OwAI guides · English
Search and organize OneDrive photos and videos
Connect OneDrive to OwAI for AI photo search, video moments, collections and duplicate review. Learn about optional downloads, cloud processing and MCP access.
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Read as MarkdownYour originals stay in OneDrive
Connect a OneDrive folder to Organize with AI (OwAI) and search its photos and videos by visual meaning, recognized people, captured dates and media type. Create collections, automatically filled groups and favorites, or review duplicate candidates with filenames and similarity scores. Each source includes its subfolders.
This is a connected library, not a one-way import or a second full sync folder. OwAI keeps its searchable index and organization in your account; changes replicate to the desktop app and CLI. Originals remain in OneDrive. OwAI collections and people labels are not Microsoft albums or tags written into your files.
Connect OneDrive in the desktop app
You need an OwAI account with Cloud Access and a Microsoft account with access to the folder. OneDrive requires Cloud Access even if you choose local AI processing. Free local-folder use does not require a paid account.
- Install the latest OwAI desktop app and connect your OwAI account in App Settings.
- On the home screen, open OneDrive, then Connect OneDrive. Follow Microsoft's sign-in instructions using only the code displayed in your own app. Never approve a device code sent by someone else.
- Choose OneDrive folder, browse to the folder you want, then select Add selected folder. Its subfolders are included; avoid adding overlapping parent and child folders unless you want separate library entries.
- Optionally enable Detect faces for that source. Decide whether to Keep originals on this device; it is optional and uses a bounded cache, not an unlimited offline copy.
- Choose Media indexing and Face detection in App Settings. These are the same processing choices used for local folders. Check indexing progress before expecting all search results.
Local or cloud processing: what is paid, and what must stay on?
OneDrive connectivity is included with permanent Cloud Access. Hosted indexing, semantic search and Reimagine use the corresponding prepaid credits. Metadata-only searches and ordinary library-management calls do not run inference. Choosing local AI does not remove the Cloud Access requirement for the shared OneDrive library.
With local indexing, OwAI temporarily downloads originals for decoding and runs the models on your computer. Keep OwAI running. If face detection is enabled, its local-versus-cloud choice also comes from App Settings. Mixed local/cloud processing still needs this computer online. There is no separate OneDrive inference selector.
When indexing and any enabled face detection both use cloud processing, the server can index OneDrive while your desktop is off. It fetches media for transient processing; this is not an OwAI-hosted backup. Search follows the search settings and capabilities of the connection you use.
Do I have to download my entire OneDrive library?
No. Gallery thumbnails are obtained from OneDrive and cached locally, without downloading every original just to generate thumbnails. Photos are fetched when needed. Desktop videos download to a temporary playback cache before playing through the local-file player; a progress indicator is shown while downloading, and reopening a cached video is faster.
The on-demand video playback cache is limited to 5 GiB and evicts least-recently-used files when space is needed. Separately, Keep originals on this device enables a bounded original cache, 20 GiB by default. A large library is not necessarily fully available offline. Disabling that option clears retained originals, not the thumbnails or separate playback cache, and never deletes OneDrive files.
Cached media and replicated organization can be browsed offline. Uncached originals, OneDrive semantic search and cloud edits need Internet. Local folders with downloaded local search models remain usable offline. Download explicitly saves a local copy without overwriting an existing destination.
What happens when I organize, export or delete media?
OwAI checks connected sources for changes approximately every ten minutes. Sync now requests an earlier check; throttling or service outages can delay completion. OneDrive renames preserve file identity, content changes trigger reindexing, and moves or deletions update the catalog.
| Action | Where the change happens |
|---|---|
| Collections, groups, favorites and people | Updated in OwAI's shared catalog and replicated to the app and CLI. They are not OneDrive albums or embedded file tags. |
| Duplicate review | Scoped to one source, with member filenames, similarity scores and sorting. Marking items distinct changes OwAI's classification, not the original files. |
| Export a collection or group | Creates copies under the OwAI output folder in OneDrive. Check progress and itemized failures before treating the export as complete. |
| Save a reimagined or watermarked image | Creates a new file in the OwAI output folder in OneDrive, with an explicit local-download option. Originals are not overwritten. |
| Delete originals | Requires a reviewed deletion plan and approval, then uses OneDrive's native recycle bin. Restore provider-deleted files in OneDrive; Microsoft's retention policy applies, not OwAI's local 30-day recovery. |
| Remove a source or disconnect | Removing a source removes it from OwAI, not its OneDrive originals. Disconnecting removes OwAI's stored Microsoft authorization and pauses provider access. |
Use OneDrive through an AI assistant and MCP
Use the same OwAI tools as for local folders, not a separate OneDrive connector. Connect the assistant to https://index.organizewith.ai/mcp, authorize the required permissions, and use inspect_library to discover the connected source and real IDs. Keep searches, collections and duplicate review scoped to that source.
Remote MCP searches and library edits for OneDrive run against the shared catalog on the server. Unlike commands for local-folder files, OneDrive operations do not need a desktop executor. read_media can fetch an inline photo preview or video still from OneDrive without enabling the desktop media relay. This is preview delivery, not full-video streaming in the chat, and display depends on the assistant's support for MCP images.
Use search_media, manage_collection, manage_group, manage_person and inspect_duplicates as advertised by the live schema. Do not invent IDs or treat a similarity score as authorization to delete. Preview and obtain explicit approval for the exact originals before applying deletion. Preserve command IDs and inspect get_library_command results, including itemized failures; accepted or pending does not mean finished.
open_media is a different action: it opens a desktop window only on the same computer. A cloud-only or headless assistant should use read_media for previews, not claim that it opened a file on your laptop.
Use the same library from OwAI CLI
The CLI uses the same connected library and profile-wide processing settings. Follow the CLI installation and account guide first, then run owai onedrive connect, complete your own Microsoft sign-in, and use onedrive browse and onedrive add with the returned drive and folder IDs. Keep one profile consistent with --data-dir. Never expose credentials or provider download links to an assistant.
Current limits and troubleshooting
One Microsoft account can be connected per OwAI account. Personal OneDrive has been tested; work and school accounts may need administrator consent and depend on organization policy. SharePoint site browsing and shared-folder shortcuts are not supported. This integration does not add Google Photos, Apple Photos or other providers.
AI processing currently accepts originals up to 2 GiB and samples videos at up to 100 timestamps. Video search finds indexed moments, not every frame. Playback depends on platform codecs; unsupported media can be downloaded for another player.
If a file is absent from search, check the selected source, indexing counts, processing settings, remaining credits and the error shown in the OneDrive dialog. A successful Microsoft sign-in does not mean indexing has finished. Reconnect if authorization expires or is revoked, and allow synchronization to catch up after an outage.