# File Upload & Download

Get data into Studio and results out. Upload CSVs, PDFs, and documents to give the AI context for analysis; download the reports, presentations, and datasets it generates — all stored server-side and accessible from any device.

Note
The AI processes uploaded files inside the server-side sandbox. Files belong to the [work folder](/products/ai-studio/concepts/work-folders) the chat is saved in, where you can browse them from the sidebar and the work folder page. Your local filesystem is never accessed.

## Objective

Move files between your local device and Studio's server-side environment so the AI can analyze your data and you can export its output.

## Prerequisites

- Signed in to Treasure AI Studio ([Getting Started](/products/ai-studio/getting-started))
- An active chat session


## File Size Limits

Warning
The maximum file size for uploads is **100 MB per file**. If you need to work with larger files, consider splitting them into smaller chunks or uploading only the relevant portions.

## Uploading Files

You can upload files from the chat input, to give the AI something to work with right away, or straight into a work folder from its page, without opening a chat at all.

### From the Chat Input

#### Web & Desktop

1. Click the **plus button** (+) in the chat input toolbar
2. Select one or more files from the file picker
3. Files appear as **thumbnails** below the text area, showing the file name and a category icon
4. Type your message (e.g., "Summarize this report" or "Load this CSV into a table")
5. Click **Send** — the files upload and your message is sent together


You can also **drag and drop** files directly onto the chat area. When you drag a file over the chat, a blue overlay appears with the message **"Drop files here"**. Release to add the files to your pending attachments.

To remove a pending file before sending, click the **X** button on its thumbnail.

#### Mobile (iOS)

1. Tap the **plus button** (+) in the chat input toolbar
2. Choose from:
  - **File** — Browse and select documents
  - **Camera** — Take a photo to attach
  - **Photos** — Select from your photo library
3. Files appear as **pills** below the text area
4. Type your message and tap **Send**


To remove a pending file, tap the **X** on its pill.

### From a Work Folder Page

#### Web & Desktop

1. Open a work folder's page from the sidebar
2. Navigate to the folder you want the files in
3. Click **Upload** and select the files


The files land in the folder you are viewing, not in `uploads/`, so this is the direct way to put a dataset where you want it before starting a chat. See [Organizing Files in a Work Folder](#organizing-files-in-a-work-folder).

### Where Attachments Are Saved

Files you attach in the chat input are saved to an `uploads/` directory, which Studio creates on the first upload.

#### Web & Desktop

Attachments always land in `uploads/` — there is no destination to choose. For a chat in a [work folder](/products/ai-studio/concepts/work-folders), that is the work folder's own `uploads/` directory, so an attachment shows up in the **Uploads** section of the work folder page and in the sidebar file tree along with everything else the folder contains. For a chat with no work folder, `uploads/` belongs to that chat alone.

To file an attachment away afterwards, move it out of `uploads/` from the work folder page: drag the row onto another folder in the **Files** section. See [Organizing Files in a Work Folder](#organizing-files-in-a-work-folder).

#### Mobile (iOS)

On Mobile, a **directory path input** appears when you have files attached, letting you choose which folder inside the chat's file space receives them:

- The default location is the **root** directory (shown as "(root)")
- Start typing a path to see **autocomplete suggestions** from existing folders
- Select an existing folder or type a new path to create one


Technical Note
A work folder's files live under `/home/agent/projects/{dirname}`, so attachments sent from a chat in that folder are stored at `/home/agent/projects/{dirname}/uploads/`. A chat with no work folder keeps its own file space at `/home/agent/chats/{chatId}` and stores attachments under `uploads/` within it.

## Downloading Files

### AI-Generated Files

When the AI creates a file (a report, spreadsheet, presentation, or other output), a **"Created file"** card appears in the chat with:

- **File icon** — Color-coded by category (green for spreadsheets, blue for documents, purple for images, etc.)
- **File name** and **file size**
- **Category label** (e.g., "Spreadsheet", "Document", "Presentation")
- **Preview** button — Opens the file in the built-in viewer
- **Download** button — Downloads the file to your device


File card in chat showing generated file with download button
### From the File Viewer

#### Web & Desktop

1. Open the file — from a chat message, the sidebar file tree, or a work folder page
2. Click the **download** action in the viewer's header


To download a file without opening it, open its ⋯ menu on the work folder page and choose **Download**.

### Mobile (iOS)

Tap the **Preview** button (eye icon) on any file card to open it. Download functionality on mobile is handled through the iOS share sheet when previewing files.

## The File Viewer Panel

The panel on the right side of Studio is a viewer for the files you open, not a file manager. Browsing and organizing files happens in the sidebar file tree and on the work folder page — see [Organizing Files in a Work Folder](#organizing-files-in-a-work-folder) — while the panel displays whatever you open from a chat message, the sidebar, or a work folder page.

### Tabs

Each file you open gets its own tab in the panel header. Click a tab to switch files, or its **X** to close it. Studio keeps a separate set of tabs for each chat and work folder, so moving between conversations does not mix up what you had open. A file from a different work folder than the current chat is labeled **folder / filename**, and the viewer names its folder above the content.

### Panel Controls

| Control  | Description  |
|  --- | --- |
| **Download** | Save the file in the active tab to your device |
| **Delete** | Delete the file in the active tab. Studio asks you to confirm first |
| **Maximize** / **Minimize** | Expand the active file to fill the screen, then return it to the panel |
| **Close panel** | Collapse the panel. The button to reopen it appears whenever the chat or work folder you are viewing has open tabs |


Which viewer renders the file depends on its type — see [File Viewers](/products/ai-studio/files/file-viewers).

## Organizing Files in a Work Folder

Work folders expose their files directly, so you can browse, rename, move, upload, and delete them from the sidebar and a dedicated work folder page — without opening a chat. Every [work folder](/products/ai-studio/concepts/work-folders) keeps its own file space, shared by every chat inside it; a chat with no work folder keeps its files to itself, where they are not browsable from the sidebar file tree. File management is available on Web and Desktop.

### The Sidebar File Tree

In the **Work Folders** section of the sidebar, click the chevron next to a work folder to expand it. Each expanded work folder lists its **Chats** and its **Files** — the work folder's file tree, loaded on demand.

Dotfiles and the work folder's `CLAUDE.md` are dimmed and sorted last. Click any file to open it in a [viewer](/products/ai-studio/files/file-viewers); use **Refresh files** to reload the tree from the server. Because the tree lives in the sidebar, you can inspect a work folder's files without starting a conversation.

Treasure AI Studio sidebar with a work folder expanded to show its Chats list and Files tree, including the dimmed CLAUDE.md and .claude entries sorted last
### The Work Folder Page

Click a work folder's name in the sidebar to open its page. The page gives a semantic view of everything in the work folder, organized into sections:

| Section  | Contents  |
|  --- | --- |
| **Instruction** | The standing guidance the AI follows in every chat here, saved as `CLAUDE.md`. See [Work Folders](/products/ai-studio/concepts/work-folders). |
| **Files** | The work folder's files and folders, in a table showing **Name**, **Updated**, and **Size**. |
| **Uploads** | The folder's `uploads/` inbox — where files attached from the chat composer land — listing each file's name and how recently it changed. Always shown at the folder root, with **"No files uploaded yet"** when empty. Drag a row onto a folder in **Files** to file it away. The full listing, with size and the ⋯ menu, is in **Files**, which shows `uploads/` like any other directory. |
| **Local Skills** | Skills defined inside the work folder under `.claude/skills/`, listed by name and description. |
| **Chats** | The conversations started in this work folder. Start a new one with the compose button. |


The sections appear in that order — **Files**, then **Uploads**, then **Local Skills**, then **Chats** — below the folder's instruction and breadcrumb.

In the **Files** section, click a folder's chevron to expand it inline, or click the folder name to drill into it — the breadcrumb, rooted at **Work Folders**, tracks where you are. Clicking a file opens it in the full file view.

Work folder page showing the Instruction, Files, Local Skills, and Chats sections, with the Files table listing folders and files alongside the New folder and Upload buttons
### Managing Files

From the work folder page you can organize a work folder's files directly:

| Action  | How  |
|  --- | --- |
| **Upload** | Click **Upload** to add files to the folder you're currently viewing. |
| **New folder** | Click **New folder** and enter a name. Names cannot contain `/` or be `.` or `..`. |
| **Rename** | Open a file or folder's ⋯ menu and choose **Rename**. |
| **Download** | Open a file's ⋯ menu and choose **Download** to save it to your device without opening it first. |
| **Move** | Drag a file or folder onto another folder to move it — including dragging a row out of the **Uploads** section. Moves stay within a single work folder: dragging onto the folder it already sits in, into its own subtree, or onto another work folder is refused, and the pointer shows the no-drop cursor. |
| **Delete** | Open the ⋯ menu and choose **Delete**. You can delete files and folders; deleting a folder also removes everything inside it, so Studio shows the item count and asks you to confirm first. |
| **Ask AI** | Click **Ask AI** (the ✨ button) on a file or folder to start a new chat in that work folder with the path pre-filled in the composer. |


Note
File organization applies to work folders. A chat with no work folder keeps its files in its own file space, which is not browsable from the sidebar file tree or a work folder page.

### The MIGRATED_HOME Folder

Some work folders contain a folder named `MIGRATED_HOME` that you never created. It holds files that used to sit in the AI's home directory — shell configuration, tool settings, and whatever earlier chats happened to leave behind there — in a location outside every work folder, which no file browser could show you.

Studio now gives each chat its own environment and keeps only work folder files permanently, so those older home-directory files were moved into the work folder rather than discarded. See [What Persists After a Chat Ends](/products/ai-studio/security#what-persists-after-a-chat-ends) for what that means going forward.

On the work folder page, `MIGRATED_HOME` sits in the **Files** section among the folders and files you made yourself, sorted by name like any other directory.

The Files section of a work folder page listing a MIGRATED_HOME folder between the user's own memory and reports folders, above three generated HTML report files
Treat `MIGRATED_HOME` as an archive: nothing writes to it any more. Move anything you still want out into the work folder itself, and delete the rest — `MIGRATED_HOME` behaves like any other directory in the work folder, so the ⋯ menu's **Delete** removes it and everything inside.

## File Categories

Studio categorizes files by extension and displays them with color-coded icons:

| Category | Extensions | Icon Color |
|  --- | --- | --- |
| **Spreadsheet** | csv, xlsx, xls, tsv | Green |
| **Document** | md, txt, pdf, doc, docx, html, htm | Blue |
| **Presentation** | pptx, ppt | Blue |
| **Image** | png, jpg, jpeg, gif, svg, webp | Purple |
| **Code** | js, ts, py, sql, sh, yaml, yml | Orange |
| **Data** | json, xml, mmd, mermaid | Blue |
| **Journey** | *.journey.yaml, *.journey.yml | Teal |
| **File** | All other extensions | Gray |


## Upload Errors

If a file upload fails, you see the message: **"File upload failed. Message not sent."** The message is not sent to the AI when all file uploads fail.

If some files in a batch succeed and others fail, the message is sent with only the successfully uploaded files.

## File Retention & Deletion

Files stored in Studio are subject to the following retention rules:

| Scenario  | What Happens to Files  |
|  --- | --- |
| **Chat with no work folder deleted** | All files associated with that chat are permanently deleted |
| **Work folder chat deleted** | Files are **not** deleted. They remain accessible in the work folder workspace |
| **Automatic expiration** | Files belonging to a chat with no work folder are deleted with it after the configured [chat retention period](/products/ai-studio/security/data-retention) (default: 28 days). Files in a work folder outlive the chats that created them |


Important
File deletion is permanent and cannot be undone. Download any files you need before deleting a chat that has no work folder, or before the retention period expires. Files kept in a work folder are not affected by chat deletion.

## Verification

- [ ] Attach a file via the plus button and see it appear as a thumbnail/pill
- [ ] Send a message with the file and see the AI reference its contents
- [ ] Download an AI-generated file using the **Download** button on a "Created file" card


## Troubleshooting

| Issue | Solution |
|  --- | --- |
| "File upload failed. Message not sent." | Check your network connection and try again. Files must be under 100 MB — if larger, split the file or upload only the relevant section |
| Uploaded file not referenced by AI | The AI processes file contents asynchronously. Wait for the upload indicator to complete, then re-send your message |
| Download button not visible | Only AI-generated files show a **Download** button on the "Created file" card. Uploaded files can be downloaded from the work folder page — open the file's ⋯ menu and choose **Download**, or open it and use the viewer's download action |
| A `MIGRATED_HOME` folder you did not create | It holds files that used to live in the AI's home directory, moved into the work folder so they stayed reachable. Nothing writes to it now — keep what you need and delete the rest. See [The MIGRATED_HOME Folder](#the-migrated_home-folder) |
| A file the AI created is missing from the work folder | Only files written inside the work folder persist; a working file the AI wrote elsewhere in its environment goes with the chat. If that chat still exists, reopen it and ask the AI to save the file into the work folder — its environment may still hold it. Otherwise ask for the file again in a new chat. See [What Persists After a Chat Ends](/products/ai-studio/security#what-persists-after-a-chat-ends) |


## Next Steps

- [File Viewers](/products/ai-studio/files/file-viewers) — How Studio renders PDFs, spreadsheets, presentations, and more
- [AI Chat Interface](/products/ai-studio/chat/chat) — Sending messages with file context
- [Artifact Output](/products/ai-studio/files/artifacts) — AI-generated output files (PPTX, DOCX, PDF, XLSX)
- [Chat Data Retention](/products/ai-studio/security/data-retention) — Configuring how long chat history and associated files are retained