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Use cloud storage and NAS files with AI tools

Give AI tools such as Claude, ChatGPT and Antigravity access to the files in every storage RaiDrive supports — personal and business clouds such as Google Drive and OneDrive, object storage such as Amazon S3, and NAS (a storage device on your home or office network) or servers — without downloading them yourself first. RaiDrive shows the storage as a drive letter in Windows (this is called mounting). The AI tool then works on that drive like on a desktop folder.

AI tools on the left, one RaiDrive drive in the middle, and the storage groups RaiDrive supports on the right AI tools on the left, one RaiDrive drive in the middle, and the storage groups RaiDrive supports on the right

How it works

AI desktop apps and coding agents (AI tools that run in a terminal and edit files for you) work on folders on your PC. They do not know that a folder is in the cloud. RaiDrive puts the storage on a drive letter, so you open a folder on that drive in the AI tool:

  1. Connect the storage in RaiDrive — for example Google Drive as Z:.
  2. In the AI tool, open or attach a folder on that drive, such as Z:\Documents.
  3. The AI tool reads the files there, and a tool that works in a folder also writes its results there. RaiDrive downloads and uploads each file only when the AI tool uses it.

You do not need a separate connector (add-on) for each service. Every storage RaiDrive supports works the same way: personal clouds, business clouds, S3-compatible object storage, and servers that use WebDAV, SFTP or FTP (ways to reach files on a server over the network). RaiDrive itself has no AI feature. To the AI tool, the RaiDrive drive is an ordinary drive.

Choose your AI tool

Some tools below are CLIs: programs you run by typing their name in a terminal (a window where you type commands, such as PowerShell). "Start claude in it" means: open a terminal, move to that folder with cd, and type claude.

AI tool How it opens files on the drive Guide
Claude Desktop, Claude Code Attach the drive's folder (Claude Desktop) or start claude in it (Claude Code) Claude
ChatGPT desktop app, Codex CLI Open a folder on the drive as a project (ChatGPT desktop app), or start codex in that folder (Codex CLI) ChatGPT and Codex
Gemini app, Gemini CLI, Antigravity app, Antigravity CLI Upload files from the drive (Gemini app, read only), open the drive's folder as a project (Antigravity app), or start agy (or gemini) in it Gemini and Antigravity
Microsoft Copilot, GitHub Copilot CLI Attach files from the drive to the chat and download what Copilot makes (Microsoft Copilot, read only), or start copilot in the drive's folder (GitHub Copilot CLI) Microsoft Copilot and GitHub Copilot
AI in a web browser — Copilot, Gemini, ChatGPT, Claude, AI answers in Google Search and Bing Upload a file from the drive with the browser's file picker (read only) AI in a web browser below

AI in a web browser

AI services that you use in a web browser take files from the drive the same way as the Copilot app: Microsoft Copilot (copilot.microsoft.com) and Copilot in Bing, Gemini (gemini.google.com) and AI Mode in Google Search, ChatGPT (chatgpt.com), Claude (claude.ai).

  1. On the page, click the upload button — often + or a paper clip.
  2. The browser opens the Windows file picker (the window where you choose a file). The drive is listed there as in Microsoft Copilot.
  3. Choose the file on the drive and ask about it.

A web page uploads a copy of the file. It does not open a folder on the drive and does not write to it. Which file types a page accepts depends on that service.

A new drive connects as a Network drive that is Private. These are two drive options in RaiDrive; What each drive setting allows explains them. Most AI tools work with this default. Change the settings below for these goals:

Goal Setting Where
The AI tool must not change or delete originals Read-only Safe access
The AI tool sees only one project, not the whole storage Mount a specific folder Safe access
See which files the AI tool opens Monitor process access to files Safe access
The drive is connected when the AI tool starts Reconnect at program start (on by default) Compatibility
Claude Desktop attaches folders on the drive Network drive (default), or Local Disk + Public — depends on the RaiDrive version Claude
An AI agent runs in the background (as a Windows service, or while nobody is signed in) Local Disk + Public Compatibility

For administrators

RaiDrive is set up the same way whether the AI tool is used with a personal or a business account:

  • Deploy drives as read-only when AI tools only need to read.
  • An agent that runs as a Windows service, or while nobody is signed in, needs a Public drive. See Compatibility.