Feature
Smart attachments: archives, media and virus scanning
What happens when you attach a file in ClawAI: fifty supported types, archives unpacked into a readable tree, resumable uploads and an antivirus scan that fails closed.
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What you can attach, and how much
Documents (PDF, DOCX, XLSX, PPTX, RTF), around forty text and code formats, images (PNG, JPEG, WebP, GIF, SVG), audio, video, and archives (ZIP, 7z, RAR, TAR, GZ, BZ2, XZ). Each file can be up to 50 MB and a message can carry up to ten. Files over 4 MB upload in resumable chunks, so a dropped connection does not mean starting again.
You can drop files anywhere in the chat panel — onto the messages or the composer — and each attachment shows a status chip while it uploads, with a cancel button if you change your mind.
Text extraction, and archives the model can navigate
The readable text of PDF, Office and RTF files is extracted and handed to the model, so it answers from the document itself rather than a placeholder. An archive is unpacked into a file tree plus the text of each member, so you can attach a zipped project and ask about a specific file inside it.
Archives are checked before they are unpacked: limits on total unpacked size, entry count and nesting depth stop a decompression bomb from ever reaching the extractor.
Virus scanning that fails closed, and retention
Every upload is scanned by ClamAV before it is stored. If the scanner is unavailable, the upload is refused rather than let through unscanned. Uploads are deleted automatically after the retention period the operator configures, and you can delete a file yourself at any time.
Questions people ask
- Can I upload a whole project as a ZIP file?
- Yes. ZIP, 7z, RAR, TAR, GZ, BZ2 and XZ archives are unpacked into a file tree with each member’s text, so the model can find and quote a specific file inside the archive.
- What is the maximum attachment size?
- 50 MB per file and up to ten attachments per message. Files over 4 MB upload in resumable chunks, so an interrupted connection resumes instead of starting over.
- What happens if the virus scanner is down?
- The upload is refused. ClawAI never stores an unscanned file as a fallback — you see an error and can try again once scanning is back.
Try it rather than take our word for it
Attachment handling lives in the file service: extraction, archive manifests, chunked uploads and ClamAV scanning are all on by default, not optional add-ons.