Uploaded files available in subsequent EDSL questions

[johnjosephhorton]

Goal

Enable workflows where a QuestionFileUpload answer from Humanize can be used directly by a downstream AI question, including thinking_question(...).

Example:

  q1 = QuestionFileUpload(
      question_name="receipt",
      question_text="Upload a receipt.",
  )

  q2 = thinking_question(
      QuestionFreeText(
          question_name="receipt_table",
          question_text="Please create a markdown table from {{ receipt.answer }}.",
      )
  )

  q3 = QuestionYesNo(
      question_name="looks_right",
      question_text="Does {{ receipt_table.answer }} look right?",
  )

  s = Survey([q1, q2, q3])

Desired behavior

When q2 runs, EDSL should recognize that {{ receipt.answer }} refers to a Humanize file-upload answer and attach the uploaded file to the model call.

The rendered prompt can contain a simple placeholder such as:

Please create a markdown table from [uploaded file: receipt.pdf].

The actual file should be passed through the existing files_list mechanism so model services that support file inputs can process it.

Current state

Humanize file-upload responses are represented as uploaded-file metadata, likely a list of dicts containing fields such as gcs_path, name, mime_type, and extension.

EDSL already has helpers for converting these responses after the fact:

FileStore.from_file_upload_answer(file_info)
FileStoreList.from_file_upload_answers(files)

EDSL also already has model-call plumbing for file inputs via files_list, and thinking_question(...) preserves that path through InvigilatorThinkingAI.

Needed work

Add normalization for Humanize file-upload answers during survey execution, before downstream AI questions are rendered/called.

Specifically:

1. Detect when a referenced prior answer came from a QuestionFileUpload.
2. Convert the Humanize upload metadata into model-attachable file objects:

FileStore.from_file_upload_answer(uploaded_files[0])

or, for multiple files:

FileStoreList.from_file_upload_answers(uploaded_files)

3. Add the resulting FileStore objects to the prompt’s files_list.
4. Render the Jinja reference as a useful text placeholder rather than the raw metadata dict/list.
5. Ensure this works for wrapped questions created by thinking_question(...).
6. Add tests covering:

QuestionFileUpload -> thinking_question(QuestionFreeText) -> QuestionYesNo

with a mocked Humanize upload response and mocked file download/signing path.

Open design questions

Should QuestionFileUpload be single-file by default, multi-file by default, or configurable?

Should the Jinja-rendered text be the filename, a structured file summary, or a fixed placeholder?

Should FileStore.from_file_upload_answer(...) download immediately, or should we support a lazy/remote FileStore that can pass a signed URL or GCS reference directly to providers that
support remote file inputs?