Add Input File Functionality to AI Bot

Question

Add Input File Functionality to AI Bot

Ben 0

I am looking to add functionality to my AI bot, where end users can add files as input into the chat bot and ask the AI questions about the file. I understand an administrator can add files to Azure Blob storage behind the scenes and then deploy it so end users can ask about it. However, I want end users to be able to upload their own files through a file attachment button on the console. How can this be done?

Example of what I want: An end user clicks on an "attach file" button, uploads a .txt file and asks the bot to summarize the contents.

Pavankumar Purilla 8,335 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2025-03-31T03:16:36.8733333+00:00

Hi Ben,
Did you get any chance to check the response. Thank you!

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Pavankumar Purilla 8,335 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2025-03-31T03:16:36.8733333+00:00

Hi Ben,
Did you get any chance to check the response. Thank you!

Answer 1

Pavankumar Purilla 8,335 Microsoft External Staff Moderator

Hi Ben,

To enable end users to upload files and interact with your AI bot based on their content, you need to implement a file upload functionality within your chatbot interface. This can be achieved by adding a file attachment button on the frontend, allowing users to upload .txt, .pdf, or .docx files. The backend, typically built using Flask or a similar framework, should handle file processing by extracting text and passing it to an AI model such as Azure OpenAI or Azure Cognitive Services for analysis. Once the file is uploaded, its contents can be read and either summarized or used to answer user queries. If the document is large, it may require chunking before processing to ensure efficiency. For enhanced functionality, you can integrate Azure Blob Storage to store uploaded files securely and use Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) for better contextual understanding. The AI model, such as gpt-4-turbo from Azure OpenAI, can then generate responses based on user queries related to the document.

I hope this information helps.

Ben 0 Reputation points

2025-03-31T12:40:56.54+00:00

Hi Pavankumar,

Thank you for your comment. I have a few follow up questions if you don't mind.

I'm new to Azure so this is quite all new to me. How do you add the input file button to the front end? Is there some way to do it through Azure Foundary? In regards to the backend, how is Flask integrated in the backend? Can it be done through Foundary?

Lastly, will any of this involve writing code or can this all be configured through the web interface?

Thank you,

Ben
Pavankumar Purilla 8,335 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2025-04-01T05:30:37.6433333+00:00

Hi Ben,

You can add a file upload button to the frontend using basic HTML and JavaScript, but if you’re using Azure Bot Services, you might need to integrate it into your chat UI manually. Azure Bot Framework Web Chat allows customization, but Azure Foundry (if referring to Azure OpenAI on Azure ML) does not natively provide UI elements like a file upload button—you'll need a separate frontend for that.

For the backend, Flask is used to handle file uploads, extract text, and send queries to Azure OpenAI. However, Azure Foundry (Azure Machine Learning or OpenAI Studio) does not directly support Flask integration, so you would need to deploy Flask separately on Azure App Service or Azure Functions to handle the processing.

If you prefer a no-code or low-code approach, you might be able to achieve a similar workflow using Power Automate (for file uploads) and Azure Cognitive Services (for text processing), but full customization—like querying files dynamically—typically requires some coding.

Please 'Accept as answer' and Upvote if it helped so that it can help others in the community looking for help on similar topics.
Ben 0 Reputation points

2025-04-01T14:35:02.3533333+00:00

Hi Pavankumar,

Thank you again for the detailed response. I'm going to have to play around with this and do some testing. Half this battle is also learning Azure. Will likely reach out in the near future :D.

Cheers,

Ben

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Add Input File Functionality to AI Bot

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