How Do I Generate an ESX File in the Albi Mobile App?

Before you start

Verify these three things before proceeding:

Your company's Albi plan includes the Xactimate integration
ESX generation is enabled for your company
The project has at least one floor plan drawn on its Floor plans page

Note: If you don't see the Xactimate option on the Floor plans page, one of the first two is likely missing. Reach out to Albi Support and we can confirm what's enabled for your account.

If your team draws floor plans in Albi, you can turn those drawings into an ESX file — the file format Xactimate uses. Your estimator opens that file directly in Xactimate, and the rooms, walls, doors, and windows come through ready for estimating. Nothing has to be redrawn.

You don't have to wait until you're back at a computer. The Albi mobile app can start a generation and download the finished file, which is useful when you've just scanned a property and want the ESX on its way to your estimator before you've left the driveway.

Each floor plan in the project becomes its own story or level in the ESX file, ordered by the date the floor plan was created, earliest first. The finished file is saved to your project's file manager, so anyone on your team can get to it afterward.

What you can and can't do from mobile

The mobile app has a streamlined version of the web workflow. Here's how they compare:

	Mobile app	Web
Start a generation	Yes	Yes
See version history and status	Yes	Yes
Download a finished file	Yes	Yes
Watch step-by-step progress	No — shows only In Progress	Yes — all five steps live
Import into Xactimate	No — Xactimate runs on a computer	Yes, from the downloaded file

The mobile app is the right place to start the work and get the file. The import itself happens on a computer either way, because Xactimate isn't a phone application.

ESX file vs. Floor Plan Push

Albi offers two ways to get an Albi sketch into Xactimate, and they do different things.

	Generate ESX file	Floor Plan Push
What you get	A downloadable .esx file	Your sketch placed into an existing Xactimate project
Xactimate account required?	No	Yes — a connected Xactimate account
Best for	Working with an outside estimator, or sending the sketch to someone who owns Xactimate	Teams who already manage their claims inside Xactimate

If you don't use Xactimate yourself, or you hand your sketches to an outside estimator, generating an ESX file is the option you want.

Generate an ESX file from the mobile app

Open the project and go to its Floor plans page.
Tap the Xactimate option.
If your company has both Xactimate features enabled, choose Generate ESX file. If only one is enabled, you'll go straight into it.
Start the generation.
The new version appears in the version history marked In Progress.
When it finishes, a download icon appears on that version. Tap it to download the file.

Note: The first time you do this you'll be generating Version 1. Each later generation adds a new version.

Reading the version history on mobile

Each row in the version history shows:

What you see	What it means
Version N	The generation's version number
In Progress	Still running
Failed	Didn't complete — start a new one
A date	Completed on that date
Blue dot	Running
Red dot	Failed
Green dot	Completed
Download icon	The file is ready to download

Note: Mobile shows the overall status only. On web, a running generation breaks down into five steps — preparing the sketch, bundling your claim details, sending to Xactimate, waiting for the file back, and saving it to the project — so if you want to see exactly which stage a generation is on, open the project on web. See How Do I Generate an ESX File in Albi?

Only one generation at a time

A project can run one ESX generation at a time. If one is already running, you won't be able to start another until it completes, fails, or times out.

This limit is per project, not per device — so a generation a teammate started on web will block one you try to start from your phone, and the reverse is true too.

Note: A Push and an ESX generation can run at the same time. The one-at-a-time limit applies to each of them separately.

If a generation stops making progress for 30 minutes, Albi marks it Failed so you can try again. A generation that has timed out won't finish later on its own — start a new one.

Getting the file into Xactimate

Xactimate runs on a computer, so importing is the one part of this you can't do from your phone. Two ways to bridge that:

Share the file from your phone. Download it in the app and send it on — email it to your estimator, or drop it wherever your team shares files.
Pick it up later from the file manager. Every completed generation is saved to the project's Reports folder, so you or anyone else on the team can download it from a computer whenever it's convenient.

Then import the file in Xactimate. For the import steps, see How Do I Generate an ESX File in Albi?

What the ESX file doesn't include

Four claim fields don't transfer with the ESX file and will be blank in Xactimate after you import:

Date of loss
Date received
Date entered
Type of loss

This is a characteristic of the ESX format itself rather than something Albi can fill in. Enter those four fields in Xactimate after importing.

Troubleshooting and FAQ's

I don't see a Xactimate option on the Floor plans page

Two likely reasons. Either ESX generation isn't enabled for your company, or the project doesn't have any floor plans drawn yet. ESX generation is also enabled separately from Floor Plan Push, so having one doesn't mean you have the other. Contact Albi Support and we'll confirm what's enabled for your company.

I can't start a generation

A generation is probably already running on this project. Check the version history for a row marked In Progress — and remember it may have been started by a teammate, or from the web.

A version shows Failed

Start a new generation. A failed generation never leaves a partial file in your file manager, so it's always safe to retry.

A generation has been In Progress for a long time

If it stops making progress for 30 minutes, Albi marks it Failed and you can start a new one. If you want to see which stage it's actually on rather than waiting, open the project on web — the step-by-step view is web only.

Do I need a Xactimate account?

No. Generating an ESX file doesn't require a Xactimate account or connection — Albi produces the file and hands it to you.

Can I import the file into Xactimate on my phone?

No. Xactimate runs on a computer, so the file has to get to one — see Getting the file into Xactimate above.

Date of loss and type of loss are blank in Xactimate

Expected — see What the ESX file doesn't include above. Enter those fields in Xactimate after importing.

Still need help?

Contact Albi Support with your project name and, if you have one, the version number that gave you trouble.