The companion can use a photo to answer a question, such as describing an object or reading visible text. Photo processing has its own consent setting. Sending a photo before opting in does not download or forward it.
Review consent and send a photo
Open the private chat with @armoredkitten_bot and send /settings. Read the photo-sharing notice, then choose Enable photo sharing if you want the bot to send images to DeepSeek so it can answer. This is separate from other companion settings. You can leave it off and continue with text chat.
After enabling, send the image again; the first photo that prompted the consent notice was not downloaded or queued. Use a JPEG, PNG, GIF, or WebP file smaller than 4 MB, with each side at most 8192 pixels. Attach your question as the photo caption, for example, “What does this label say?” The companion may answer in text; it does not edit or return an image.
Understand what happens to the image
For an opted-in photo, the bot downloads the file from Telegram, checks its format, size and dimensions, then sends the image with your current message to DeepSeek for one response. Image bytes are held in memory while that request runs and are not stored by the bot. The provider must process the image to answer. The caption and `[Image attached]` marker may be retained in your encrypted conversation history, but the image file itself is not included in that history.
The bot cannot remove Telegram's copy or any copy held by the model provider. Do not send an image unless you are comfortable with that processing. Avoid including private information that is not needed for your question.
Turn photo sharing off or troubleshoot
Send /settings and choose Turn photo sharing off to stop future photo processing. A queued image is checked before provider submission, and consent is checked again before a reply is delivered. Turning photo sharing off stops queued images that have not been submitted and suppresses an in-progress reply; it cannot undo an image already sent to DeepSeek. This setting does not pause daily notes, checklist reminders or other message types.
If the bot asks you to opt in, no image has been downloaded; enable photo sharing in Settings and resend it. If an upload is rejected, check the file type, 4 MB limit and 8192-pixel limit. If the provider cannot answer, try again later or describe the image in text. Use /forget to delete bot-held conversation and account records; it cannot erase Telegram chat history or provider-held copies. Read settings and privacy for the other data controls.