Simple Chat

Outlook MSG File Ingestion

Outlook MSG File Ingestion

Implemented in version: 0.242.063 Fixed/Implemented in version: 0.242.063 Related Config Update: application/single_app/config.py -> VERSION = "0.242.063"

Overview

SimpleChat now accepts Outlook .msg files for personal workspace, group workspace, public workspace, external public workspace, and chat uploads. Uploaded messages are parsed into searchable plain text and indexed through the existing document processing pipeline.

Purpose

Teams often store decisions, approvals, and incident context as Outlook message files. Supporting .msg uploads lets users add those messages to workspace knowledge and chat task-document flows without converting them to another format first.

Dependencies

  • Existing olefile dependency for Outlook compound document parsing.
  • Shared workspace upload routes and allowed_file() validation.
  • Chat upload personal and group workspace handoff.
  • Existing AI Search chunking and embedding pipeline.

Technical Specifications

  • .msg is represented by EMAIL_EXTENSIONS in application/single_app/config.py and merged into get_allowed_extensions().
  • extract_outlook_msg_text() reads standard Outlook MAPI streams for subject, sender, recipients, message id, plain body, and HTML body fallback.
  • HTML message bodies are converted to plain text with BeautifulSoup after script and style removal. Message HTML is not marked trusted or rendered directly.
  • process_msg() chunks extracted text with the msg chunk-size default and saves chunks through the existing embedding and AI Search flow.
  • Chat upload support includes .msg in workspace-backed uploads and in the direct chat extraction fallback used when workspace upload is unavailable.

Usage Instructions

  1. Open a personal workspace, group workspace, public workspace, or chat with file uploads enabled.
  2. Upload an Outlook .msg file through the existing drag-and-drop area or file picker.
  3. Wait for document processing to complete.
  4. Search, summarize, analyze, or compare the uploaded message as a normal workspace document or chat-uploaded task document.

Testing and Validation

  • Functional coverage: functional_tests/test_msg_file_upload_support.py.
  • UI coverage: ui_tests/test_chat_file_upload_access_control.py verifies chat upload controls advertise .msg support when enabled.
  • Validation includes route decorator preservation, central allowlist coverage, processor dispatch, and XSS-safe HTML-to-text extraction boundaries.

Known Limitations

  • Embedded attachments inside .msg files are not recursively extracted in this release. Upload attachment files separately when they also need to be indexed.