Knowledge · 4 min read
Attachments
Files an assistant always has loaded, and how they differ from a file you upload in a conversation.
There are two ways to give an assistant material to work from: upload it in a conversation, or attach it to the assistant itself. Both put the real document in front of the assistant. The difference is how long it stays, and who else sees it.
Two ways to add a file
Section titled “Two ways to add a file”Files uploaded in a conversation
Section titled “Files uploaded in a conversation”Upload a file directly in the chat when you have something you want the assistant to look at right now. A report you were just sent, a contract you’re reviewing, a spreadsheet you want explained — all good candidates.
- Available in that conversation only. When the conversation ends, so does the file.
- Nobody else’s conversations are affected.
- Best for one-off work.
Attachments on the assistant
Section titled “Attachments on the assistant”Attach a file to the assistant — in the creation wizard or later under Edit — when the material is part of what the assistant is for. Think of the policy handbook, the procurement rules, the onboarding guide.
- Available in every conversation with that assistant, for everyone who uses it.
- Stays until someone removes it.
- Best for material the assistant should always be able to draw on.
Choosing between them
Section titled “Choosing between them”If you’re unsure, start with a file in the chat. If you find yourself uploading the same document again and again, it belongs as an attachment instead.
What Intric does with a document
Section titled “What Intric does with a document”Most AI tools treat a document as a pile of text and search it for matching words. Intric works through the document first, so it knows what it’s holding before anyone asks a question. See How Intric searches your documents for the full detail.
Limits at a glance
Section titled “Limits at a glance”What you can upload depends on where you upload it. A file in a conversation can be a document, an image or a recording. An attachment on the assistant must be a document.
| In a conversation | On the assistant | |
|---|---|---|
| Documents | Up to 25 MB per file | Up to 100 MB per file |
| Office templates (.potx, .dotx) | Up to 25 MB per file | Up to 25 MB per file |
| Images (PNG, JPEG) | Up to 20 MB per file, if the assistant’s model can read images | Not accepted |
| Audio and video | Up to 200 MB per file, if the assistant has a transcription model | Not accepted |
| Number of files | Up to 20 per message | No limit |
A few things are worth knowing:
- The limits apply to each file. Nothing limits the combined size of the files in one message. What does limit it is how much text the model can take in at once. If the documents together are too long, the assistant tells you, and you can split the work over several messages.
- Voice recordings count as files. A recording made with the microphone counts towards the 20 files in a message.
- Images need a model that can read them. If the assistant’s model can’t, the file picker doesn’t offer images and a dropped image is rejected. See AI setup for choosing a model.
- Only the sound of a video is used. MP4 and WebM videos are transcribed like any other recording, and the picture is ignored.
- In the creation wizard, attachments are limited to 25 MB each. To add a larger file (up to 100 MB), open the finished assistant under Edit and add it there.
These are the standard limits. A self-hosted installation of Intric can set different ones, so if a file is refused below the sizes listed here, check with your administrator.
Supported file formats
Section titled “Supported file formats”| Category | Format | Extensions | In a conversation | On the assistant |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Documents | Yes | Yes | ||
| Word | .docx | Yes | Yes | |
| PowerPoint | .pptx | Yes | Yes | |
| Excel | .xlsx, .xls | Yes | Yes | |
| CSV and TSV | .csv, .tsv | Yes | Yes | |
| Text | .txt, .text, .log, .srt, .vtt and similar | Yes | Yes | |
| Markdown | .md, .markdown, .mdown, .markdn | Yes | Yes | |
| Rich text | .rtf | Yes | Yes | |
| Web pages | .html, .htm, .xhtml | Yes | Yes | |
| XML | .xml | Yes | Yes | |
| Structured data | .json, .jsonl, .yaml, .yml, .toml | Yes | Yes | |
| Source code | .py, .js, .ts, .java, .cs, .sql and most other languages | Yes | Yes | |
| Templates | PowerPoint template | .potx | Yes | Yes |
| Word template | .dotx | Yes | Yes | |
| Images | PNG | .png | Yes, with a model that can read images | No |
| JPEG | .jpeg, .jpg, .jpe | Yes, with a model that can read images | No | |
| Audio | MP3 | .mp3, .mp2, .mpga, .m2a, .m3a | Yes, with transcription | No |
| M4A | .m4a | Yes, with transcription | No | |
| WAV | .wav | Yes, with transcription | No | |
| OGG | .oga, .ogg, .spx, .opus | Yes, with transcription | No | |
| WebM audio | .weba, .webm | Yes, with transcription | No | |
| Video | MP4 | .mp4 | Yes, with transcription | No |
| WebM | .webm | Yes, with transcription | No |
Formats that are not supported
Section titled “Formats that are not supported”- Older Office formats: .doc and .ppt. Save them as .docx or .pptx first.
- OpenDocument, Pages and ebook files (.odt, .pages, .epub).
- Images other than PNG and JPEG, such as GIF, WebP and HEIC. Convert them to PNG or JPEG first.
- Google Docs, Sheets and Slides uploaded directly. Download them as .docx, .xlsx or .pptx, or connect Google Workspace instead.
Referencing a file in a message
Section titled “Referencing a file in a message”Type @ in the message box to insert a reference to a file, so you can point the assistant at a specific document without describing it.