How to Add and Manage Files in Mate Knowledge

The Knowledge tab holds the files that a Mate uses in all its conversations. This article shows how to upload files, follow their processing, sort the list, open a file to rename it or describe it, choose how each file reaches the Mate, replace a file with a new version, and remove files. For what knowledge is and when to use it, see "Supercharging Mates with Knowledge (Overview)".

You need the Owner or Admin role on the Mate to change its knowledge.

Open the Knowledge tab

1. In the sidebar, click Mates & tools, then Organization's Mates.
2. Click the Mate.
3. Open the Knowledge tab.

Upload files

1. Click Upload files, or drag files onto the upload area.
2. Select one or more files.

Each file appears in the list at once. You can attach most file types, up to 1000 MB per file. Executable and installer files, system files and empty files are refused with a message.

Follow the processing

After the upload, the platform processes each file. PDF, Word, PowerPoint, Excel, CSV and Markdown files are converted to Markdown text. The Summary mode uses an AI summary of the file that the platform generates.

The file's icon shows where each file is. Hover it for the status:

• Pending: the file waits for processing.
• Processing: the platform is converting the file.
• Success: the file is ready.
• Process to replay: the file will be processed again, for example after you replaced it with a new version.

Wait for Success before you rely on the file in a conversation.

Read and sort the file list

Click the Name, Last version or Size header to sort the list; click again to reverse the order. The newest versions come first by default. Your choice is remembered on this browser.

The ⋯ button at the end of each row opens the file's actions: Preview, Download, Replace and Delete.

Choose an integration mode

The integration mode decides what the Mate receives from the file at each answer. Open the Integration mode list on the file's row and select a mode.

• Default: the Mate receives the file itself when its model can read that file type. Otherwise, it receives the Markdown text of the file.
• Text (markdown): the Mate receives the Markdown text of the file, even when its model could read the original.
• Summary: the Mate receives the AI summary of the file. Use it for long documents. Until the summary is ready, the Mate does not receive the file.
• Reference: the Mate receives only the file name and basic details (type and size), not the content.
• Hidden: the Mate receives nothing from the file. The file stays stored, and its row shows dimmed. Use it to keep a file without using it now.

Open a file's details

Click a file's row. A panel opens on the right with the file's name, description, integration mode, details (type, size, last version, first upload, tokens when the file was read as text, status) and actions. The list stays visible: click another row to switch file. Press Escape or click ✕ to close the panel. If you changed the name or the description without saving, the panel asks before discarding your changes.

Preview the file's content

At the top of the panel, above the name, Mates shows a preview of the file when one is available: the image itself, the first page of a document (PDF, Word, PowerPoint), or a Play button for a video or an audio file. Click an image to open it full size, click a document page to open the file in a new tab, and click Play to watch or listen in place. While a file is still being processed, the preview shows a loading placeholder. Spreadsheets, CSV, text and other file types have no preview.

Rename a file

1. Open the file's details.
2. Edit the Name. The file extension (for example .docx) stays as it is and cannot be changed.
3. Click Save.

The new name shows in the list and in the Mate's conversations from its next answer. The file is not processed again.

Add a description

1. Open the file's details.
2. Type a description in the Description box.
3. Click Save.

The description shows under the file name. It helps your team know what each file is. The Mate does not receive the description: to tell the Mate how to use a file, name the file in the Mate's instructions.

Replace a file with a new version

Use Replace to update a file without losing its description and integration mode.

1. Click ⋯ at the end of the file's row, then Replace, or open the file's details and click Replace.
2. Confirm. The previous version is deleted and is not kept anywhere.
3. Select the new file. It can have another name or another type.

The file takes the name of the new file. Its description and integration mode are kept. The platform processes the new version (Pending, then Processing, then Success); the Mate uses it once it reaches Success. Replace is unavailable while a file is being processed.

Delete a file

1. Click ⋯ at the end of the file's row, then Delete, or open the file's details and click Delete.
2. Confirm.

The file is removed from the Mate's knowledge for good.

When your changes apply

Every change on this tab applies at once: an upload, a new mode, a description, a deletion. You do not need to click Update.

Good to know

• Only the Mate's Owner and Admin members can upload, rename, replace, edit or delete files.
• Replacing a file deletes its previous version. Download it first if you want to keep it.
• The integration mode list is inactive while a file uploads.
• A file in Default mode that the model reads as-is can be large. If the Mate's context fills up, switch big files to Summary or Text (markdown).

Related articles

• Supercharging Mates with Knowledge (Overview)
• Adding Attachments to Your Messages
• Exporting and Importing Mates: Share and Backup Your Configurations