feat(app): send PDFs as their text and open attached files from the timeline

.lane/memory/apps/app/src/attachments.ts/01M53FDJP7K240NMG7Q4E5B154-pdf-js-page-text-must-be-rea.md

@@ -0,0 +1,12 @@
+---
+id: 01M53FDJP7K240NMG7Q4E5B154
+anchor: function text
+created: 2026-10-16T23:05:41Z
+norm: '1'
+sig: 11c5a30588ada982
+body_hash: b3cafd9a4f9acb15
+raw_hash: cce4e0f9162ae184
+lines: 31-40
+---
+
+pdf.js page text must be read through the stream's reader; WebKit's ReadableStream isn't async-iterable, so getTextContent throws in the desktop webview

.lane/memory/apps/app/src/attachments.ts/01M53FDJPMP928VPQA5JD1CVHC-detect-pdfs-by-mime-type-onl.md

@@ -0,0 +1,12 @@
+---
+id: 01M53FDJPMP928VPQA5JD1CVHC
+anchor: function read
+created: 2026-10-16T23:05:41Z
+norm: '1'
+sig: e902509aeec5b6f5
+body_hash: 08302543447ad2e9
+raw_hash: c349d3cc21691287
+lines: 72-83
+---
+
+detect PDFs by MIME type only; a withdrawn PDF returns to the composer as its extracted text typed text/plain under its .pdf name

.lane/memory/package.json/01M4X5AF9TCS4B752Z16B7W75M-oxlint-applies-the-shared-gi.md

@@ -4,9 +4,9 @@ anchor: '@file'
 created: 2026-10-14T12:13:47Z
 norm: '1'
 sig: 021fb596db81e6d0
-body_hash: d63795af6ea9f4f1
-raw_hash: 3c9928c1a31b3a70
-vouched: 2026-10-15T23:58:07Z
+body_hash: 98e1d861f9b08883
+raw_hash: 3afc751c85317c2d
+vouched: 2026-10-16T23:05:45Z
 lines: 1-92
 ---
 

.lane/memory/package.json/01M4ZHQR0KZMW3P78F7T8XMEXX-desktop-tools-must-stay-at-o.md

@@ -4,9 +4,9 @@ anchor: '@file'
 created: 2026-10-15T10:29:13Z
 norm: '1'
 sig: 021fb596db81e6d0
-body_hash: d63795af6ea9f4f1
-raw_hash: 3c9928c1a31b3a70
-vouched: 2026-10-15T23:58:07Z
+body_hash: 98e1d861f9b08883
+raw_hash: 3afc751c85317c2d
+vouched: 2026-10-16T23:05:45Z
 lines: 1-94
 ---
 

.lane/memory/packages/ui/src/components/timeline/layout.ts/01M53FDJQ4C0BGDGXNAY5GK09T-a-file-block-s-cache-key-inc.md

@@ -0,0 +1,12 @@
+---
+id: 01M53FDJQ4C0BGDGXNAY5GK09T
+anchor: '@file'
+created: 2026-10-16T23:05:41Z
+norm: '1'
+sig: ce515648b5bedef2
+body_hash: fb0394625d6bac4e
+raw_hash: 1a90d920d15ad713
+lines: 1-912
+---
+
+a file block's cache key includes its text, since the block opens that text and names can repeat across messages

apps/app/package.json

@@ -19,6 +19,7 @@
 		"@xterm/addon-fit": "catalog:ui",
 		"@xterm/xterm": "catalog:ui",
 		"electrobun": "catalog:desktop",
+		"pdfjs-dist": "catalog:ui",
 		"react": "catalog:ui",
 		"react-dom": "catalog:ui"
 	},

apps/app/src/attachments.ts

@@ -1,10 +1,14 @@
+import type { PDFPageProxy } from "pdfjs-dist";
+
 import type { Image, TextFile } from "@ace/channel/protocol";
 import type { Attachment } from "@ace/ui";
 
 /** Matches the channel's per-message limit, with room for the message's text. */
 const BUDGET = 1_400_000;
 const EDGE = 2000;
 
+type TextContent = Awaited<ReturnType<PDFPageProxy["getTextContent"]>>;
+
 async function encode(url: string, edge: number, quality: number): Promise<Image> {
 	const bitmap = await createImageBitmap(await (await fetch(url)).blob());
 	const scale = Math.min(1, edge / Math.max(bitmap.width, bitmap.height));
@@ -23,18 +27,63 @@ async function encode(url: string, edge: number, quality: number): Promise<Image
 	return { mimeType: "image/jpeg", data: btoa(binary) };
 }
 
+/** Reads the stream itself: getTextContent iterates it, and WebKit's streams aren't iterable. */
+async function text(page: PDFPageProxy): Promise<string> {
+	const reader: ReadableStreamDefaultReader<TextContent> = page.streamTextContent().getReader();
+	let lines = "";
+	for (let chunk = await reader.read(); !chunk.done; chunk = await reader.read()) {
+		for (const item of chunk.value.items) {
+			if ("str" in item) lines += item.str + (item.hasEOL ? "\n" : "");
+		}
+	}
+	return lines;
+}
+
+/**
+ * Providers' document inputs aren't in pi's message format, so a PDF goes to models as its pages'
+ * text, like any text file. Scanned pages have no text and can't be read this way.
+ */
+async function pdf(file: File): Promise<TextFile> {
+	const [{ getDocument, GlobalWorkerOptions }, worker] = await Promise.all([
+		import("pdfjs-dist"),
+		import("pdfjs-dist/build/pdf.worker.min.mjs?url"),
+	]);
+	GlobalWorkerOptions.workerSrc = worker.default;
+	const task = getDocument({ data: new Uint8Array(await file.arrayBuffer()) });
+	try {
+		const doc = await task.promise.catch(() => {
+			throw new Error(`${file.name} couldn't be read as a PDF`);
+		});
+		const pages: string[] = [];
+		for (let number = 1; number <= doc.numPages; number++) {
+			pages.push(await text(await doc.getPage(number)));
+		}
+		const joined = pages.join("\n\n").trim();
+		if (!joined) {
+			throw new Error(`${file.name} has no text to read; scanned PDFs can't be attached`);
+		}
+		return { name: file.name, text: joined };
+	} finally {
+		await task.destroy();
+	}
+}
+
 /** Models read files as text, so only valid UTF-8 without NUL bytes can be sent. */
 async function read(file: File): Promise<TextFile> {
+	// A withdrawn PDF returns to the composer as its text, typed text/plain.
+	if (file.type === "application/pdf") return pdf(file);
 	const decoder = new TextDecoder("utf-8", { fatal: true });
 	const text = await file.arrayBuffer().then((bytes) => decoder.decode(bytes)).catch(() => "\0");
 	if (text.includes("\0")) {
-		throw new Error(`${file.name} isn't a text file; only images and text files can be attached`);
+		throw new Error(
+			`${file.name} isn't a text file; only images, text files, and PDFs can be attached`,
+		);
 	}
 	return { name: file.name, text };
 }
 
 /**
- * Read attached text files, then re-encode attached images as JPEG, shrinking until the message
+ * Read attached text files and PDFs, then re-encode attached images as JPEG, shrinking until the message
  * fits the channel's limit. Re-encoding also strips metadata such as location from photos.
  */
 export async function attachments(

apps/app/src/timeline.ts

@@ -161,11 +161,12 @@ export function toEvents(
 						type: "image" as const,
 						image: `data:${image.mimeType};base64,${image.data}`,
 					})),
-					// The block shows only the name; contents stay in the transcript, not a URL.
+					// Contents travel in the transcript, not at a URL; the block opens them.
 					...(item.files || []).map((file) => ({
 						type: "file" as const,
 						name: file.name,
 						file: "",
+						text: file.text,
 					})),
 				],
 			} as Event;

docs/architecture.md

@@ -131,6 +131,15 @@ is one pi conversation in that Session.
   edit or deletion of an entry wins. Agent replies to the earlier text stay in the transcript
   and in later context, and an edit never reruns the agent. Watches that opt in receive `edited`
   live; every watch replays a message with its newest text and when it was edited.
+- **Attachments live in the message.** Images and files travel on `say` and `ask` and are stored
+  in the human message's pi entry, so every model, channel placement, and teammate reads them
+  without a second store or a workspace. Files are text: `<attachment name="...">` blocks after
+  the message's own text. The app sends a PDF as its pages' text, extracted with pdf.js before
+  sending, because pi's messages carry no provider document input; scanned PDFs and other binary
+  files are refused. A message's images and file text share a 1.5 MB budget under the Durable
+  Object row cap, and the app opens a sent file's text from its timeline block. The budget is
+  bytes, not tokens: a file that alone exceeds the model's context fails the run, and later runs,
+  until its message is deleted.
 - **Tool progress is live only.** Watches that opt in receive `progress` events: the bounded tail
   of each running call's output from pi's live tool slots, at most every half second per watch,
   each replacing the last. Attachment rebuilds them from pi's snapshot, and the call's durable

package.json

@@ -43,6 +43,7 @@
 				"lucide-static": "1.48.0",
 				"markdown-it": "14.1.1",
 				"motion": "12.23.24",
+				"pdfjs-dist": "6.3.289",
 				"prosemirror-commands": "1.7.1",
 				"prosemirror-highlight": "0.15.1",
 				"prosemirror-history": "1.5.0",

packages/channel/src/room.ts

@@ -169,7 +169,7 @@ export function section(room: Room): PromptSection {
 				"you act only when someone invokes you; answer the person who did. Write replies as plain",
 				"text without a name prefix: the channel shows who wrote each message.",
 				'Files people attach follow their message as <attachment name="..."> blocks holding the',
-				"whole file; they are not on disk, so read them there.",
+				"whole file, or a PDF's extracted text; they are not on disk, so read them there.",
 				"",
 				"To wait for another channel's agent, say in this chat what you are waiting for and end your",
 				"run; its message with invoke set wakes you. Never wait for another channel in a shell sleep or",

packages/ui/src/components/blocks/file-view.tsx

@@ -1,17 +1,47 @@
+import { useState } from "react";
+
+import { cn } from "../../lib/utils";
+import { Dialog, DialogContent, DialogTitle } from "../../ui/dialog";
+import { FileView as Contents } from "../file/file-view";
 import { FILE_HEIGHT } from "./constants";
 
-function FileView({ name, size }: { name: string; size: string }) {
-	return (
-		<div
-			className="flex min-w-0 items-center gap-3 overflow-hidden rounded-lg squircle border border-border px-3 contain-strict"
-			style={{ blockSize: FILE_HEIGHT }}
-		>
+function FileView({ name, text }: { name: string; text?: string }) {
+	let [open, setOpen] = useState(false);
+	let lines = text ? text.split("\n").length - (text.endsWith("\n") ? 1 : 0) : 0;
+	let card = (
+		<>
 			<div className="shrink-0 text-lg">📄</div>
 			<div className="flex min-w-0 flex-col">
 				<span className="truncate text-sm text-foreground">{name}</span>
-				<span className="truncate text-xs text-muted-foreground">{size}</span>
+				<span className="truncate text-xs text-muted-foreground">
+					{text === undefined ? "" : `${lines.toLocaleString()} ${lines === 1 ? "line" : "lines"}`}
+				</span>
 			</div>
-		</div>
+		</>
+	);
+	let className =
+		"flex w-full min-w-0 items-center gap-3 overflow-hidden rounded-lg squircle border border-border px-3 text-left contain-strict";
+	if (text === undefined) {
+		return <div className={className} style={{ blockSize: FILE_HEIGHT }}>{card}</div>;
+	}
+	return (
+		<>
+			<button
+				type="button"
+				aria-label={`Open ${name}`}
+				className={cn(className, "cursor-pointer hover:bg-muted/50")}
+				style={{ blockSize: FILE_HEIGHT }}
+				onClick={() => setOpen(true)}
+			>
+				{card}
+			</button>
+			<Dialog open={open} onOpenChange={setOpen}>
+				<DialogContent className="top-4 h-(--dialog-max) max-w-[calc(100vw-2rem)] gap-0 overflow-hidden p-0 [--dialog-top:1rem] sm:max-w-4xl">
+					<DialogTitle className="sr-only">{name}</DialogTitle>
+					<Contents path={name} source={text} className="[&>header]:pr-10" />
+				</DialogContent>
+			</Dialog>
+		</>
 	);
 }
 

packages/ui/src/components/blocks/file.tsx

@@ -3,14 +3,14 @@ import type { Block } from "../../lib/block";
 import { FileView } from "./file-view";
 import { FILE_HEIGHT } from "./constants";
 
-/** File attachment block with fixed height. */
-function file(name: string, size: string): Block {
+/** File attachment block with fixed height; one carrying its contents opens them. */
+function file(name: string, text?: string): Block {
 	return {
 		measure(width) {
 			return { height: FILE_HEIGHT, fit: width };
 		},
 		render() {
-			return <FileView name={name} size={size} />;
+			return <FileView name={name} text={text} />;
 		},
 	};
 }

packages/ui/src/components/timeline/layout.ts

@@ -153,7 +153,7 @@ function key(
 				...chunk.images.flatMap(img => [img.src, img.width, img.height, img.alt]),
 			);
 		case "file":
-			return joinKey("file", mode, chunk.name);
+			return joinKey("file", mode, chunk.name, chunk.text);
 		case "tool-group":
 			return joinKey(
 				"tools",
@@ -263,7 +263,7 @@ function build(
 		case "image-grid":
 			return [gridBlock(chunk.images)];
 		case "file":
-			return [fileBlock(chunk.name, "")];
+			return [fileBlock(chunk.name, chunk.text)];
 		case "tool-group":
 			return tools(chunk.tools, expanded, expandedResults, settling);
 		case "commit":

packages/ui/src/lib/timeline.ts

@@ -44,7 +44,7 @@ type Chunk =
 	| { kind: "diff"; patch: string }
 	| { kind: "image"; src: string; width: number; height: number; alt?: string }
 	| { kind: "image-grid"; images: ImageNode[] }
-	| { kind: "file"; name: string; url: string }
+	| { kind: "file"; name: string; url: string; text?: string }
 	| { kind: "tool-group"; tools: ToolNode[] }
 	| { kind: "commit"; sha: string; message: string; authors: string[]; url?: string }
 	| { kind: "pr"; pr: string; url: string; title: string; draft: boolean }
@@ -268,6 +268,7 @@ function structure(
 					kind: "file",
 					name: c.name,
 					url: typeof c.file === "string" ? c.file : c.file.url,
+					text: c.text,
 				});
 				break;
 			case "tool":

packages/ui/src/types.ts

@@ -147,7 +147,13 @@ export namespace Event {
 		export namespace Content {
 			export type Text = { type: "text"; text: string; parts?: Part[] };
 			export type Image = { type: "image"; image: string | { url: string } };
-			export type File = { type: "file"; name: string; file: string | { url: string } };
+			export type File = {
+				type: "file";
+				name: string;
+				file: string | { url: string };
+				/** Contents carried with the message, which the block opens in a file view. */
+				text?: string;
+			};
 			export type Tool = { type: "tool" } & import("./types").Tool;
 		}