files.upload
Uploads or creates a file.
A new file commenting experience arrived on July 23, 2018. Learn more about what's new and the migration path for apps already working with files and file comments.
This method allows you to create or upload an existing file.
Arguments
token
Authentication token bearing required scopes. Tokens should be passed as an HTTP Authorization header or alternatively, as a POST parameter.
Examplexxxx-xxxxxxxxx-xxxx
channels
Comma-separated list of channel names or IDs where the file will be shared.
ExampleC1234567890,C2345678901,C3456789012
content
File contents via a POST variable. If omitting this parameter, you must provide a file
.
...
file
File contents via multipart/form-data
. If omitting this parameter, you must submit content
.
...
filename
Filename of file.
Examplefoo.txt
initial_comment
The message text introducing the file in specified channels
.
Best!
thread_ts
Provide another message's ts
value to upload this file as a reply. Never use a reply's ts
value; use its parent instead.
1234567890.123456
title
Title of file.
ExampleMy File
application/x-www-form-urlencoded
querystring or POST body. This method does not currently accept application/json
.
You must provide either a file
or content
parameter.
The content of the file can either be posted using an enctype
of multipart/form-data
(with the file parameter named file
), in the usual way that files are uploaded via the browser, or the content of the file can be sent as a POST var called content
. The latter should be used for creating a "file" from a long message/paste and forces "editable" mode.
In both cases, the type of data in the file will be intuited from the filename and the magic bytes in the file, for supported formats.
Sending a valid filetype
parameter will override this behavior. Possible filetype
values can be found in the file
object definition.
Files uploaded via multipart/form-data
will be stored either in hosted or editable mode, based on certain heuristics (determined
type, file size).
The file can also be shared directly into channels on upload, by specifying an optional argument channels
. If there's more than one channel name or ID in the channels
string, they should be comma-separated. The owner of the token used to upload the file must also be a member of any channel you wish to post to this way.
There is a 1 megabyte file size limit for files uploaded as snippets.
Upload files and images into message threads by providing the thread parent's ts
value with the thread_ts
parameter.
The initial_comment
field is used in messages to introduce the file in conversation.
If you only specify a filename
, we remove the file extension and populate the file's title
with the remaining value. So, if you want the file's extension to be shown in Slack, you must include it in the title
argument when uploading it.
Response
By default all newly-uploaded files are private and only visible to the owner.
They become public once they are shared into a public channel (which can
happen at upload time via the channels
argument).
If successful, the response will include a file object.
Common successful response
Success response after uploading a file to a channel with an initial message
{
"ok": true,
"file": {
"id": "F0TD00400",
"created": 1532293501,
"timestamp": 1532293501,
"name": "dramacat.gif",
"title": "dramacat",
"mimetype": "image/jpeg",
"filetype": "gif",
"pretty_type": "JPEG",
"user": "U0L4B9NSU",
"editable": false,
"size": 43518,
"mode": "hosted",
"is_external": false,
"external_type": "",
"is_public": false,
"public_url_shared": false,
"display_as_bot": false,
"username": "",
"url_private": "https://.../dramacat.gif",
"url_private_download": "https://.../dramacat.gif",
"thumb_64": "https://.../dramacat_64.gif",
"thumb_80": "https://.../dramacat_80.gif",
"thumb_360": "https://.../dramacat_360.gif",
"thumb_360_w": 360,
"thumb_360_h": 250,
"thumb_480": "https://.../dramacat_480.gif",
"thumb_480_w": 480,
"thumb_480_h": 334,
"thumb_160": "https://.../dramacat_160.gif",
"image_exif_rotation": 1,
"original_w": 526,
"original_h": 366,
"permalink": "https://.../dramacat.gif",
"permalink_public": "https://.../More-Path-Components",
"comments_count": 0,
"is_starred": false,
"shares": {
"private": {
"D0L4B9P0Q": [
{
"reply_users": [],
"reply_users_count": 0,
"reply_count": 0,
"ts": "1532293503.000001"
}
]
}
},
"channels": [],
"groups": [],
"ims": [
"D0L4B9P0Q"
],
"has_rich_preview": false
}
}
Alternate response
Uploading a file with the content
parameter creates an editable text/plain
file by default
{
"ok": true,
"file": {
"id": "F0TD0GUTS",
"created": 1532294750,
"timestamp": 1532294750,
"name": "-.txt",
"title": "Untitled",
"mimetype": "text/plain",
"filetype": "text",
"pretty_type": "Plain Text",
"user": "U0L4B9NSU",
"editable": true,
"size": 11,
"mode": "snippet",
"is_external": false,
"external_type": "",
"is_public": true,
"public_url_shared": false,
"display_as_bot": false,
"username": "",
"url_private": "https://.../.txt",
"url_private_download": "https://...download/-.txt",
"permalink": "https://.../.txt",
"permalink_public": "https://.../.txt",
"edit_link": "https://.../.txt/edit",
"preview": "launch plan",
"preview_highlight": "<div class=\"CodeMirror cm-s-default CodeMirrorServer\" oncopy=\"if(event.clipboardData){event.clipboardData.setData('text/plain',window.getSelection().toString().replace(/\\u200b/g,''));event.preventDefault();event.stopPropagation();}\">\n<div class=\"CodeMirror-code\">\n<div><pre>launch plan</pre></div>\n</div>\n</div>\n",
"lines": 1,
"lines_more": 0,
"preview_is_truncated": false,
"comments_count": 0,
"is_starred": false,
"shares": {
"public": {
"C061EG9SL": [
{
"reply_users": [],
"reply_users_count": 0,
"reply_count": 0,
"ts": "1532294750.000001",
"channel_name": "general",
"team_id": "T061EG9R6"
}
]
}
},
"channels": [
"C061EG9SL"
],
"groups": [],
"ims": [],
"has_rich_preview": false
}
}
Common error response
Typical error response
{
"ok": false,
"error": "invalid_auth"
}
Examples
Upload "dramacat.gif" from the current directory and share it in two channels, using multipart/form-data
:
curl -F file=@dramacat.gif -F "initial_comment=Shakes the cat" -F channels=C024BE91L,D032AC32T -H "Authorization: Bearer xoxa-xxxxxxxxx-xxxx" https://slack.com/api/files.upload
Create an editable text file containing the text "launch plan":
curl -F "content=launch plan" -H "Authorization: Bearer xoxb-xxxxxxxxx-xxxx" https://slack.com/api/files.upload
Upload another image to an existing message thread:
curl -F file=@drworm.gif -F "initial_comment=I play the drums." -F channels=C024BE91L -F thread_ts=1532293503.000001 -H "Authorization: Bearer xoxp-xxxxxxxxx-xxxx" https://slack.com/api/files.upload
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 |
---|---|
posting_to_general_channel_denied | An admin has restricted posting to the #general channel. |
invalid_channel | One or more channels supplied are invalid |
not_in_channel | Authenticated user is not in the channel. |
channel_not_found | At least one of the values passed for |
slack_connect_file_upload_sharing_blocked | Admin has disabled File uploads in all Slack Connect communications |
not_authed | No authentication token provided. |
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. |
account_inactive | Authentication token is for a deleted user or workspace. |
token_revoked | Authentication token is for a deleted user or workspace or the app has been removed. |
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. |
ekm_access_denied | Administrators have suspended the ability to post a message. |
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. |
method_deprecated | The method has been deprecated. |
deprecated_endpoint | The endpoint has been deprecated. |
two_factor_setup_required | Two factor setup is required. |
enterprise_is_restricted | The method cannot be called from an Enterprise. |
team_access_not_granted | The token used is not granted the specific workspace access required to complete this request. |
invalid_arguments | The method was either called with invalid arguments or some detail about the arguments passed are invalid, which is more likely when using complex arguments like blocks or attachments. |
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 |
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 |
invalid_form_data | The method was called via a |
invalid_post_type | The method was called via a |
missing_post_type | The method was called via a |
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. |
ratelimited | The request has been ratelimited. Refer to the |
accesslimited | Access to this method is limited on the current network |
request_timeout | The method was called via a |
service_unavailable | The service is temporarily unavailable |
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. |
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 |
superfluous_charset | The method was called via a |
Sample code
Bolt is a foundational framework that makes it faster and easier to build Slack apps with the platform's latest features.