files.remote.add

View other methods

Adds a file from a remote service

Reference docs Tester

Facts

Method access

HTTP

JavaScript

Python

Java

HTTP

GEThttps://slack.com/api/files.remote.add

Bolt for Java

app.client().filesRemoteAdd

Bolt for Python

app.client.files_remote_add

Bolt for JavaScript

app.client.files.remote.add

Required scopes

Bot tokensremote_files:write

Legacy bot tokensbot

Content types

application/x-www-form-urlencoded

Rate limits

Tier 2

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

external_id

string

·Required

Creator defined GUID for the file.

Example

123456

external_url

string

·Required

URL of the remote file.

Example

http://example.com/my_cloud_service_file/abc123

title

string

·Required

Title of the file being shared.

Example

Danger, High Voltage!

Optional arguments

filetype

string

·Optional

type of file

Example

doc

indexable_file_contents

·Optional

A text file (txt, pdf, doc, etc.) containing textual search terms that are used to improve discovery of the remote file.

Example

...

preview_image

·Optional

Preview of the document via multipart/form-data.

Example

...

Usage info

This method adds a remote file to Slack. Adding a file does not share it to a channel. To make your remote file visible, use the files.remote.share API method. This method performs an upsert: if you add a file that has been added previously, the existing file will be updated.

Remote files exist across the entire workspace (or organization, for Enterprise Grid). Because of that, remote files must be added by bots with the bot scope, not by an individual user. Dimension requirements for previews are a minimum of 800w x 400h.

preview_image is displayed when your remote file is shared. It's a binary image file.

external_id is the unique ID of the remote file, according to the external host of the file.

indexable_file_contents is a text file that represents the file for search. When a user searches in Slack, their query will be compared against the contents of this text file for matching. Think of this text file like the alt parameter on an HTML <img> tag: a textual representation of a non-textual object. The text file can contain a description of the remote file, or it can contain search keywords or anything else text-based.

One tricky bit: in the response, the file object may indicate that "has_rich_preview" is false, even if you include the preview_image parameter. That's because it takes a few seconds for Slack to parse the preview_image you pass. If you call files.remote.add with the same external_id later, you'll see "has_preview_image": true.

Example responses

Common successful response

Typical success response

{
    "ok": true,
    "file": {
        "id": "F08EAQ813FW",
        "created": 1740062388,
        "timestamp": 1740062388,
        "name": "Test",
        "title": "Test",
        "mimetype": "application/vnd.slack-remote",
        "filetype": "remote",
        "pretty_type": "Remote",
        "user": "U123A4BCDE5",
        "user_team": "T123A4BC5DE",
        "editable": false,
        "size": 0,
        "mode": "external",
        "is_external": true,
        "external_type": "app",
        "is_public": false,
        "public_url_shared": false,
        "display_as_bot": false,
        "username": "",
        "url_private": "https://docs.google.com/document/d/1e8LtkvCSe_NH0UU0RyLgssmUQLT8G_3RMCGzyPWcx58/edit?tab=t.0",
        "media_display_type": "unknown",
        "permalink": "https://thetestenv.slack.com/files/U123A4BCDE5/F08EAQ813FW/test",
        "comments_count": 0,
        "is_starred": false,
        "shares": {},
        "channels": [],
        "groups": [],
        "ims": [],
        "has_more_shares": false,
        "external_id": "1234",
        "external_url": "https://docs.google.com/document/d/1e8LtkvCSe_NH0UU0RyLgssmUQLT8G_3RMCGzyPWcx58/edit?tab=t.0",
        "has_rich_preview": false,
        "file_access": "visible"
    }
}

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
`bad_image`	The uploaded image could not be processed - try passing a JPG or PNG
`bad_title`	The title provided is too long.
`bot_user_required`	bot user token is required
`invalid_external_id`	The external_id provided is too long.
`too_large`	The uploaded image had excessive dimensions
`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.
`team_access_not_granted`	The token used is not granted the specific workspace access required to complete this request.
`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