Local AI that reads your files and proposes categories from your actual library.
VaultSort 3 ships with a private, on-device embedding model.
No cloud. No API key. Nothing leaves your Mac.
Use code VS3LAUNCH · Offer expires May 14 · Free upgrade for VaultSort 2.x license-holders
Every other organizer sees filenames.
Smart Categorize reads the content.
Scan_001.pdf. Untitled-3.docx. New Document (4).pdf. They all look the same to a filename rule. One is a tax return. One is a contract. One is a takeout menu. Smart Categorize knows the difference.
Reads your files
Extracts and embeds content from PDFs, ePubs, Word, Markdown, and code. Not just filenames — the actual words inside.
Proposes your categories
Clusters your real library so the names come from patterns that actually exist — Audits, Invoices, Presets — not a generic taxonomy someone else invented.
Stays on your Mac
~470 MB Apple-Silicon-native model. Verified by SHA-256 at install. Zero network calls during classification. Not a marketing claim — there is no backend.
Four steps. Entirely on your Mac.
Smart Categorize is a pipeline — not a chatbot, not a cloud service. Here's exactly what happens when you run it.
Sample
Points at your folders and picks a representative slice. A reservoir sampler ensures every file has equal selection probability — even in 50,000-file Desktops.
Embed
Runs each sampled file through the on-device embedding model. Text becomes a high-dimensional vector. Two W-2 forms land close together. A W-2 and a takeout menu do not.
Cluster
Groups files whose fingerprints are close together. Each cluster becomes a category proposal with example files and the keywords the model sees as defining.
Propose
Hands you a review screen. Accept, rename, merge, split, or drop categories. Save as a reusable Category Set. Nothing moves until you execute.
Real output. Real files.
VaultSort 3 didn't pick these names from a list. It read the files.
2,400-file Documents + Downloads + Desktop sample · 288 analyzed · ~2 seconds · zero cloud calls
PresetTree.xml
AMEPrefs.xml
AudioPluginManagerSettings_ARM.xml
NC_audit.txt
UT_audit.txt
DE_audit.txt
officeholder-summary-2026-03-23.csv
Contract_Invoice07-Sep2025.pdf
Contract_Invoice06-August2025.pdf
USAH03B80N25 (1).pdf
USAH03B80N25 (2).pdf
API-Proposal (1).pdf
API-Proposal (2).pdf
financial_report.csv
financial_report (3).csv
UK Targeting: Discovery Document.pdf
These category names came from your files, not from a preset list. The model read Audits, Invoices, USAH, and Presets because those patterns existed in the library.
Smart Categorize isn't a separate app. It's a new condition.
semanticCategory is now a first-class predicate in VaultSort's rule engine — composable alongside filename, size, date, tag, and every other condition you already use. Every existing feature works on top of it.
if semanticCategory is "Receipts"
and size > 500 KB
then move to /Receipts/Large
and tag "to-file"if semanticCategory is "Tax Returns"
and date older than 1 year
then move to /Archive/Tax/{year}
and tag "Finder:Tax"if semanticCategory is "Medical"
then move to /Documents/Medical
and tag "sensitive"Content-aware and private.
The first file organizer that's both.
| Smart Categorize | Filename rules | Cloud AI organizers | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Reads file contents | ✅ | ❌ Filename only | ✅ |
| Runs on-device | ✅ | ✅ | ❌ Files uploaded |
| Categories from your library | ✅ | ❌ You write rules | ⚠️ Fixed taxonomy |
| Works offline | ✅ | ✅ | ❌ |
| Requires API key / account | ❌ | ❌ | ✅ |
| Per-file cost | $0 | $0 | Variable |
| Sees your private files | ❌ | ❌ | ✅ |
Everything else in VaultSort 3
Smart Categorize is the headline. Here's what else shipped.
Redesigned Advanced Organize UI
Cleaner layout, faster navigation, and a dedicated Smart Categorize entry point in the job builder header.
Order-independent derive output
Fully deterministic across runs — re-running on the same folders produces the same proposals regardless of selection order.
Smarter cluster naming
Acronym casing, irregular plurals, calendar-token filtering. The model picks names that look like a human chose them.
Schema-versioned Category Sets
Saved sets are versioned so upgrades never silently break your stored taxonomies.
In the press
VaultSort wants to replace CleanMyMac
Mac Automation Lab · macautomationlab.substack.com ↗
"Smart Categorize is the moment 'AI file organization' stops meaning 'send your files to a third party.'"
— Justin Haubrich, founder of VaultSort
"CleanMyMac sweeps caches and trash. VaultSort organizes the work itself."
— Justin Haubrich
Privacy-architected, not privacy-claimed.
There is no Smart Categorize backend. We couldn't hand over your library even if asked.
Model runs on your Mac
Not on our servers. Not on a partner's servers. On your Apple Silicon Neural Engine, locally, in the same sandboxed app you already trust.
Your files never leave
Not the text we extract. Not the embeddings we compute. Not the filenames. Nothing exits your machine during a Smart Categorize run.
No API key. No metering.
Smart Categorize doesn't phone home to validate your subscription per file or per run. There's nothing to phone home about.
Delete the model anytime
Settings → AI → Smart Categorize → Remove. The disk space comes back. The feature stops working until you reinstall it. Full kill switch.
SHA-256 verified at install
The model binary is verified against a published checksum at install time. You always know you have the exact model we shipped.
Aggregate-only telemetry
Telemetry contains no file paths, no file names, no content. Only aggregate usage counts. The cache is per-user and never synced.
Get VaultSort 3 — 25% off.
One-time purchase. Lifetime license. No subscription.
Use code at checkout
VS3LAUNCHFrequently asked questions
Everything you need to know before running Smart Categorize on your library.
More questions?
Contact support →The new standard for Mac file organization.
Smart Categorize runs entirely on your Mac. No cloud upload. No API key. No subscription tier inside the feature. Files never leave your device.