Documentation Attachments - Archyl Docs

Upload images and files to documentation pages by drag-and-drop, paste, or the attach button — stored securely in S3-compatible object storage

Documentation Attachments

Attach images and files directly to any documentation page. Drop a screenshot into the editor and it embeds inline; attach a PDF, spec, or archive and it appears as a downloadable card. Files are stored in object storage — never bloating your database — and travel with the page wherever it's viewed or shared.

Adding Attachments

Open a documentation page in the editor (New Doc or Edit) and add files in whichever way is fastest:

  • Drag & drop one or more files onto the editor
  • Paste an image straight from your clipboard (e.g. a screenshot)
  • Click Attach file in the editor toolbar and pick files

You can attach several files at once. A new document is saved automatically the first time you attach a file, so you never lose an upload.

Images vs. files

Archyl handles the two cases the way you'd expect:

  • Images are embedded inline in your Markdown at the point you add them, so they render directly in the page.
  • Other files (PDFs, documents, archives, …) are added to the Attachments panel as downloadable cards rather than dropped into the text.

Viewing Attachments

When reading a page, attachments appear in an Attachments panel at the top of the document, right under the title — so readers see what's available before scrolling. Each file shows:

  • A color-coded type icon, or an image thumbnail
  • The file name, type, and size
  • A one-click download action

Images also render inline wherever you placed them in the content.

Managing Attachments

From the editor, the Attachments panel lets you:

  • Download any file
  • Delete a file (with a quick inline confirm) — this also removes it from storage

Deleting a document removes its attachments as well.

Supported Files

You can attach any file type. Images are embedded inline; everything else appears as a downloadable card. Common examples:

  • Images — PNG, JPEG, GIF, WebP, SVG, AVIF
  • Documents — PDF, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, plain text, Markdown, CSV
  • Data & archives — JSON, YAML, ZIP, logs

The default maximum is 10 MB per file (configurable on self-hosted instances).

Tip: If your browser doesn't recognize a file type it's still accepted and offered as a download.

Storage & Privacy

Attachments live in object storage rather than in the application database. On Archyl Cloud, that storage is Google Cloud Storage — managed for you, with nothing to configure. On self-hosted instances, you choose your own S3-compatible provider (see below).

Either way:

  • The bucket is private. Files are served through short-lived, signed links generated on demand — the underlying objects are never publicly listable.
  • Links embedded in a page stay stable, so shared and public documentation keeps working without exposing the bucket.
  • Encryption at rest is on by default. Google Cloud Storage encrypts every object automatically; on self-hosted instances you can also supply your own keys (for example, a Cloud KMS CMEK on GCS).

For Self-Hosted Instances

On Archyl Cloud, attachments work out of the box. If you self-host, you bring your own object storage — and you can point Archyl at any S3-compatible provider (Google Cloud Storage, Amazon S3, MinIO, Cloudflare R2, …).

Until storage is configured, the Attach file action is unavailable and uploads return a clear "File storage is not configured" message. Set the STORAGE_* environment variables on the backend (endpoint, bucket, access key, secret key) to enable the feature; for Google Cloud Storage, use the interoperability (HMAC) endpoint. See your deployment configuration for the full list of options.

Next Steps