File Upload - ConvertAPI

When source files must be converted multiple times, conversion performance can be increased by uploading files once and converting it multiple times without uploading it again. The uploaded file will be stored in convertapi.com server for maximum period of 3 hours and will be accessible by secret URL with UUID. In conversion request file can be referred by the File ID, which will be returned after a successful file upload. Another benefit of the uploaded file is that conversion requests can be formed just by the URL query (no need for the multipart formatter).

File upload request

The file upload response content type is controlled by the "Accept" header field value. Default "Accept" header field value is "application/json". If the request header has the "Accept: text/plain" value, the response body will contain plain File ID string. This response format is useful when there are no JSON or XML parsers.

application/octet-stream (preferred format)

Raw file data upload is the most simple and efficient upload type. The Content-disposition header field must be provided with the file name or filename query parameter.

[POST]
https://v2.convertapi.com/upload 
Content-Disposition: inline; filename="my_file.doc"

--FILE DATA--

[response]
{
    "FileId": "25811safe8e61dd3f51ef00ee5f58b92",
    "FileName": "my_file.doc",
    "FileExt": "doc"
}

multipart/form-data

There can be one and only one part with file data.

[POST]
https://v2.convertapi.com/upload 
Content-Type: multipart/form-data; boundary=----7MA4YWxkTrZu0gW

------7MA4YWxkTrZu0gW
Content-Disposition: form-data; name="file"; filename="my_file.doc"

--FILE DATA--
------7MA4YWxkTrZu0gW--

[response]
{
    "FileId": "25811safe8e61dd3f51ef00ee5f58b92",
    "FileName": "my_file.doc",
    "FileExt": "doc"
}

CURL example:

curl -F 'file=@C:\my_file.doc' https://v2.convertapi.com/upload

Upload from remote server

If the file is accessible by the URL, it can be uploaded directly from its location by passing the URL instead of the file itself.

[POST]
https://v2.convertapi.com/upload?url=http%3A%2F%2Fexample.com%2Ffile.doc&FileName=my_file.doc

In addition to this, any "HeaderName" and "HeaderValue" parameters can be provided, needed to authenticate to a third-party system (for example trying to upload a private file from Google Drive). These header fields will be added when making a request to a third-party system.

[response]
{
    "FileId": "25811safe8e61dd3f51ef00ee5f58b92",
    "FileName": "my_file.doc",
    "FileExt": "doc"
}

HTTP response codes

200 Upload completed successfully.
500 Unable to download remote file.

Actions with the uploaded file

Conversion

[GET/POST]
https://v2.convertapi.com/convert/doc/to/pdf?Secret=your-api-secret&File=25811safe8e61dd3f51ef00ee5f58b92

[response]
{
    "ConversionTime": 2,
    "Files": [
        {
            "FileName": "my_file.pdf",
            "FileSize": 523672,
            "FileData": "--Base64 encoded file content--"
        }
    ]
}

Download the uploaded file

You might want to download your file by ID at some point. It might be useful when investigating issues, just to double check if you are working with correct files. Please note that it will be automatically deleted after 3 hours.

[GET]
https://v2.convertapi.com/d/25811safe8e61dd3f51ef00ee5f58b92

Delete uploaded file

If the file is no longer required it can be deleted. Otherwise, it will be automatically deleted after 3 hours. The endpoint is the same as for the file download, except that you need to call it using an HTTP DELETE method.

[DELETE]
https://v2.convertapi.com/d/25811safe8e61dd3f51ef00ee5f58b92