---
name: "files_get"
area: "files"
title: "Get a file"
price: "free"
method: "POST"
url: "https://api.conecto.chat/v1/tools/files_get"
mcp_server: "https://api.conecto.chat/mcp/files"
auth: "Authorization: Bearer <conecto_sk_ key>"
docs_url: "https://conecto.chat/tools/files/files_get"
---

# Get a file (`files_get`)

One file's details and a fresh download link, with the text of a small text file if asked.

One file's details (title, tags, type, correspondent, document date, notes, fields, where it came from, whether Conecto has read its words) and a fresh download link. With include_text, a text file (Markdown, CSV, JSON...) of up to 200 KB also comes back as it is; files_read_text returns the words of any file, scans included once read.

Price: Free up to 1,000,000 reads a month for the whole account, then $0.50 per 10,000 reads. A call that fails costs nothing.

## Use it when

A download link is needed, or what a file is.

## Say this to your agent

> Send me a download link for the insurance policy, valid for a week.

## Inputs

| Name | Type | Required | Description | Allowed values | Default |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| `file_id` | string | yes | The file_id files_upload returned. Exactly 36 characters. |  |  |
| `link_hours` | integer | no | How long the download link works, in hours (up to 168, one week). 1 to 168. |  | `24` |
| `include_text` | boolean | no |  |  | `false` |

## Example

Written for Halverson Cycle & Repair, a bike shop with a repair workshop in Portland, Oregon.

MCP: call `files_get` on the MCP server `https://api.conecto.chat/mcp/files` with these arguments:

```json
{
  "file_id": "0d2f4a6c-8e1b-4d3f-9a5c-7e9b1d3f5a8c",
  "link_hours": 168
}
```

REST:

```bash
curl https://api.conecto.chat/v1/tools/files_get \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $CONECTO_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"file_id": "0d2f4a6c-8e1b-4d3f-9a5c-7e9b1d3f5a8c", "link_hours": 168}'
```

## Response

```json
{
  "call_id": "5f0c8a2e-3b7d-4c1e-9a64-2d8e1f7b0c93",
  "tool": "files_get",
  "status": "succeeded",
  "replayed": false,
  "cost_usd": "$0.00",
  "balance_usd": "$19.75",
  "result": {
    "file": {
      "file_id": "0d2f4a6c-8e1b-4d3f-9a5c-7e9b1d3f5a8c",
      "name": "CBS-2026-1188.pdf",
      "content_type": "application/pdf",
      "size": "1.1 KB",
      "size_bytes": 1157,
      "sha256": "210badbad5d529776febed04fc51a2dc054611eeff2af5b39e00f93729dd5a0a",
      "created_at": "2026-10-14T08:00:00+00:00",
      "download_url": "https://cncto.co/d/0d2f4a6c-8e1b-4d3f-9a5c-7e9b1d3f5a8c?t=eyJmIjoiZTAwZWI2NzktNmU3Ni00YzExLWFhODAtYjZjYWQ5M2NlNGZlIiwiZXhwIjoxNzkyNjc4ODgyfQ:1xHMKg:DEo1KnWTIpmnm8QgHJVWMMQbEPhbvf-ZAYM1nGvVir4",
      "link_expires_in_hours": 168,
      "title": "Cascade Bike Supply invoice CBS-2026-1188",
      "document_date": "2026-10-13",
      "correspondent": "Cascade Bike Supply",
      "document_type": "Invoice",
      "tags": [
        "tax 2026"
      ],
      "fields": {
        "Total": {
          "amount": "462.50",
          "currency": "USD"
        }
      },
      "notes": null,
      "source": "upload",
      "email_message_id": null,
      "text": {
        "status": "read",
        "method": "text",
        "ocr_pages": null,
        "languages": null,
        "note": null
      }
    },
    "duplicate_of": null
  }
}
```

`result`: file: its details (title, tags, type, correspondent, document date, notes, fields, source, text status) and a download link; with include_text, the text of a small text file.

## Errors

| Code | Status | When | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| `not_found` | 404 | No file of the business has that file_id. | Find it with files_list. |

The refusals every tool can give (401 key, 402 balance, 429 limits) are on the errors page: https://conecto.chat/docs/errors.md

## Related

- [files_upload](https://conecto.chat/tools/files/files_upload.md): Stores a file in the business's file store from its bytes, its text or a public link, with a download link. $0.001 a call.
- [files_upload_link](https://conecto.chat/tools/files/files_upload_link.md): A one-time link to upload one file of up to 25 MB, to use yourself or hand to a person. Free.
- [files_list](https://conecto.chat/tools/files/files_list.md): The business's files, newest first, filtered by name, words inside, tags, type, correspondent, document date or fields. Free up to 1,000,000 reads a month.
- [files_read_text](https://conecto.chat/tools/files/files_read_text.md): The words in a file as Conecto read them: text files, PDFs, office files, HTML, and scans once read with OCR. Free up to 1,000,000 reads a month.
- [files_edit](https://conecto.chat/tools/files/files_edit.md): Says what one file is, or up to 100 at once: title, notes, document date, correspondent, type, tags and fields. $0.005 per file changed.
- [files_define](https://conecto.chat/tools/files/files_define.md): Adds, renames or deletes a tag, a document type, a custom field or a correspondent to file things with. $0.001 a call.
- [files_definitions](https://conecto.chat/tools/files/files_definitions.md): The tags, document types, custom fields and correspondents the business files with, each with how many files use it, and the OCR settings. Free up to 1,000,000 reads a month.
- [files_ocr](https://conecto.chat/tools/files/files_ocr.md): Reads the words in a scan with OCR: an image, or the pages of a PDF without text; the text is kept. $0.005 per page read.
- [files_ocr_settings](https://conecto.chat/tools/files/files_ocr_settings.md): Sets whether new scans are read with OCR as they arrive, and the languages OCR reads in. $0.001 a call.
- [files_delete](https://conecto.chat/tools/files/files_delete.md): Deletes a file for good; every download link to it stops working. Free.
- [files_add_storage](https://conecto.chat/tools/files/files_add_storage.md): Rents 10 GB more file storage, renewed monthly from the balance; this call pays the first month. $1.00 a call.
- [files_remove_storage](https://conecto.chat/tools/files/files_remove_storage.md): Stops renting one 10 GB block of storage, if the files still fit. Free.