File Storage

By default, users can't attach files to chat messages. However, you can configure a File Storage in the Endpoint settings that allows users to upload files in the chat interface. To configure the file storage, you need to create a connection to a third-party storage provider.

After uploading a file to the chat interface, the file is saved in the third-party storage and can be viewed by both the sender and the recipient.

Key Features

• Improved Conversational Experience. Users can upload screenshots to illustrate technical issues and share various documents, such as contracts, invoices, order confirmations, and photos of purchased goods. File uploads allow for richer interactions and more capabilities for your Flow.
• File Manipulation. You can retrieve file data, resize images, and validate files.
• Security Measures. Cognigy.AI performs a virus scan on the file before uploading it to the cloud storage provider, checking for potential malware or viruses, and preventing harmful content from being stored or shared through the cloud.

Prerequisites

• You have access to one of the following third-party storage providers:
  • Azure Blob Storage
  • Amazon S3
  • Google Cloud Storage
• Files in the third-party storage are publicly accessible.

Restrictions

• Only the following Endpoints support file uploads:
  • 8x8
  • Webchat v2
  • Webchat v3
  • WhatsApp

How to Use the File Storage

Create Connections to File Storage Providers

To enable file uploads, connect to one of the following file storage providers:

Azure Blob Storage ContainerAmazon S3 BucketGoogle Cloud Storage Bucket

1. Go to the Azure portal and select Storage Accounts in the Azure services section.
2. On the Storage accounts page, select the account from the Name column.
3. In the left-side menu, navigate to Data storage > Containers. Copy the name of the target container from the Name column. This container will store user-uploaded files. Save the container name for later use.
4. In the left-side menu, go to Security + networking and select Access Keys.
5. On the Access Keys page, copy the name from the Storage account name field and the key from the Key field for later use.
6. On the Cognigy.AI side, open the Project that contains the Endpoint for which you want to configure a file storage. Go to Deploy > Endpoints and select an Endpoint or create one.
7. Depending on the Endpoint you select, proceed as follows:
   • Webchat v3 — activate the Allow Attachment Upload setting in Webchat Behavior in the Attachment Upload section and select Azure from the File Storage Provider list.
   • Other Endpoints — go to the File Storage section and select Azure from the File Storage Provider list.
8. Next to the Azure Connection, click + and fill in the following fields:
   • Container Name — enter the name of the container that you copied and saved previously.
   • Account Name — enter the storage account name that you copied and saved previously.
   • Account Key — enter the key that you copied and saved previously.
9. Click Create, then Save.

1. Make sure that you have access to Amazon S3 bucket or to an Amazon S3-compatible cloud, for example, Open Telekom Cloud, DigitalOcean Spaces, Backblaze B2. You need to have at least one bucket or to create a new one. The bucket must be publicly accessible; otherwise, users can't upload files via the chat interface. For an Amazon S3-compatible cloud storage, you need similar information as described in the following steps.
2. In the Amazon S3 console, go to the General purpose buckets tab.
3. From the Name column, copy the name of the target bucket. This bucket will store user-uploaded files. Save the bucket name for later use.
4. From the AWS Region column, copy the region ID, for example, us-east-1, and save it for later use.
5. In the upper-right corner, go to your account, then select Security credentials.
6. On the My Security Credentials page, go to Access keys and click Create access key.
7. On the Alternatives to root user access keys page, review the security recommendations. To continue, select the option, and then click Create access key. On the Retrieve access key page, your access key ID is displayed.
8. Under Secret access key, click Show and then copy the access key ID and secret key from your browser window and save them for later use. Click Done. If you want to use temporary access with MFA instead of a secret key, you need a session token. To set up a session token, obtain this value via AWS API and specify the token in the AWS_SESSION_TOKEN variable in the values.yaml file. For more information, read Using temporary credentials with AWS resources.
9. On the Cognigy.AI side, open the Project that contains the Endpoint for which you want to configure a file storage. Go to Deploy > Endpoints and select an Endpoint or create one.
10. Depending on the Endpoint you select, proceed as follows:
    • Webchat v3 — activate the Allow Attachment Upload setting in Webchat Behavior in the Attachment Upload section and select AWS from the File Storage Provider** list.
    • Other Endpoints — go to the File Storage section and select AWS from the File Storage Provider list.
11. Next to AWS Connection, click + and fill in the following fields:
    • Access Key ID — enter the access key ID that you copied and saved previously.
    • Secret Access Key — enter the secret key that you copied and saved previously.
    • Region — enter the AWS region that you copied and saved previously.
    • Bucket Name — enter the name of the bucket that you copied and saved previously.
    • Custom URL — enter the custom URL of your S3-compatible storage. This parameter applies only for Amazon S3-compatible cloud storages.
12. Click Create, then Save.

1. In the Google Cloud console, select Cloud Storage > Buckets in the left-side menu.
2. On the Buckets page, copy the name of the target bucket from the Bucket column. This bucket will store user-uploaded files. Save the bucket name for later use.
3. In the left-side menu, select IAM & Admin > Service Accounts.
4. From the Email field, copy the email address and save it for later use.
5. In the Actions column, click Actions > Manage Keys.
6. On the Keys tab, click Add Key > Create New Key and select the JSON key type. The key will be downloaded to your computer. Open the JSON file and copy the entire value of the private_key parameter, including the lines:

   -----BEGIN PRIVATE KEY-----
   -----END PRIVATE KEY-----
   

   Save the key for later use.
7. On the Cognigy.AI side, open the Project that contains the Endpoint for which you want to configure a file storage. Go to Deploy > Endpoints and select an Endpoint or create one.
8. Depending on the Endpoint you select, proceed as follows:
   • Webchat v3 — activate the Allow Attachment Upload setting in Webchat Behavior in the Attachment Upload section and select Google Cloud from the File Storage Provider** list.
   • Other Endpoints — go to the File Storage section and select Google Cloud from the File Storage Provider list.
9. Next to Google Cloud Connection, click + and fill in the following fields:
   • Bucket Name — enter the bucket name that you copied and saved previously.
   • Client Email — enter the email address that you copied and saved previously.
   • Private Key — enter the key that you copied and saved previously.
10. Click Create, then Save.

To test file uploads for the Webchat v2 and Webchat v3 Endpoints, use Demo Webchat. Upload a file in the Demo Webchat interface by either dragging it from your computer or clicking .

For other Endpoints, testing only works in the production environment. Upload a file to the chat interface and go to the file storage on your provider's side. If the file appears in the storage, the file was successfully uploaded.

Access the File Storage through the Input Object

By default, the data of uploaded files is stored in the input.data.attachments array. Each file object in this array contains a file name, type, and URL pointing to the uploaded file:

{
  "name": "example_file.png",
  "url": "https://example.com/uploads/example_file.png",
  "type": "image"
}

Use Cases

Use Case	Description	CognigyScript	Example Output
Confirm uploaded files	To ensure the user uploaded the correct file, display the file name for confirmation.	{{input.data.attachments[0].name}}	example_file.png
Provide the direct file URL	Share the direct URL of the uploaded file with the user.	{{input.data.attachments[0].url}}	https://example.com/uploads/example_file.png
Validate attachments	To check if a valid file has been uploaded in the most recent user input, verify the length of the input.data.attachments array.	{{input.data.attachments.length}} > 0	-

Resize Images

For image file types, such as JPEG, PNG, GIF, WebP, and others, you can automatically resize images based on the query parameters in the URL. The available parameters are in the table.

Query Parameter	Description
maxWidth	The maximum width of the image.
maxHeight	The maximum height of the image.
maxFileSizeInBytes	The maximum file size of the image, specified in bytes.

Use Cases

Use Case	Description	Example	URL Example
Attach image without changes	An attachment is uploaded with the original URL.	The image has dimensions of 3840 x 2160 and a size of 8 MB.	https://files-trial.cognigy.ai/123/456/789
Resize to specific dimensions	If you provide the maxWidth and maxHeight parameters, the image is resized to fit these parameters while maintaining the aspect ratio.	To resize the image to a maximum of 640x480, append the maxWidth=640 and maxHeight=480 parameters.	https://files-trial.cognigy.ai/123/456/789?maxWidth=640&maxHeight=480
Limit file size	If you provide the maxFileSizeInBytes parameter, the image quality is gradually reduced until the image file size meets the specified file size.	To ensure the image is less than 100 KB (102,400 bytes), use the maxFileSizeInBytes=102400 parameter.	https://files-trial.cognigy.ai/123/456/789?maxFileSizeInBytes=102400

HTTP Error Codes

Error Code	Description
500	Returns if the image can't be resized according to the specified parameters. For example, if the maxFileSizeInBytes can't be reached.

More Information

• Azure Blob Storage
• Amazon S3
• Google Cloud Storage
• Create a Bucket in Azure Blob Storage
• Create a Bucket in Amazon S3
• Create a Bucket in Google Cloud Storage