Feather Pulse: Mar 16-22 - DOCX/XLSX uploads, faster AI, smarter citations

Feather Weekly Update - March 16-22, 2026

Welcome to the Feather Pulse! This week we added DOCX and XLSX file support, enabled Vertex AI Priority PayGo for all our users, and rolled out full-text search. Here's what landed.

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DOCX and XLSX File Support

Feather now accepts Word documents (.docx) and Excel spreadsheets (.xlsx) directly. Files are converted to markdown on ingest, so Feather can search and reason over them just like any other document you upload in the Chat or the Safe. Images embedded in DOCX files receive AI-generated descriptions, keeping their context intact during conversion.

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Faster AI for Everyone

Vertex AI Priority PayGo is now on by default for all interactions. It ensures your queries get higher-priority access to the model, resulting in faster, more consistent response times - especially during peak hours.

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Full-Text Search Now Live for All Users

Hybrid search - combining vector similarity with keyword matching - is now enabled for every user. Previously in gradual rollout, full-text search. This means short, specific terms (like a code section number or a taxpayer name) surface the right sources more reliably alongside semantic results.

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That's all for this week's Feather update.

Take care!