus and Value models on DSM 7.2 or later, and some J models such as the DS220j. Check your model on Synology's site if you're not sure.

Turn on the recycle bin for each share you'll connect. In DSM, go to Control Panel › Shared Folder, edit the share and tick Enable Recycle Bin. Anything the assistant deletes then goes to that share's #recycle, the same place deletions from File Station go.
Get a pairing code. In The Drive AI web app, open Settings › Agent and choose Pair a device. The dialog gives you a compose file with the code filled in. The code works once, for ten minutes.
Create a project in Container Manager. Open Container Manager › Project › Create, choose to create a compose file and paste it in.
Mount the shares you want the assistant to see. Each share is one volume line, mounted under /data:
```
    volumes:
      - /volume1/Clients:/data/Clients
      - /volume1/Scans:/data/Scans
      - tdai-device-config:/config
```
The assistant can open only these folders. A share you don't list doesn't exist for it.
Run it as the share's owner. Add a user: line with the user and group IDs of the account that owns the shares (for example user: "1026:100"), so the files the assistant creates belong to that user and not to root.
Start the project. Within a minute the NAS shows up in The Drive AI as Online · NAS, and each share starts cataloguing. A large share takes a few minutes.

The container connects out to The Drive AI, the way a browser does. There's no port to forward, no VPN and no QuickConnect setting to change.

What does the assistant store, and what stays on the NAS?

The files stay on the NAS. The assistant keeps a catalogue of names, paths, sizes and dates so it can answer "what's in here" without touching the disk.

For each share you choose one of two read modes:

Reads documents. The text of documents goes into the assistant's index, so you can find a file by what it says, not just its name. A share with up to 25,000 documents is read in full in the background. A larger one is read as tasks need it.
Names and dates only. No document goes into the index. The assistant organizes by name, date and photo details, and opens a file only if you ask it to in a conversation.

You set the mode per share under Your devices once the NAS is online. Use Names and dates only for shares like HR or payroll. A file's bytes are streamed from the NAS only when it's read or copied, and they aren't stored.

Two more settings are worth knowing. Each is one more line under environment: in the compose file:

TDAI_READ_ONLY=1 lets the assistant read and search but not move, rename or delete anything. It's a good way to start: ask questions for a week before you let it change anything.
TDAI_SHARED=0 keeps the shares visible only to you. Without it, a NAS paired by a workspace admin is shared with everyone in the workspace, which is usually what an office NAS is for. An admin can change any share either way later.

What should you ask first?

Start with questions, then one folder, then the whole share.

What's in the Scans share? Group it by what the documents are.

Rename every scan in /Scans/2025 to the client, the document type and the date.

Sort /Clients/_Unsorted into the client folders that already exist.

Which client folders have no signed engagement letter?

The assistant reads each file and proposes every change as one plan: a count, a sample of the new names and folders, and what it couldn't place. Nothing moves until you approve it. A big change then runs in the background while you get on with something else.

Scanned PDFs are worth a note. A scan with no text layer is found by its name and date until something reads it. When a task or a workflow opens it, the pages are read, so renaming scans by their contents works.

How do you keep new scans filed automatically?

Turn the rename into a workflow that watches the share:

From now on, when a new file lands in /Scans, rename it to the client, the type and the date, and move it into that client's folder.

A NAS is always on, so the workflow runs as files arrive. If the helper is stopped for an update, it catches up on the files that arrived in the meantime when it comes back. How file workflows work covers triggers and approvals in more detail.

What happens if the AI gets something wrong?

Moves and renames undo as one change. One click puts every file back under its old name and folder.
Deletions go to the share's recycle bin. Restore them from #recycle in File Station, within the share's retention period. Undo in The Drive AI doesn't bring back deleted files on a NAS, so restoring them is a manual step. If you remove the TDAI_TRASH_DIR line, the assistant won't delete anything on the NAS; it moves files instead.
Every change is in the activity log, with who asked for it and what was approved.

Before a first big reorganization, take a snapshot of the share (Snapshot Replication) or check your Hyper Backup task ran. It costs nothing and makes any mistake a five-minute fix.

Does this work on QNAP, TrueNAS or Unraid?

Yes. The helper is an ordinary Docker container, so any NAS or server that runs Docker can use it: QNAP's Container Station, TrueNAS, Unraid or a Linux box with Docker. The compose file is the same; only the share paths change.

One difference on QNAP: its recycle bin is a folder called @Recycle, not #recycle. Until QNAP is covered by the default, remove the TDAI_TRASH_DIR line on a QNAP, and the assistant will move files it would have deleted instead of deleting them.

Can you connect a NAS without Docker?

Yes, from a Mac, with two trade-offs. Mount the share in Finder (Go › Connect to Server, then smb:// and the NAS's address), then share that folder from the desktop app under Settings › Agent › Share a folder. macOS asks once for permission to read network volumes.

The trade-offs follow from the Mac being in the middle:

It works only while the Mac is on and connected to the share. The container on the NAS doesn't have this problem.
New files are noticed later. A network share doesn't tell the Mac when a file changes, so the folder is rescanned every half hour or so instead of being watched live. A workflow on it reacts within that window rather than within seconds.

It's a good way to try the assistant on a share before anyone sets up a container. For an office NAS that everyone files into, run the helper on the NAS.

What are the limits?

Reading and changing files needs the NAS online. If it's off, the assistant can still talk about files it has catalogued, but it can't open or move them until the NAS is back.
Names that differ only in capitals (Report.pdf and report.pdf in the same folder) count as one file on a NAS, so one isn't catalogued. Rename one of them.
Copying between the NAS and a cloud drive works in one request, up to 2,000 files or 2 GB per folder, with files up to 100 MB each.
Connecting a NAS needs a Max or Team plan, the same as connecting a cloud drive.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can AI organize files on a Synology NAS?

Not with Synology's own tools as of DSM 7.4: they search and configure, but don't rename or move files. An assistant such as The Drive AI can, through a Docker container you run in Container Manager. It reads the files on the NAS and proposes renames and moves for you to approve.

Do my files get uploaded to the cloud?

No. The assistant keeps a catalogue of names, paths, sizes and dates, plus document text if you allow it for that share. A file's bytes are streamed only when it's read or copied, and aren't stored. Set a share to Names and dates only and no document goes into the index.

Do I need to open a port or use QuickConnect?

No. The helper container connects out to The Drive AI over HTTPS. Nothing on the NAS is reachable from the internet because of it, and you don't need a VPN, port forwarding or dynamic DNS.

Which Synology models can run it?

Any model that runs Container Manager, which needs DSM 7.2 or later. The image is built for both x86 and ARM64, which covers most Plus and Value models and some J models. Check Synology's Container Manager page for your exact model.

Is it safe to give AI access to my NAS?

It's as safe as the scope you give it. The assistant sees only the shares you mount into the container, and the helper refuses any path outside them, including symlinks that point elsewhere. You can make it read-only with TDAI_READ_ONLY=1, keep documents out of its index per share, and every change waits for your approval as one plan.

Can I undo changes the AI makes on my NAS?

Moves and renames, yes: one click reverses the whole change. Deleted files go to the share's #recycle and are restored from there in File Station, not by undo. If no recycle bin is set up, the assistant moves files instead of deleting them.

Start with one share

Pick the share that annoys people most, usually Scans. Connect it read-only for a few days and ask it questions. When the answers look right, let it rename one year of scans and read the plan before you approve it.

If the NAS needs a broader cleanup first, the 7 steps to clean up a shared office NAS cover the folder structure, duplicates and archive decisions. The NAS integration page has the short version of the setup.