Upload via Agent from a case

Upload via Agent attaches a file from your Windows workstation straight to a dental case in Cympha, with optional mesh fixing first and a log entry that shows where the file came from.

Audience: Clinicians, lab managers, and case workers viewing a case in Cympha who want to attach a file straight from their Windows workstation — typically a scanner export, a CBCT archive, or a treatment record — without first dragging it into the browser. End state: the file is attached to the case and the activity log shows a via Cympha Agent entry.

You'll come away knowing: where the Upload via Agent button lives on a case page, what happens when you click it, and what to do when the agent isn't where it's supposed to be.

Time required: Under a minute once the agent is paired — most of that is the file picker. First-time setup is a separate job covered by Install and pair Cympha Agent Manager.

Before you start

A few things to know about this feature specifically:

It's desktop-only. Upload via Agent only appears on real desktop browsers — devices with a mouse (or trackpad) that can hover. On phones and tablets in touch mode the button is hidden, because the Cympha Agent Manager is a Windows tray app that those devices can't run anyway. If you're expecting the button on an iPad and it's not there, that's why — use the regular Upload affordance next to it instead.
You need the Cympha Agent Manager installed and paired on the same Windows workstation you're browsing from. The web app looks for the agent over a local-only connection on your own machine; there's no remote mode. Pairing is an explicit step — the tray menu's Pair to Cympha… plus an approval in your browser — and it must be done before agent uploads work. If you haven't done the install yet, work through Install and pair Cympha Agent Manager first.
Open a case first. This is a per-case action. Navigate to app.cympha.com/cases/<your-case-id> (any case you can see, e.g. via Cases in the sidebar). Then scroll to the Activity section at the bottom of the page.

Step 1 — Find the button

On the case page, the Activity section has a compose row at the bottom with a cluster of small buttons on the right, including Upload and Upload via Agent.

Right below the button you'll sometimes see a tiny inline status line:

Agent not running — click to start (amber) — you've paired the agent before on this account, but the tray app isn't running on this machine right now. Clicking the button will try to wake it.
Agent not installed — click to download (grey) — no pairing record exists for your account, so we assume you've never installed it. Clicking the button opens the install dialog.

If neither line appears, the agent is running and reachable — the happy path.

Step 2 — Click Upload via Agent

What happens next depends on what the web app finds on your machine:

Agent reachable. A toast confirms the agent picked up the job. Switch to the agent (it brings its own window forward, or look in your system tray) and continue at Step 3.
Agent not reachable, but installed. Windows tries to launch it through the link the installer registered. You'll see a brief "Starting your Agent Manager…" message while it's given a few seconds to come up. If it answers, the upload proceeds normally.
Agent genuinely not present. An install dialog opens. Follow the install instructions, start the tray app, then press Continue in the dialog — your upload resumes where it left off, no need to click Upload via Agent again. See the linked install guide for the full first-time flow, including pairing.

Step 3 — Pick a file in the Agent Manager

Once the agent picks up the job, it opens a native Windows file picker. Pick one or more files and click Open.

The agent hands the picked file(s) to a small worker page that opens automatically in your browser. You'll see a status card with per-file progress lines. The file bytes are transferred directly to storage — they don't pass through Cympha's API servers. Leave the tab open until it says Upload complete — closing it mid-upload aborts the in-flight transfer.

What happens next

When the upload finishes, the worker tab shows Upload complete. Switch back to your case page and look at the activity log. You'll see a new entry near the top:

Sarah Lin uploaded scan-upper-arch.stl via Cympha Agent (DESKTOP-SARAH-LIN)

The via Cympha Agent suffix and the machine label in parentheses distinguish it from a browser upload by the same person. For more on activity-log conventions see Read the case activity log.

Troubleshooting

The button isn't visible at all. Check two things, in order: (1) you're on a real desktop browser (not phone / tablet touch mode); (2) the case page's Activity section has the compose row visible — read-only shared views hide all upload buttons.

Inline status says "Agent not running — click to start" and nothing happens when I click. Open the tray icon manually (Cympha icon in the bottom-right of the taskbar — you may need the Show hidden icons arrow). If the icon isn't there either, the Agent Manager isn't actually running — start it from the Start menu, then click Upload via Agent again.

I got "Cympha Agent Manager error — Couldn't reach the Agent Manager." The agent may have crashed, or security software on your machine is blocking the local-only connection between the browser and the agent. Right-click the tray icon and Show window to see whether it's responsive; if not, Quit and start it again from the Start menu.

The file picker opened in the agent but I cancelled. No problem — the job is silently dropped on the agent side. Click Upload via Agent again to start a new one.

Worker page hung at "Sign in to continue your upload". The worker tab opened in a browser context where you aren't signed in. Sign in via the Sign in button on that page; the upload picks up where it left off.

The activity log shows me as the uploader but I didn't do it. The agent is paired to your Cympha account; anyone who can run the tray app on your workstation can post uploads attributed to you. If that's a concern, Unpair from Cympha via the tray menu on workstations you don't trust (this forgets the credential stored on that machine), or revoke pairings from the Paired Agents section of your Cympha profile.

Last updated 2026-07-30.