# Attach a document to a deal

Attach the file from the opportunity itself. It is stored once by the file service, linked to the deal, and becomes readable by the Assistant against that record. Replacing it later creates a new version rather than overwriting the old one, so the quote that was actually sent is still retrievable after three rounds of revision.

- **Status:** Available
- **Audience:** both
- **In the app:** #/pipeline, #/data
- **Last verified:** 2026-09-10
- **Canonical:** https://connectbyjbrh.com/docs/how-to/attach-a-document-to-a-deal/

## Attaching it

1. Open the opportunity on Sales and attach the file by button, drag or paste.
   - Result: One file service handles it for both audiences, over storage that is already workspace-scoped and under row-level security. There is no separate deal-attachments store to keep in step.
2. Wait for the extraction result rather than navigating away.
   - Result: Text is pulled out at this point: PDF via its text layer, DOCX, XLSX, CSV and TSV, PPTX, and plain text, Markdown or JSON. Images are read by the model. A PDF with no text layer is read by the model instead of being silently empty.
3. Give it a name that says what it is and which round it belongs to.
   - Result: Versions are ordered, but a human-readable name is what makes the third revision findable six weeks later.
4. Check the file appears in the deal's own file list, not only in the workspace file list.
   - Result: That is the link. A file uploaded to the workspace and never linked is still readable, but nothing about the deal points at it.

## Versions, not overwrites

When Connect modifies a file, or you upload a replacement, the result is a new version with provenance recorded against it. The previous content stays retrievable. This is the property that makes a document safe to hand to an agent at all: an edit is additive, and a bad edit is recoverable by reading the version before it.

**Version** — One stored state of the file, with who or what produced it.
**Provenance** — Whether a person uploaded it or Connect created it, and from what.
**File audit** — The trail of reads and modifications, separate from the versions themselves.

> **Note** A deal that has gone quiet is often a deal whose latest attachment is a revision nobody sent. The version list answers that in one glance, and the send evidence on the conversation answers the other half.

## What Connect can then do with it

- Answer a question about the deal from the document rather than from memory — the Assistant reads a linked file directly.
- Quote a figure the document supports. A figure it does not support is refused and escalated to a person, which is the commercial-safety rule working, not a gap.
- Extract tables from a spreadsheet or a specification into an answer.
- Create a new version of the document with an edit you asked for, recorded as such.

The refusal is worth understanding before you rely on this. Connect will not improvise a price, a service level or a warranty that the attached material does not carry. If a customer asks for a discount the quote does not mention, the answer becomes a decision for a person rather than a number the model chose.

## When a file is refused

| What happens | Why | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| Upload refused outright | The file declares a DOCTYPE or entity, or expands like a zip bomb | Re-export it from the original application; do not force it through |
| Uploaded but no text found | A scanned PDF with no text layer | The model reads the image instead — check the extracted content before relying on it |
| Format not read | The format is outside the supported set | Convert to PDF, DOCX, XLSX or CSV, which are all read directly |
| Answer cites the wrong version | An older version is still the linked one | Link the current version explicitly, then re-ask |

## Questions

### Can one file belong to two deals?

Yes — the file is stored once and linked. A standard terms document attached to twenty opportunities is one stored file with twenty links, and a new version of it is visible from all of them.

### Does attaching a document teach Connect about the business generally?

No, and the distinction matters. A deal attachment answers questions about that deal. Something Connect should know everywhere belongs in Knowledge, which is what grounded answers draw on across every channel.

### Who can read an attached file?

Anyone with access to the workspace and that record. Files sit under the same isolation as every other record — the workspace kernel and row-level security both apply — so a file cannot leak into another workspace's view of a deal.

## Related

- [Linking a file to a record](https://connectbyjbrh.com/docs/files-data/linking-files/)
- [File versions](https://connectbyjbrh.com/docs/files-data/file-versions/)
- [Quotes and sales documents](https://connectbyjbrh.com/docs/sales/quotes-and-documents/)
- [Give Connect a document to answer from](https://connectbyjbrh.com/docs/how-to/give-connect-a-document/)
- [File formats Connect reads](https://connectbyjbrh.com/docs/files-data/supported-formats/)
- [Price, SLA and warranty: what Connect may say](https://connectbyjbrh.com/docs/sales/safe-sales/)

## What this page is based on

- Connect source pack: overview (docs-source/sources/GENERAL.md §9 — files and formats)
- Connect source pack: channels (docs-source/sources/CHANNELS.md §6 — sales and commercial safety)
- Connect capability registry (docs-source/facts.py — file_workspace, file_versions)