Urgent: Chat attachments not downloadable / uploaded_files:// links exposed to users

ChatGPT Bugs
1

Hi devs — I’m reporting a persistent, high-impact bug I ran into today while working with the assistant. I need this escalated because it completely blocks delivering files to users.

Short summary
When the assistant attaches files (PPTX, ZIP, etc.) the chat UI does not present a usable download control for the user and instead shows internal uploaded_files:// URIs. Those internal URIs are not clickable/accessible from the user’s browser, attempts to use an internal file host (e.g. https://files.xxx.internal/``...) fail with DNS errors, and backend fetch_document calls intermittently return 500 or 404. The result: the user cannot download the file the assistant generated and the assistant cannot reliably deliver it by email or via in-chat base64 fallback.

Why this matters (impact)
This blocks the primary file-delivery flow of the assistant. In my case I needed a 72-slide PowerPoint and repeatedly received uploaded_files://xxx_Complete_Deck_1-72.pptx or internal host URLs that do not work for end users. The user experience is severely broken — we can’t hand files to customers or designers without manual workarounds.

What I saw (concrete behaviors & logs)

  • The chat messages from the assistant contained internal references like:
    uploaded_files://xxx_Complete_Deck_1-72.pptx and uploaded_files://xxx_First12_Slides.pptx. These are not clickable or downloadable from the browser UI I use.

  • The Files / Attachments UI (paperclip) was not visible in my chat client, so there was no obvious place to find attachments.

  • Attempts to use a direct host returned DNS errors (example screenshot I received: DNS_PROBE_FINISHED_NXDOMAIN for files.xxx.internal).

  • When the assistant tried to fetch the stored PPTX on the backend, the log showed:
    ClientResponseError: 404, message='Not Found: {"detail":"Document xxx_Complete_Deck_1-72.pptx not found and hence cannot fetch"}'
    and on other attempts:
    ClientResponseError: 500, message='Internal Server Error: Internal Server Error', url='``http://10.0.49.31:8000/fetch_document``'.

  • The assistant repeatedly offered to paste base64 or run scripts as a workaround, but the root problem (attachments not being published/served to the user) remained.

Thanks — Rachel