| Plan | ✓ Professional ✓ Advanced ✓ Scale ✓ Enterprise |
Attach a spreadsheet, export, or document to an Ask Vista chat and ask questions about it, or have Ask Vista act on it. Ask Vista works out what the file contains, so you do not need to map columns or pick an import type.
How to attach a file
- Open Ask Vista, either the full Ask Vista page, the Ask Vista drawer, or the Ask Vista card on your dashboard.
- Do one of the following:
- Drag the file from your computer onto the chat box. You will see Drag files here to add to chat.
- Click Add attachment in the chat box and choose Upload from computer.
- For a PDF, Word, or PowerPoint file, click Add attachment and choose Choose from library.
- Wait for the file to finish uploading. It shows above the chat box.
- Type your request and send it. You can also send the file on its own, and Ask Vista will describe what is in it.
Supported files
| File type | Extensions | How Ask Vista reads it |
|---|---|---|
| Spreadsheets and tables | .csv, .tsv, .xlsx | As rows and columns. Each visible Excel sheet is read separately (up to 20 sheets). |
| Structured data | .json | A list of records is read as a table. Anything else is read as text. |
| Text | .txt, .md | As text Ask Vista can read and search. |
| Documents in your media library | .pdf, .doc, .docx, .ppt, .pptx | Ask Vista reads the text. Pick these with Choose from library. |
Limits
- Up to 10 MB per file.
- Up to 50,000 rows and 200 columns per sheet. Rows past the limit are not read, and Ask Vista tells you the file was cut off.
- Up to 10 attachments per message.
What you can ask
Ask Vista uses the same tools on your file that it uses for your Vista Social data. Examples:
- "What's in this file?"
- "Which 10 posts in this export had the most engagement?"
- "Total impressions by network for last quarter."
- "Compare these numbers from our old tool with the last 90 days in Vista Social."
- "Schedule the posts in this spreadsheet for the Acme profile group."
- "Draft a week of LinkedIn posts from this campaign brief."
Important notes
- Totals are calculated, not estimated. Sums, averages, counts, and groupings over your file are calculated by Vista Social, so they stay accurate on large files.
- The file stays in the conversation. You can keep asking follow-up questions about it for the rest of the chat.
- Files are private to your workspace. Attached data files are not added to your media library. Click a file in the chat to download the original.
-
Headers and formats are detected for you. Ask Vista detects the header row, the delimiter (comma, tab, semicolon, or pipe), and values like
$1,200,12%, and dates. Long ID numbers stay as text so post IDs are not changed. - Want the results as a file? Ask Vista can turn its answer into a PDF, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Markdown, CSV, or web page. See Ask Vista document generation.
Troubleshooting
| Message | What to do |
|---|---|
| Ask Vista can read CSV, TSV, Excel (.xlsx), JSON, text and Markdown files. | Save the file in one of those formats. For PDF, Word, or PowerPoint, upload it to the media library and attach it with Choose from library. |
| This file is [size]. Ask Vista can read files up to 10 MB. | Split the file, or remove columns and rows you do not need. |
| This spreadsheet could not be opened. Save it as .xlsx or .csv and try again. | Open the file in Excel or Google Sheets and save it again as .xlsx or .csv. Older .xls files are not supported. |
| This file is empty. / This file has no rows to read. | Check that the file has data and a header row. |
| The upload did not finish. Try attaching the file again. | Attach the file again, and keep the chat open until the upload finishes. |
Need help?
Reach out to our support team, and we are happy to help.
Related Reading:
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