A shopper messages your Instagram account with a photo of a cracked mug and three words: "arrived like this." Another forwards a PDF receipt on WhatsApp and asks whether the order is still under warranty. A third sends a screenshot of a checkout error on Messenger.
Your AI looks at what they sent. The photo, the receipt, the screenshot — the AI reads the actual content and answers from it, in the same conversation, without asking the shopper to retype what's already in front of it.
There is nothing to switch on. This works automatically on your connected Instagram, Facebook, and WhatsApp channels.
Where this works
Attachment reading is active on all three social messaging channels your AI answers on:
Instagram direct messages
Facebook Messenger
WhatsApp
Shoppers attach files the way they already do — the paperclip, camera, or photo button inside Instagram, Messenger, or WhatsApp. There is no separate upload step and no special format to follow. A shopper can send a file on its own or with a message; when they send both, the AI treats them as one question and replies once, using the text and the file together.
What a shopper attaches is part of how your AI reads their message, so it informs the answer whatever they are asking about — a photo sent with a damaged-order report, a receipt sent while asking about a return, a spreadsheet sent with a wholesale question.
What the AI can read
Photos and images — JPG, PNG, GIF, WEBP, and BMP. The AI actually looks at the image. It can see a cracked mug, a stained shirt, a wrong-colored product, a screenshot of an error message, or a photo of a shipping label.
PDFs — receipts, order confirmations, return forms, invoices, warranty documents. The AI reads the text inside, covering the first 30 pages of the document. A PDF that is really a scan or a photo of a document holds no text to read — when a shopper has a picture of a receipt, sending the picture itself works better than wrapping it in a PDF, because the AI looks at photos directly.
Word, Excel, and PowerPoint files — .docx, .xlsx, and .pptx files are converted to text the AI can read. Useful for wholesale order sheets, complaint letters, and product spreadsheets.
Plain text and data files — .txt, .csv, .tsv, .json, .html, .md, and log files are read directly.
What the AI cannot read
Some files are beyond what the AI can interpret today:
Video files — not watched.
Voice notes and audio — not transcribed.
Password-protected, corrupted, or damaged files — cannot be opened.
Unrecognized file formats — anything that isn't one of the types listed above.
When the AI hits one of these, it does not stay silent and it does not pretend the file wasn't there. It names the file, tells the shopper it couldn't open it, asks them to describe the problem in words or resend it in a different format, and passes the conversation to your team with the file attached. Your agent picks up a conversation that already has the context and the file waiting.
Two WhatsApp specifics are worth knowing: voice notes and documents sent over WhatsApp reach your AI and are handled as described above, while videos, stickers, and shared locations sent over WhatsApp are not picked up. On Instagram and Messenger, a video is acknowledged.
What happens across a conversation
The AI remembers what it saw. It keeps what it learned from earlier attachments in the same conversation, so it won't reply "I don't have that receipt" about a file the shopper already sent. It holds on to up to 10 attachments per conversation this way.
Limits worth knowing
Limit | Value |
|---|---|
Files read per shopper message | Up to 5 |
Maximum file size | 25 MB |
PDF pages read | First 30 |
Attachments remembered per conversation | Up to 10 |
Where it works | Instagram DMs, Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp |
Merchant setup | None — on for every store, nothing to configure |
If a shopper sends more than five files in one message, or a file larger than 25 MB, the extra or oversized files aren't read — the AI tells them so and works with what it has. Instagram, Facebook, and WhatsApp each apply their own limits on what a shopper can attach in the first place, so a very large file may not reach your AI at all. During an unusual burst of attachment-heavy messages arriving at once, some files may not be picked up.
Very long documents are read up to the page limit above, and the AI works from the part it read rather than guessing at the rest.
How this affects your AI instructions
You don't need to rewrite anything. Your existing skills and instructions apply to attachment-bearing messages exactly as they do to text-only ones, and your Do Not Answer rules still hold.
Two things are worth knowing when you write instructions:
The AI acknowledges the files it receives. A reply to a message with an attachment references that attachment, whether or not the AI could open it, so you don't need an instruction telling it to mention files.
File content is treated as information from the shopper, never as instructions to your AI. Text inside a document cannot change how your AI behaves, what it is allowed to say, or which policies it follows.
Replies never contain file links. Your AI won't paste a raw attachment URL or an internal file name into a message to a shopper.
If you have a skill that depends on seeing a photo — damaged order reports are the clearest example — it now works for shoppers who message you on Instagram, Facebook, and WhatsApp, not only for those who use the chat on your site.
Privacy and file storage
Files are retrieved only from Instagram's, Facebook's, and WhatsApp's own servers and from Rep AI's own secure storage. Nothing else is fetched, and a link a shopper pastes into a message is never opened.
Instagram and Facebook attachments stay on Meta's servers and are read from there. WhatsApp file links expire within seconds of a message arriving, so WhatsApp attachments are copied to secure Rep AI storage in order to be read.
Photos are never stored by Rep AI. The AI looks at the image as it reads the message and keeps no copy of it.
Text the AI read out of a document is kept for up to 30 days so the AI can refer back to it later in the same conversation.
Shoppers' file names are used for display only, and the AI never repeats an internal file name back to a shopper.
Anything inside a file is treated as information from the shopper. It cannot instruct your AI or change how it behaves.
The AI never pastes raw file links into a reply to a shopper.
When a conversation is handed to your team, the attachment travels with it so your agent can open the original file.
Common questions
Does this cost extra?
No. Attachment reading isn't billed separately. Your existing Omnichannel AI package and billing work exactly as before.
Do shoppers need to do anything differently?
No. They attach a photo or file the way they normally would inside Instagram, Messenger, or WhatsApp.
Does the shopper need to add a message with the file?
No. A file on its own is enough — the AI addresses it and asks a clarifying question if it needs one. When a shopper does send text and a file together, both are answered in a single reply.
Does this work across all of my AI's skills?
Yes. Attachment reading is part of how your AI understands the message itself, so what the shopper sent informs the answer regardless of which skill handles the conversation.
What if a shopper sends six photos at once?
The AI reads the first five, tells the shopper about the sixth, and asks them to resend it separately if it matters.
Can the AI read a scanned receipt saved as a PDF?
Only if the PDF contains real text. A scan or a photo saved in PDF form has no text to read. Ask the shopper to send the photo itself — the AI reads images directly and will see everything on the receipt.
What about voice notes?
Voice notes aren't transcribed today. The AI tells the shopper it couldn't listen to the recording, answers from anything else in the message, and brings your team in if the recording is the whole question.
Will the AI send files back to shoppers?
No. The AI reads what shoppers send but does not attach files to its own replies.
Does my team still get the file when the AI hands off?
Yes. The conversation reaches your team with the attachment available, so nobody has to ask the shopper to send it again.