You can attach documents to an Ask Dockli conversation so its answers are grounded in what those documents actually say. Dockli reads the text of each attachment server-side and feeds it to the model alongside your prompt — so you can ask it to summarize a report, compare two contracts, or pull figures out of a spreadsheet without opening anything.
Adding attachments
There are three ways to attach a document, in both the global assistant and the folder-scoped panel:
- The ”+” button. Click the + control on the input bar (its tooltip reads “Attach files”). Choose “Upload from this computer” to open the file picker; you can multi-select. The menu also shows how many slots remain — for example “Up to 3 more files · 50 MB each” — or “File limit reached (5)” when full.
- Drag a file from your computer. Drag one or more files onto the input bar. A “Drop files to attach” overlay appears; release to attach them.
- Drag a file already in Dockli. Drag a file straight from the Explorer grid onto the AI bar. Dockli attaches it by reference and extracts its text server-side — no re-upload needed. (Folders can’t be attached this way; only files.)
Each attachment appears as a removable chip above the input. While it’s being read the chip shows a spinner; once ready it shows a document icon; if it was rejected it shows a warning icon with the reason.
Limits
| Limit | Value |
|---|---|
| Files per conversation | Up to 5 |
| Size per file | Up to 50 MB |
If you exceed the file count, the extra files are rejected with “Limit is 5 files”. A file over the size cap is rejected with “Over 50 MB”. Rejected files show as an error chip and don’t count against your answer — remove them and try smaller or fewer files.
How Dockli reads your attachments
Dockli extracts text only from each attachment — never the raw file bytes — and does it on your local Dockli service. Extraction depends on the file type:
| Type | What Dockli reads |
|---|---|
| Word (.docx) | The document’s paragraph text. |
| PowerPoint (.pptx) | Each slide’s text and speaker notes, slide by slide. |
| Excel (.xlsx) | Cell values across worksheets, up to a cap of 2,000 rows. |
| PDF (.pdf) | Extracted text, up to a cap of 200 pages. |
| Plain text and other files | Read as UTF-8 text. |
To keep prompts efficient, each file’s extracted text is truncated to roughly 48,000 characters before it’s used. Very large documents are therefore summarized from their earlier content; if you need Dockli to focus on a specific section, say so in your prompt.
Attachments persist across the conversation
Once attached, a document stays available for follow-up turns in the same conversation — you don’t need to re-attach it to ask a second question about it.
Removing attachments
Click the × on any chip (its tooltip reads “Remove”) to drop that attachment. Removing it frees a slot and stops it being sent on the next turn.
Attachments are held only transiently on your local Dockli service — the store keeps a small number of recent entries and expires them automatically after a few hours. See Ask Dockli privacy and security for the exact retention model and what is and isn’t sent to the model.
Where to go next
- Using the assistant
- Documents and diffs — have Dockli create or edit Office files
- Ask Dockli privacy and security