# Fyle for research groups

**Data, drafts and analysis in one place, with every change on record**

Research groups share datasets, analysis scripts, figures and drafts across laptops, lab machines and Linux servers. Fyle is a desktop drive for all three platforms, where AI agents can help with analysis and writing and every change is attributed and reversible.

## Reproducibility needs a record of every change

When a figure changes, the group needs to know which data, script and person produced it. Shared drives keep little history, and sync tools leave conflicted copies.

Agents can now clean data, re-run analyses and edit drafts. Without a record, it becomes hard to tell what a person did and what an agent did.

## How Fyle fits

Available now:

- Organisations with roles: owner, admin, billing, member and viewer. (Available now)
- Device sign-in for the desktop app and CLI: approve a short code in the browser, with no password typed into a terminal. (Available now)

Planned:

- macOS, Windows and a Linux FUSE mount, so analysis servers see the same files as laptops. (Planned: desktop launch)
- Every version is immutable and records the person, device and agent session that made it. (Planned: desktop launch)
- Agents run in their own session with a task description stored alongside their changes. (Planned: agent layer)
- Text, code and Markdown changes can be merged; other files branch for review. (Planned: review)
- Region-locked workspaces and your own storage for data that must stay in one place. (Planned: Enterprise)

## An agent at work

The agent runs the cleaning script, writes a cleaned dataset and a new figure, and edits the methods section of the draft. A co-author was editing the draft at the same time, so that change becomes a branch.

```
$ cd ~/Fyle/lab/soil-survey-2026
$ fyle agent claude --task "Re-run the cleaning script on the new samples and regenerate figure 3"

Session ended · 3 changes
  data/clean/samples-2026-10.csv  new
  figures/figure-3.png            modified
  paper/methods.md                branched (edited by a co-author during the session)
2 files landed. 1 branch waiting for review by @pi.
```

Illustration of a planned workflow. Names are examples; commands and output may change before release.

## Research data and participants’ personal data

- Research data about people is personal data, so UK GDPR applies. Region-locked workspaces, including UK-only, are planned for Enterprise.
- Agents get least-privilege, short-lived access to the folders a person grants (planned).
- Configurable retention and legal hold are planned for Enterprise.

Not legal advice. Fyle features mentioned here are planned unless marked available now.

## Related comparisons

- [Fyle vs Google Drive](https://fyle.sh/compare/fyle-vs-google-drive)
- [Fyle vs Microsoft OneDrive](https://fyle.sh/compare/fyle-vs-onedrive)
- [Fyle vs rclone](https://fyle.sh/compare/fyle-vs-rclone)

## Sources

Last checked: October 2026.

1. [ICO: UK GDPR guidance and resources](https://ico.org.uk/for-organisations/uk-gdpr-guidance-and-resources/)
2. [Fyle vs Google Drive (sourced comparison)](https://fyle.sh/compare/fyle-vs-google-drive)
3. [Fyle vs Microsoft OneDrive (sourced comparison)](https://fyle.sh/compare/fyle-vs-onedrive)
4. [Fyle vs rclone (sourced comparison)](https://fyle.sh/compare/fyle-vs-rclone)