ERROR Processing Files with ADK agents deployed to Agentspace

[raphael-ph]

We're currently building some high-code agents using Google Agent development Kit (ADK). All agents were built using agent-starter-pack scaffold for Agent Engine deployment. No issues there. All my agents are working fine on Agent Engine and I managed to add them to Agentspace no trouble. Everything fine!

For some reason, this custom agents cannot interact with uploaded files (.pdf, .png, .jpg, etc). I've made some local tests and they processed files like a charm (using ADK web). I've also tested all files in the "root agentspace" and in my custom agents. Root agent processed them nice. All custom agents seem to not have access to it whatsoever. Anyone know what could it be?

I've checked the logs and have no clue at all....

[adk-bot]

Response from ADK Answering Agent (experimental, answer may be inaccurate)

TLDR: It seems like the issue might be related to how your agent's MCPToolset is configured for file access in the Agentspace environment, which differs from the local adk web environment.

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Hello @raphael-ph,

I understand you're facing an issue where your custom ADK agents can't process files in Agentspace, although they work locally. This is a common issue when moving from a local development environment to a deployed one.

The root of the problem might be in the configuration of the MCPToolset, which is responsible for file system interactions. When you run your agent locally using adk web, it likely has access to your local file system. However, when deployed to Agentspace, the agent runs in a different environment where file access is handled differently.

To help you troubleshoot this, could you please share the relevant parts of your agent.py file, specifically how you have configured the MCPToolset and how you are accessing the files in your agent's code?

In the meantime, you can review the documentation on MCPToolset to ensure it is configured correctly for a deployed environment. It is possible that the tool needs to be configured with different parameters for Agentspace.

For more details, you can refer to the official documentation on MCPToolset: [1]

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[1] https://google.github.io/adk-docs/tools/mcp-tools/

[raphael-ph]

i am not using MCP. It is just the basic feature of ADK to upload files and chat with them.

[raphael-ph]

this solved it: https://github.com/jchavezar/vertex-ai-samples/tree/main/gen_ai/adk/file_upload

[grassxyz]

did you use load_artifacts as tool in adk agent to process files (images etc) uploaded by stream_query?

[raphael-ph]

I am not using stream for this. For some reason, when using the ADK agent in Agentspace you need to add the load_artifacts() so it has access to the uploaded files. I basically added:

tools=[load_artifacts()] to my agent and it worked.

It helped me a lot to prompt it to use it when files were uploaded as well (something like, “use this tool whenever any file is uploaded”)

[grassxyz]

Awesome. I see this equivalent to a mcp tool to file system - giving llm access to file system level up the game

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On Sat, Aug 30, 2025 at 9:24 AM Raphael Silva e Silva < ***@***.***> wrote: I am not using stream for this. For some reason, when using the ADK agent in Agentspace you need to add the load_artifacts() so it has access to the uploaded files. I basically added: tools=[load_artifacts()] to my agent and it worked. It helped me a lot to prompt it to use it when files were uploaded as well (something like, “use this tool whenever any file is uploaded”) — Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub <#2748 (reply in thread)>, or unsubscribe <https://github.com/notifications/unsubscribe-auth/ADZK7GWHSXML7ZLJSPZV7733QHF4XAVCNFSM6AAAAACE4NBAP6VHI2DSMVQWIX3LMV43URDJONRXK43TNFXW4Q3PNVWWK3TUHMYTIMRWGM3TANQ> . You are receiving this because you commented.Message ID: ***@***.***>