One of the most common use cases for AI agents is working with files. Your agent should be able to read files from user uploads and generate new files as outputs. The BeeAI platform makes this seamless through the A2A protocol’s FilePart.

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Quickstart

1

Enable file uploads in your agent (optional)

Add the default_input_modes parameter to your agent decorator only if you want users to upload files to your agent. This specifies which file types users can upload.
2

Inject the Platform API extension

Import and use the PlatformApiExtensionServer to access file creation capabilities. This extension provides your agent with the proper context and authentication needed to use the BeeAI platform API for creating and managing files. If not provided, your agent will receive unauthorized responses when working with files.
3

Process uploaded files

Iterate through message parts to find FilePart objects and load their content using load_file helper.
4

Generate new files

Use the File.create() method to generate new files and yield them as FilePart objects.

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Example of File Processing

Here’s how to build an agent that can accept and modify files: 
import os

from typing import Annotated

from beeai_sdk.server import Server
from beeai_sdk.a2a.types import Message
from beeai_sdk.a2a.extensions.services.platform import (
    PlatformApiExtensionServer,
    PlatformApiExtensionSpec,
)
from beeai_sdk.platform import File
from beeai_sdk.util.file import load_file


server = Server()


@server.agent(
    default_input_modes=["text/plain"],
    default_output_modes=["text/plain"]
)
async def example_agent(
    input: Message,
    _: Annotated[PlatformApiExtensionServer, PlatformApiExtensionSpec()],
):
    """Agent that can accept and modify files"""

    for file_part in input.parts:
        file_part_root = file_part.root

        if file_part_root.kind == "file":
            async with load_file(file_part_root) as loaded_content:
                new_file = await File.create(
                    filename=f"processed_{file_part_root.file.name}",
                    content_type=file_part_root.file.mime_type,
                    content=loaded_content.text.encode(),
                )
                yield new_file.to_file_part()

    yield "File Processing Done"


def run():
    server.run(host=os.getenv("HOST", "127.0.0.1"), port=int(os.getenv("PORT", 8000)))


if __name__ == "__main__":
    run()

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How to work with files

Here’s what you need to know to add file processing capabilities to your agent: Enable file uploads: Add default_input_modes to your agent decorator with a list of MIME types you want to accept (e.g., ["text/plain", "application/pdf", "image/jpeg"]). Enable producing of files: Add default_output_modes to your agent decorator with a list of MIME types that your agent can potentially produce (e.g., ["text/plain", "application/pdf", "image/jpeg"]). Access the Platform API: Import and use PlatformApiExtensionServer to get access to file manipulation capabilities. Process message parts: Iterate through input.parts to find FilePart objects that represent uploaded files. Load file content: Use load_file() with an async context manager to safely access file content. Create new files: Use File.create() to generate new files with custom names, content types, and content. Yield file outputs: The File object created by the SDK can be easily converted to a FilePart using the to_file_part() method and then yielded as agent outputs.

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File Upload Configuration

The default_input_modes parameter controls which file types users can upload: 
@server.agent(
    default_input_modes=[
        "text/plain",           # Plain text files
        "application/pdf",      # PDF documents
        "image/jpeg",           # JPEG images
        "image/png",            # PNG images
        "application/json",     # JSON files
        "text/csv"              # CSV files
    ]
)
The default_output_modes parameter controls which file agent can produce: 
@server.agent(
    default_output_modes=[
        "text/plain",           # Plain text files
        "application/pdf",      # PDF documents
        "image/jpeg",           # JPEG images
        "image/png",            # PNG images
        "application/json",     # JSON files
        "text/csv"              # CSV files
    ]
)
Common MIME types you might want to support:
  • Text files: text/plain, text/markdown, text/csv
  • Documents: application/pdf, application/msword, application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.wordprocessingml.document
  • Images: image/jpeg, image/png, image/gif, image/svg+xml
  • Data: application/json, application/xml, text/xml