> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.cogniagent.ai/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Files

> Give your AI coworker a real file and it works with the real thing. Here's where files live, what's private to a task, and what your coworker keeps.

Give your coworker the real file. Whatever it produces comes back the same way — as a file you can open, check and download.

<Frame caption="A finished reconciliation, open beside the conversation. No download, no second application.">
  <img src="https://mintcdn.com/glorium/JBtd_griZWPnHu68/images/cowork/files/overview/01-spreadsheet.webp?fit=max&auto=format&n=JBtd_griZWPnHu68&q=85&s=a5917b77aeb72df290d651818d893848" alt="A spreadsheet produced by a coworker, rendered as a table in the files panel" width="1152" height="452" data-path="images/cowork/files/overview/01-spreadsheet.webp" />
</Frame>

## Two places files live

This is the one thing worth understanding, because it explains most questions people have.

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Task files" icon="file">
    Belong to one task. Anything you upload into a conversation and anything your coworker produces there. Private to that task — no other task can see them.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Coworker files" icon="user-gear">
    Belong to the coworker itself. Available in every task it runs. This is where its instructions, personality and skills live.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>

So a spreadsheet you uploaded on Tuesday isn't in Thursday's task. If you want something available every time — a price list, a template, a style guide — save it to the coworker instead.

## What's on the coworker's Files tab

Alongside anything you've saved there, you'll find a few files that control how your coworker behaves. Each is labelled in plain language so you're never editing something whose job you have to guess:

| Labelled         | What it is                                                                                 |
| ---------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ |
| **Instructions** | The job — see [Giving instructions](/cowork/coworkers/instructions)                        |
| **Persona**      | How it writes and talks                                                                    |
| **Permissions**  | What it may do without asking — see [Permission rules](/cowork/control/permission-rules)   |
| **Automation**   | Checks that run around its work — see [Automatic checks](/cowork/control/automatic-checks) |

Your coworker's [skills](/cowork/skills/overview) and [helpers](/cowork/skills/helpers) live here too.

<Warning>
  Changes to these apply to **new tasks**. A task already running keeps what it started with.
</Warning>

## Working with files

* **[The file manager](/cowork/files/file-manager)** — browse, upload, rename, delete, download
* **[Previewing files](/cowork/files/previews)** — open anything without downloading it
* **[Attaching and mentioning](/cowork/files/attaching-and-mentioning)** — get a file into the conversation
* **[Seeing what changed](/cowork/files/changes)** — check what your coworker actually edited

## Good to know

<Tip>
  **Upload the whole file rather than pasting part of it.** Your coworker handles a real export far better than forty pasted rows, and it keeps your [conversation](/cowork/chat/long-conversations) from filling up.
</Tip>

<Note>
  Task files are discarded with the task's private workspace when it ends. Download anything you want to keep, or ask your coworker to save it to itself.
</Note>

## Common questions

<AccordionGroup>
  <Accordion title="Where did my file from yesterday go?" icon="magnifying-glass">
    It's in yesterday's task. Open that task, or save the file to the coworker so every task can reach it.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Can two coworkers share a file?" icon="users">
    Not directly — files belong to a coworker or a task. Upload it to each, or have one coworker hand it to another as part of [delegating](/cowork/capabilities/working-with-coworkers).
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Is my data private?" icon="lock">
    Each task's files are isolated to that task and discarded when it ends. Nothing is shared between tasks or coworkers unless you put it there.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="What file types work?" icon="file-lines">
    Spreadsheets, documents, PDFs, images, and plain text and data files. See [Previewing files](/cowork/files/previews) for what opens in place.
  </Accordion>
</AccordionGroup>

## Next steps

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="The file manager" icon="folder-tree" href="/cowork/files/file-manager">
    Browse, upload, download.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Previewing files" icon="eye" href="/cowork/files/previews">
    Open anything in place.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Attaching and mentioning" icon="paperclip" href="/cowork/files/attaching-and-mentioning">
    Point at a file mid-conversation.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Working with code and files" icon="code" href="/cowork/capabilities/code-and-files">
    The capability behind all of it.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>