Start here · Setup
Choose your setup¶
Choose based on what the AI needs to access and what you want it to produce. For a one-off draft, pasted text may be enough. For repeated work across files or apps, tools can save you the copying and sorting.
A quick picker¶
| Your task | A suitable setup | What to check |
|---|---|---|
| Draft, explain, or organize text you provide | An AI chat | Keep app connections off if the task does not need them. |
| Summarize or compare a few documents | A chat with file uploads | Review the contents before uploading, including extra sheets or pages. |
| Read a project folder and save or edit files | A folder agent, such as Codex or Claude Code | Check file, command, and network permissions. Keep a backup. |
| Run the same task when a form, email, or schedule triggers it | An automation tool, such as Zapier, Make, or n8n | Test the steps and decide what happens when one fails. |
The categories overlap. A chat can have tools and app connections, and an automation can include AI. The product name alone does not tell you what it can do.
What's the difference, in plain words?¶
Chat: You provide material and get a response. With no action tools enabled, this is a straightforward way to work on a draft.
Chat with files: You attach documents for the AI to use. It may read only part of a large file or struggle with a scan or complicated layout, so ask it to identify what it could read.
Folder agent: The AI works through a task using file tools and, depending on its permissions, commands or connected apps. It might read three notes, compare them, and save a summary without you pasting each note into the chat.
Automation tool: A trigger starts a sequence of steps. AI can handle a step such as classifying an inquiry, while fixed rules decide where it goes next. Start with drafts or review queues until the workflow handles your real examples reliably.
Before choosing a larger setup¶
Ask what you are doing by hand that you want the tool to handle. If the answer is “copying these five files into a chat,” a folder agent may help. If the task is one paragraph, connecting your inbox and drive adds access you do not need.
For a first file task, use a tool that shows its actions and lets you restrict access. Permission names and defaults vary by product. Read its current setup instructions rather than assuming a practice folder is a security boundary.