Support for Non-Text File Attachments in Prompts

[devinhedge]

What specific problem does this solve?

When working with complex projects involving multiple file types, users can't include non-text files (like PDFs or images) in their Roo prompts. This forces users to manually extract and describe information from these files, leading to several issues:

• Time waste: Users spend 5-10 minutes per task copying information from PDFs or describing images in text form.
• Context loss: Visual information (charts, diagrams) is often misinterpreted when described in text.
• Inaccurate AI assistance: Without direct access to non-text files, the AI's responses are less accurate and comprehensive.

This problem affects all users working on projects with diverse file types, occurring in nearly every complex project scenario. The impact is significant:

• 30% of user time is wasted on workarounds and context-switching.
• Multi-file projects require 5+ minutes of wait time as users make multiple requests, compared to an expected 30 seconds for a single, comprehensive request.
• The quality of AI assistance is noticeably reduced, leading to more back-and-forth and potential errors in implementation.

How should this be solved?

Implement a file attachment system in the Roo extension:

1. Add an "Attach File" button and drag-and-drop functionality in the Roo interface.
2. Implement file processing:
   • Extract text from PDFs
   • Use OCR for images with text
   • Extract metadata from various file types
3. Display file previews (thumbnails for images, first page for PDFs) with an option to expand.
4. Integrate file contents into the prompt:
   • Automatically include summaries or full content
   • Allow users to reference specific parts of attached files
5. Enhance the AI model to understand and process information from attached files.
6. Add a sidebar to manage attached files and a toggle to show/hide file content in the main prompt area.

Users will interact by attaching files before submitting their prompt. The new behavior will allow users to reference attached files directly in their prompts and receive AI responses that accurately incorporate information from these files.

How will we know it works? (Acceptance Criteria)

Given a user has attached a 10-page PDF design specification
When they submit a prompt asking about implementing a specific feature
Then the AI response should accurately reference design elements from pages 3 and 7 of the PDF
And the response should be received within 45 seconds
But the PDF content should not be stored permanently after the session

Given a data scientist has attached a non-text data file (e.g., CSV)
When they ask Roo to analyze the data
Then Roo should provide insights based on the actual data in the file
And the response should include relevant statistical information
But should not expose any sensitive data contained in the file

Given a user attaches multiple files of different types (PDF, JPG, CSV)
When they submit a prompt
Then all files should be processed and incorporated into the AI's context
And the user should be able to see previews of all attached files
But the Roo interface should remain responsive, with file processing happening in the background

Estimated effort and complexity

Size: Large (3-4 weeks)
Reasoning: This feature requires changes to the UI, implementation of new file processing systems, and enhancements to the core AI interaction logic.
Main challenges:

1. Efficiently processing various file types
2. Integrating file content into the AI's context without overwhelming it
3. Ensuring responsive performance with large files
4. Maintaining user privacy and data security
   Dependencies: May need to add libraries for file type handling (e.g., PDF processing, OCR for images)

Technical considerations (optional but helpful)

• Will need to refactor the prompt handling system to incorporate file attachments
• May impact memory usage, especially with large files - consider implementing efficient streaming and processing
• Ensure cross-platform compatibility for file handling (Windows, MacOS, Linux)
• Consider implementing a caching system for repeated access to the same files

Trade-offs and risks (optional)

• Alternative: Implement a simpler system that only allows text extraction from PDFs, but this would limit usefulness for image and data files
• Risk: Processing certain file types might be slow on less powerful machines
• Privacy concern: Need to ensure that attached files are handled securely and not stored without user permission
• Edge case: Handling of very large files (>100MB) needs careful consideration to avoid system crashes

Additional context (optional)

[No additional context provided in this request]

Proposal checklist

• I've searched existing Issues and Discussions for duplicates
• This is a specific, actionable proposal with clear problem and solution
• I've included concrete acceptance criteria
• I understand this needs approval before implementation begins

Interested in implementing this?

• Yes, I'd like to help implement this feature

[hannesrudolph]

This is a solid idea and clearly laid out. That said, it adds a lot of complexity is not currently a priority for the core team, so unless you (or someone else) is seriously interested in implementing it, I’ll go ahead and close this out for now. Happy to revisit if there’s renewed interest down the line.