files.getUploadURLExternal

View other methods

Gets a URL for an edge external file upload

Reference docs Tester

Facts

Method access

HTTP

JavaScript

Python

Java

HTTP

GEThttps://slack.com/api/files.getUploadURLExternal

Bolt for Java

app.client().filesGetUploadURLExternal

Bolt for Python

app.client.files_getUploadURLExternal

Bolt for JavaScript

app.client.files.getUploadURLExternal

Required scopes

Bot tokensfiles:write

User tokensfiles:writefiles:write:user

Legacy bot tokensbot

Content types

application/x-www-form-urlencoded

Rate limits

Tier 4

Arguments

Required arguments

token

token

·Required

Authentication token bearing required scopes. Tokens should be passed as an HTTP Authorization header or alternatively, as a POST parameter.

Example

xxxx-xxxxxxxxx-xxxx

filename

string

·Required

Name of the file being uploaded.

Example

laughingoutloudcat.jpg

length

integer

·Required

Size in bytes of the file being uploaded.

Example

53072

Optional arguments

alt_txt

string

·Optional

Description of image for screen-reader.

Example

Aerial view of the Bixby Bridge and coastline of the Big Sur area in California

snippet_type

string

·Optional

Syntax type of the snippet being uploaded.

Example

python

Usage info

This method gets a URL that can be used for uploading a file to share within channels. The URL allows clients to send file data to Slack's file upload service.

The workflow is as follows:

Call files.getUploadURLExternal, which returns an upload URL and a file ID.
Upload a file by making a POST request to the upload URL. Include the filename (e.g., -F filename="@text.txt"). Files are processed asynchronously via a job handler.
- Files can be sent as raw bytes or can be multipart form encoded. Slack will return HTTP 200 if the upload is successful; a non-200 response indicates a failure.
Call files.completeUploadExternal to finalize the upload.
- There is no need to wait for files to be processed by the job handler; the files.completeUploadExternal method will return with no action until both processes have completed. If files.completeUploadExternal is not called, the upload will be aborted and clients will receive an error.

If you have migrated to the v2 method, note that this method requires both files:write and files:read scopes. If your existing apps have only the files:write scope for uploading files, you must add files:read, then re-install the app to issue an updated token. Refer to files.upload v2 in WebClient/AsyncWebClient for more information.

Example responses

Common successful response

Typical success response

{
    "ok": true,
    "upload_url": "https://files.slack.com/upload/v1/ABC123...",
    "file_id": "F123ABC456"
}

Common error response

Typical error response

{
    "ok": false,
    "error": "invalid_auth"
}

Errors

This table lists the expected errors that this method could return. However, other errors can be returned in the case where the service is down or other unexpected factors affect processing. Callers should always check the value of the ok params in the response.

Error	Description
`alt_txt_too_large`	Description for the image is longer than the limit of 1000 character
`file_upload_size_restricted`	The size of provided file is too large, as the team has restricted uploads of large files.
`file_uploads_disabled`	Team has disabled all file uploads.
`missing_argument`	A required argument was not provided. Typically only occurs when the `length` provided is 0.
`snippet_too_large`	The provided `length` is too large to create a snippet, which are limited to 1MB.
`storage_limit_reached`	File storage limit has been reached. This occurs when free teams have uploaded 5GB of files.
`unknown_snippet_type`	The provided `snippet_type` is not a supported type.
`unknown_subtype`	The provided `subtype` is not a supported type.
`access_denied`	Access to a resource specified in the request is denied.
`account_inactive`	Authentication token is for a deleted user or workspace when using a `bot` token.
`deprecated_endpoint`	The endpoint has been deprecated.
`ekm_access_denied`	Administrators have suspended the ability to post a message.
`enterprise_is_restricted`	The method cannot be called from an Enterprise.
`invalid_auth`	Some aspect of authentication cannot be validated. Either the provided token is invalid or the request originates from an IP address disallowed from making the request.
`method_deprecated`	The method has been deprecated.
`missing_scope`	The token used is not granted the specific scope permissions required to complete this request.
`not_allowed_token_type`	The token type used in this request is not allowed.
`not_authed`	No authentication token provided.
`no_permission`	The workspace token used in this request does not have the permissions necessary to complete the request. Make sure your app is a member of the conversation it's attempting to post a message to.
`org_login_required`	The workspace is undergoing an enterprise migration and will not be available until migration is complete.
`token_expired`	Authentication token has expired
`token_revoked`	Authentication token is for a deleted user or workspace or the app has been removed when using a `user` token.
`two_factor_setup_required`	Two factor setup is required.
`accesslimited`	Access to this method is limited on the current network
`fatal_error`	The server could not complete your operation(s) without encountering a catastrophic error. It's possible some aspect of the operation succeeded before the error was raised.
`internal_error`	The server could not complete your operation(s) without encountering an error, likely due to a transient issue on our end. It's possible some aspect of the operation succeeded before the error was raised.
`invalid_arg_name`	The method was passed an argument whose name falls outside the bounds of accepted or expected values. This includes very long names and names with non-alphanumeric characters other than `_`. If you get this error, it is typically an indication that you have made a very malformed API call.
`invalid_arguments`	The method was either called with invalid arguments or some detail about the arguments passed is invalid, which is more likely when using complex arguments like blocks or attachments.
`invalid_array_arg`	The method was passed an array as an argument. Please only input valid strings.
`invalid_charset`	The method was called via a `POST` request, but the `charset` specified in the `Content-Type` header was invalid. Valid charset names are: `utf-8` `iso-8859-1`.
`invalid_form_data`	The method was called via a `POST` request with `Content-Type` `application/x-www-form-urlencoded` or `multipart/form-data`, but the form data was either missing or syntactically invalid.
`invalid_post_type`	The method was called via a `POST` request, but the specified `Content-Type` was invalid. Valid types are: `application/json` `application/x-www-form-urlencoded` `multipart/form-data` `text/plain`.
`missing_post_type`	The method was called via a `POST` request and included a data payload, but the request did not include a `Content-Type` header.
`ratelimited`	The request has been ratelimited. Refer to the `Retry-After` header for when to retry the request.
`request_timeout`	The method was called via a `POST` request, but the `POST` data was either missing or truncated.
`service_unavailable`	The service is temporarily unavailable
`team_added_to_org`	The workspace associated with your request is currently undergoing migration to an Enterprise Organization. Web API and other platform operations will be intermittently unavailable until the transition is complete.

Warnings

This table lists the expected warnings that this method will return. However, other warnings can be returned in the case where the service is experiencing unexpected trouble.

Warning	Description
`missing_charset`	The method was called via a `POST` request, and recommended practice for the specified `Content-Type` is to include a `charset` parameter. However, no `charset` was present. Specifically, non-form-data content types (e.g. `text/plain`) are the ones for which `charset` is recommended.
`superfluous_charset`	The method was called via a `POST` request, and the specified `Content-Type` is not defined to understand the `charset` parameter. However, `charset` was in fact present. Specifically, form-data content types (e.g. `multipart/form-data`) are the ones for which `charset` is superfluous.

API response

URL

POST body

Submit your arguments to see the API response