Heavy File Ingestion For Claude Desktop

Problem

Claude Desktop does not have the same local shell workflow as coding agents, so it should avoid pretending it can efficiently process bulky files raw.

Trigger Conditions

• The user asks Claude Desktop to read a PDF, PPTX, DOCX, XLSX, or another bulky attachment
• The file would cost too much context for too little value
• The user would be better served by a converted markdown or CSV artifact

Process

1. Do not ingest the raw heavyweight file by default.
2. First ask for the cheapest workable artifact:
   • PDF or DOCX: markdown
   • PPTX: markdown slide outline
   • XLSX: CSV per sheet or a small sample plus sheet names
3. If the user has not converted it yet, offer exact commands they can run outside Claude Desktop.

Suggested Conversion Commands

python convert_heavy_file.py /absolute/path/to/file.pdf
python convert_heavy_file.py /absolute/path/to/file.docx
python convert_heavy_file.py /absolute/path/to/file.pptx
python convert_heavy_file.py /absolute/path/to/file.xlsx

If the script is not available, say so and ask the user for:

• a markdown export
• a CSV export
• or a small representative excerpt

1. Once the user provides the converted artifact, create a quick index:
   • file type
   • sections, slides, or sheet names
   • row counts or page counts if available
   • any obvious extraction-quality problems
2. Only then analyze the content.

Client Rules

• Be explicit about the tradeoff: converting first is cheaper and usually better.
• If the user insists on staying inside Claude Desktop, ask for a smaller excerpt rather than taking the whole file raw.
• Use raw ingestion only for genuinely small files where conversion would cost more effort than it saves.