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Attach files in Chat

@-mentions scope Chat to content already in your Dovetail workspace — projects, channels, docs, data. Sometimes the material you need isn’t in Dovetail yet. File attachments let you bring in outside material for that message: a PDF, a screenshot, or a CSV.

Supported file types

Limitations:

Size limit: 32 MB per file. Word, Excel, PowerPoint, audio, and video files aren’t supported as Chat attachments — export to PDF or CSV first, or import the file into a project if you need it in Dovetail long term.

How to attach a file to Chat

  1. Open Chat from the homepage, full-page Chat, or the peek panel.
  2. Click + (or the paperclip) and choose Attach file, or drag and drop a file onto the Chat area.
  3. Wait for the upload to finish — you’ll see a thumbnail while it uploads.
  4. Send your message, either with a question or the file alone.
You can attach multiple files to one message. What happens to your file
  • PDFs and images — Chat reads the file directly, including layout, charts, and visuals.
  • CSV, text, and Markdown — Chat reads the text content.
Attachments stay with the message you sent and remain available in that conversation for follow-up questions. This isn’t the same as importing data into a project — attachments are for quick, in-the-moment analysis, not your shared research library.

Ways to use file attachments in Chat

Analyze content that isn’t in Dovetail, yet

  • A report or spec someone emailed you, notes exported from another tool, or a survey export.
  • Voice of Customer can analyze a market research report with the web search tool on to help with writing up market analysis and competitor docs
  • Research teams can analyze survey exports from other platforms in conjunction with their research analysis that happens in Dovetail

Validating and stress-testing design concepts

  • Drop in design mockups or whiteboard user flows and ask a Digital Twin “What do you think of this design?” to quickly validate a design direction or ask a research coach agent “will this design concept test the assumptions I have?” with their research plan context on

Lightweight spreadsheet analysis

  • Export NPS results or support tickets and ask chat to “Summarize the themes in this file.” for quick analysis without waiting for a channel to classify

Review visuals

  • UI screenshots, mockups, or photos of whiteboards. Ask “What stands out in this design?”

Explore spreadsheet exports

  • NPS results or support ticket exports. Ask “Summarize the themes in this file.”

Combine with workspace context

  • Attach a file and @-mention a project or channel: “How does this spec compare to what we heard in @Customer interviews?”

Cross-context analysis

  • Product teams can attach a file and @-mention a project or channel to ask “How does this spec compare to what we heard in @Customer interviews”

Chat attachment vs. importing into a project


Troubleshooting attachments in Chat