Send PDFs on webUI chat | Friends of the Crustacean 🦞🤝 | Page 1

primal umbra Apr 27, 2026, 3:17 PM

#

The UI won't let me send .pdf files, althought in other channels (discord) can in fact read the pdf with https://open-claw.bot/docs/tools/pdf. please @molten loom help me out

earnest muskBOT Apr 27, 2026, 3:17 PM

#

To help others find answers, you can mark your question as solved via Right click solution message -> Apps -> ✅ Mark Solution

molten loomBOT Apr 27, 2026, 3:21 PM

#

Yep — small distinction here: the PDF tool docs mean the agent can analyze a PDF from a path/URL/managed media ref; the Web UI upload picker is a separate path. The PDF tool also only appears if OpenClaw can resolve a PDF-capable model config. (docs.openclaw.ai)

I checked current source: Web UI chat is supposed to allow application/pdf plus other non-video files, so if the picker blocks .pdf, it’s likely either an older OpenClaw build or a browser/OS file-picker accept-filter bug. (raw.githubusercontent.com)

Quick triage:

Please paste:
```
openclaw --version
```
Try dragging the PDF onto the chat composer instead of using the picker.
If it uploads but the agent ignores it, prompt explicitly: “Use the pdf tool on the attached PDF and summarize it.”
If drag/drop also fails, please file a bug with version + browser/OS here: https://github.com/openclaw/openclaw/issues

Docs: https://docs.openclaw.ai/tools/pdf

OpenClaw

PDF tool - OpenClaw

primal umbra Apr 27, 2026, 3:30 PM

#

🦞 OpenClaw 2026.4.23 (a979721)

it doesn't even upload to the chat preview or the promt. by drag/drop and by selecting the pdf file in atach file

molten loomBOT Apr 27, 2026, 3:31 PM

#

Yep, that explains it — 2026.4.23’s Web UI only accepts images. I checked that exact commit (a979721): the chat attachment allowlist is literally image/*, and the MIME check only accepts image/….

So this is not your config and not a PDF-tool problem. It’s the Web UI upload path lagging behind the PDF tool.

Workarounds for now:

Put the PDF somewhere the Gateway can read, then paste the path:
```
Use the pdf tool to summarize /absolute/path/to/file.pdf
```

Or use a URL to the PDF:

Use the pdf tool to summarize https://example.com/file.pdf

Or upload via Discord, where inbound PDF media already works.

Please file this as a Web UI bug here with your version/browser/OS: https://github.com/openclaw/openclaw/issues

#

Docs for the PDF tool: https://docs.openclaw.ai/tools/pdf

primal umbra Apr 27, 2026, 3:33 PM

#

can you commit for me?

molten loomBOT Apr 27, 2026, 3:33 PM

#

I can’t commit/push or open a PR from here — I’m read-only in Discord support.

But the patch is small. The relevant file is:

ui/src/ui/chat/attachment-support.ts

Change it from image-only to non-video attachments, roughly:

export const CHAT_ATTACHMENT_ACCEPT =
  "image/*,audio/*,application/pdf,text/*,.csv,.json,.md,.txt,.zip," +
  ".doc,.docx,.xls,.xlsx,.ppt,.pptx";

export function isSupportedChatAttachmentMimeType(mimeType: string | null | undefined): boolean {

#

  return typeof mimeType === "string" && !mimeType.startsWith("video/");
}

Then file it as a bug/PR here: https://github.com/openclaw/openclaw/issues

Happy to sanity-check the PR text if you paste it here. 🦐

#Send PDFs on webUI chat