What your AI Agent perceives when a visitor sends an image or a file. Images are analyzed visually; files are recognized by name, and their contents are not read.
When a visitor sends an attachment during a conversation, your AI Agent treats images and other files differently. Knowing the difference helps you set the right expectations and write better Guidelines.
Images
Section titled “Images”When a visitor sends a photo or image, your AI Agent actually sees and analyzes the image content. It can describe what’s in the picture, read text visible in it, and answer questions about it — the image is sent to the underlying vision-capable model alongside the visitor’s message.
This works on every plan, and on every channel where a visitor can attach an image: the Website Widget, Embed, and Chat Page, Telegram, WhatsApp, Intercom, HubSpot, Facebook Messenger, and images supplied through the Quickchat API.
If an image can’t be loaded (for example, an expired or unreachable link), the AI Agent simply continues with the text of the message instead of failing the reply.
Files (PDFs, documents, and other attachments)
Section titled “Files (PDFs, documents, and other attachments)”When a visitor sends a non-image file — a PDF, a Word document, a spreadsheet, an audio or video file — your AI Agent is told that a file was sent and its filename, but it does not read the file’s contents. The Agent knows, for instance, that invoice_2026.pdf arrived, so it can acknowledge the file and respond sensibly, but it cannot extract or summarize what’s inside it.
Inbound file awareness is available on these channels:
| Channel | Visitor sends an image | Visitor sends a file (PDF, doc, …) |
|---|---|---|
| Website Widget, Embed & Chat Page | Analyzed visually | Filename only |
| Telegram | Analyzed visually | Filename only |
| Analyzed visually | Filename only | |
| Intercom | Analyzed visually | Filename only |
| HubSpot | Analyzed visually | Filename only |
| Facebook Messenger | Analyzed visually | Filename only |
If you want the AI Agent to help with file contents, ask the visitor to paste the relevant text into the chat, or rely on Human Handoff. The default Media Message handoff rule escalates a conversation to a human when a visitor sends an image or file the AI can’t process. Configure it under Actions & MCPs → Human Handoff → Edit Action → Handoff Rules; see Human Handoff.
This is separate from the Knowledge Base, which is text-only: you can upload PDFs and documents there and Quickchat extracts their text for the Agent to use as knowledge (see Upload File). The behavior on this page is about files a visitor sends mid-conversation, which are not added to the Knowledge Base.