List and search files

List and search file API

GET https://api.imagekit.io/v1/files

This API can list all the uploaded files and folders in your ImageKit.io media library. In addition, you can fine-tune your query by specifying various filters by generating a query string in a Lucene-like syntax and provide this generated string as the value of the searchQuery.

Query Parameters

NameTypeDescription

type

string

Limit search to one of file, file-version, or folder. Pass all to include files and folders in search results (file-version will not be included in this case).

Default value - file

sort

string

You can sort based on the following fields:

1. name - ASC_NAME or DESC_NAME

2. createdAt - ASC_CREATED or DESC_CREATED

3. updatedAt - ASC_UPDATED or DESC_UPDATED

4. height - ASC_HEIGHT or DESC_HEIGHT

5. width - ASC_WIDTH or DESC_WIDTH

6. size - ASC_SIZE or DESC_SIZE

Default value - ASC_CREATED

path

string

Folder path if you want to limit the search within a specific folder. For example, /sales-banner/ will only search in folder sales-banner.

searchQuery

string

Query string in a Lucene-like query language. Learn more about the query expression later in this section.

Note : When the searchQuery parameter is present, the following query parameters will have no effect on the result:

1. tags

2. type

3. name

fileType

string

Type of files to include in the result set. Accepts three values:

all - include all types of files in the result set.

image - only search in image type files.

non-image - only search in files that are not images, e.g., JS or CSS or video files.

Default value - all

limit

string

The maximum number of results to return in response:

Minimum value - 1

Maximum value - 1000

Default value - 1000

skip

string

The number of results to skip before returning results.

Minimum value - 0

Default value - 0

Headers

NameTypeDescription

Authorization

string

base64 encoding of your_private_api_key:

Note the colon in the end.

[
    {
        "fileId": "598821f949c0a938d57563bd",
        "type": "file",
        "name": "file1.jpg",
        "filePath": "/images/products/file1.jpg",
        "tags": ["t-shirt", "round-neck", "sale2019"],
        "AITags": [
            {
                "name": "Shirt",
                "confidence": 90.12,
                "source": "google-auto-tagging"
            },
            /* ... more googleVision tags ... */
        ],
        "versionInfo": {
            "id": "598821f949c0a938d57563bd",
            "name": "Version 1"
        },
        "isPrivateFile": false,
        "customCoordinates": null,
        "url": "https://ik.imagekit.io/your_imagekit_id/images/products/file1.jpg",
        "thumbnail": "https://ik.imagekit.io/your_imagekit_id/tr:n-media_library_thumbnail/images/products/file1.jpg",
        "fileType": "image",
        "mime": "image/jpeg",
        "width": 100,
        "height": 100,
        "size": 100,
        "hasAlpha": false,
        "customMetadata": {
            brand: "Nike",
            color: "red"
        },
        "createdAt": "2019-08-24T06:14:41.313Z",
        "updatedAt": "2019-08-24T06:14:41.313Z"
    },
    ...more items
  ];

Advanced search queries

The searchQuery parameter can be used to apply advanced filters to your search.

Basic examples

You can query based on a single field. For example:

createdAt > "7d"

This will return all files which are created in the last 7 days.

Search based on file and folder names

For example, let's say you have uploaded two files, red-dress-summer.jpg and red-dress-winter.jpg in the media library.

The name match is case-sensitive.

To find a file or folder using the exact name, use the = operator. For example:

name = "red-dress-summer.jpg"

This will only return the file with the name red-dress-summer.jpg.

Search based on upload date

You can filter using createdAt and updatedAt to search based on the first uploaded or last modified time.

createdAt and updatedAt accept ISO 8601 format string or relative unit.

The API supports a string in the ISO 8601 format.

  • YYYY-MM-DD - When no time is provided, it is set to 00:00:00 UTC by default.

  • YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS

For example:

createdAt < 2020-01-01
createdAt < "2020-01-01T12:12:12"

Search based on custom metadata or embedded metadata values

In your search query, you can use custom metadata and embedded metadata fields.

Every embedded metadata field must be prefixed with 'embeddedMetadata' and a period, and it must be enclosed within double quotes. For example, "embeddedMetadata.Keywords" IN ["black"]

Every custom metadata field must be prefixed with 'customMetadata' and a period, and it must be enclosed within double-quotes. For example, "customMetadata.description" IN ["black"]

Refer to the supported parameters table to see which embedded metadata values are supported and the corresponding supported operators and examples. The table also specifies the supported operators and examples corresponding to each custom metadata type.

Supported parameters

FieldSupported OperatorsExamples

name

  • =

  • :

  • IN

  • NOT =

  • NOT IN

Accepts a string value in quotes. For example:

name = "red-dress.jpg" will return all files & folders with the exact name red-dress.jpg.

name: "red-dress" will return all files & folders

with a name starting with red-dress.

name IN ["red-dress.jpg", "red-dress.png"] will return

all files & folders with the name either red-dress.jpg or

red-dress.png.

name NOT = "red-dress.jpg" will return all files and folders

with a name other than red-dress.jpg.

tags

  • IN

  • NOT IN

Accepts an array of string values.

tags IN ["summer-collection", "sale"] will return all files that have either summer-collection or sale inside either the tags array or the AITags array.

tags NOT IN ["big-banner"] will return all files that do not have big-banner inside neither the tags array nor the AITags array.

type

  • =

  • IN

  • NOT =

  • NOT IN

Possible values are file, file-version or folder in quotes or in the array.

type = "file" will only return files in the search result.

type = "file-version" will only return file versions in the search result.

type = "folder" will only return folders in the search result.

type IN ["file", "folder"] will return both files and folders in the search result.

createdAt

  • =

  • <

  • <=

  • >

  • >=

  • IN

  • NOT =

  • NOT IN

Accepts a string value in ISO 8601 format or relative time units e.g 1h, 2d, 3w, or 4m.

createdAt > "2020-01-01" will return all files first uploaded after 1 Jan 2020 at 00:00 hours in UTC.

createdAt > "2020-01-01T12:12:12" will return all files first uploaded after 1 Jan 2020 12:12:12 hours in UTC.

createdAt > "7d" will return all files first uploaded in the last 7 days.

updatedAt

  • =

  • <

  • <=

  • >

  • >=

  • IN

  • NOT =

  • NOT IN

Accepts a string value in ISO 8601 format or relative time units e.g 1h, 2d, 3w, or 4m.

updatedAt > "2020-01-01" will return all files last modified after 1 Jan 2020 at 00:00 hours in UTC.

updatedAt > "2020-01-01T12:12:12" will return all files last modified after 1 Jan 2020 12:12:12 hours in UTC.

updatedAt > "7d" will return all files last modified in the last 7 days.

height

  • =

  • <

  • <=

  • >

  • >=

  • IN

  • NOT =

  • NOT IN

Accepts a numeric value e.g. 500, 200 etc. This is only applicable for image-type assets.

height > 200 will return all image files with a height greater than 200px.

height <= 400 will return all image files with a height less than or equal to 400px.

width

  • =

  • <

  • <=

  • >

  • >=

  • IN

  • NOT =

  • NOT IN

Accepts a numeric value e.g. 500, 200 etc. This is only applicable for image-type assets.

width > 200 will return all image files with a width greater than 200px.

width <= 400 will return all image files with a width less than or equal to 400px.

size

  • =

  • <

  • <=

  • >

  • >=

  • IN

  • NOT =

  • NOT IN

Accepts a numeric value e.g. 500, 200 or string e.g. 1mb, 10kb etc.

size > 1024 will return all assets with a file size greater than 1024 bytes.

size <= "1mb" will return all assets with a file size less than or equal to 1MB.

format

  • =

  • IN

Accepts a string value. Allowed values are jpg, webp, png, gif, svg, avif, pdf, js, woff2, woff, ttf, otf, eot, css, txt, mp4, webm, mov, swf, ts, m3u8, ico.

format = "jpg" will return all JPG image files.

private

  • =

Accepts a boolean value i.e. true or false without quotes.

private = true will return all files marked as private during upload.

published

  • =

Accepts a boolean value without quotes.

private = false will return all files that are in draft or unpublished state.

transparency

  • =

Accepts a boolean value i.e. true or false without quotes. This is only applicable to images.

transparency = true will return all image files that have an alpha layer. However, the presence of the alpha layer does not guarantee transparency if all pixels in the alpha layer have the value 1.

embeddedMetadata.LocationTaken

  • =

Accepts a location value in one of the supported types:

  • "40,100 5km" - Returns items that are within a 5 km distance from the specified coordinate

  • "40,100|50,105" - Returns items that are inside the square whose diagonal is the line made by the two specified points

  • "0,0|0,100|40,100|40,0" - Returns items that are inside the rectangle whose vertices are the four specified points.

Note: All coordinates are in the format latitude,longitude

embeddedMetadata.Keywords

  • IN

  • NOT IN

Accepts an array of string values.

"embeddedMetadata.Keywords" IN ["luxury", "dress"] will return all files that have either luxury or dress as one of the values in its Keywords field.

"embeddedMetadata.Keywords" NOT IN ["big-banner"] will return all files that do not have big-banner as one of the values in its Keywords field.

embeddedMetadata.DateTimeOriginal

  • =

  • <

  • <=

  • >

  • >=

  • IN

  • NOT =

  • NOT IN

Accepts a string value in ISO 8601 format or relative time units e.g 1h, 2d, 3w, or 4m.

"embeddedMetadata.DateTimeOriginal" > "2020-01-01" will return all files with a value later than 1 Jan 2020 at 00:00 hours in UTC.

"embeddedMetadata.DateTimeOriginal" > "2020-01-01T12:12:12" will return all files with a value later than 1 Jan 2020 12:12:12 hours in UTC.

"embeddedMetadata.DateTimeOriginal" > "7d" will return all files with a value that lies in the last 7 days.

Custom metadata Text type field

  • =

  • :

  • IN

  • NOT =

  • NOT IN

Accepts a string value in quotes. For example:

"customMetadata.description" = "black cars" will return all files & folders with the description custom field exactly equal to black cars.

"customMetadata.description": "red" will return all files & folders with the description custom field starting with red.

"customMetadata.description" IN ["red cars", "black cars"] will return all files & folders with the description custom field either red cars or

black cars.

"customMetadata.description" NOT = "red dress" will return all files and folders

with the description custom field other than red dress.

Custom metadata Textarea type field

  • =

  • :

  • IN

  • NOT =

  • NOT IN

Accepts a string value in quotes. For example:

"customMetadata.longDescription": "luxury" will return all files & folders with the longDescription custom field starting with luxury.

Custom metadata Date type field

  • =

  • <

  • <=

  • >

  • >=

  • IN

  • NOT =

  • NOT IN

Accepts a string value in ISO 8601 format or relative time units e.g 1h, 2d, 3w, or 4m.

"customMetadata.purchaseDate" > "2020-01-01" will return all files with a purchaseDate value later than 1 Jan 2020 at 00:00 hours in UTC.

"customMetadata.purchaseDate" > "2020-01-01T12:12:12" will return all files with a purchaseDate value later than 1 Jan 2020 12:12:12 hours in UTC.

"customMetadata.purchaseDate" > "7d" will return all files with a purchaseDate value that lies in the last 7 days.

Custom metadata Number type field

  • =

  • <

  • <=

  • >

  • >=

  • IN

  • NOT =

  • NOT IN

Accepts a numeric value e.g. 500, 200.125 , etc.

"customMetadata.quantitySold" > 200 will return all items with a quantitySold value greater than 200.

"customMetadata.quantitySold" <= 400 will return all items with a quantitySold value less than or equal to 400.

Custom metadata Boolean type field

  • =

Accepts a boolean value i.e. true or false without quotes.

"customMetadata.active" = true will return all items with an active value equal to true.

Custom metadata SingleSelect type

  • =

  • :

  • IN

  • NOT =

  • NOT IN

  • >

  • >=

  • <

  • <=

Accepts boolean, numeric, or string values.

"customMetadata.rating" = "excellent" will return all files with a rating value equal to excellent

"customMetadata.rating" > 4.3 will return all files that have a numeric rating value that is greater than 4.3

Note: certain operators will be valid only for certain types of values. For example, the >= operator will be valid only for numeric values.

Custom metadata MultiSelect type

  • IN

  • NOT IN

Accepts an array of boolean, numeric, or string values.

"customMetadata.tuple" IN ["luxury", 500, true] will return all files that have either luxury or 500 or true as one of the values in its tuples field.

"customMetadata.tuples" NOT IN ["big-banner"] will return all files that do not have big-banner as one of the values in its tuples field.

Understanding response

In case of an error, you will get an error code along with the error message. You will receive a 200 status code with the list of file object in the JSON-encoded response body on success.

Examples

Here are some example requests to understand the API usage.

Fetch 10 files uploaded in the media library

Fetch the first 10 files uploaded in the media library. To change the order, you can use sort option.

curl -X GET 'https://api.imagekit.io/v1/files?skip=0&limit=10' \
-u your_private_api_key:

Advance search using searchQuery

List all files uploaded in the last 7 days with a file size greater than 2MB. We will use the following value for searchQuery parameter.

createdAt >= "7d" AND size > "2mb"

curl -X GET 'https://api.imagekit.io/v1/files' \
-G --data-urlencode "searchQuery=createdAt >= \"7d\" AND size > \"2mb\"" \
-u your_private_api_key:

List all files belonging to the clothing or accessories categories using a custom metadata field called category. The custom metadata schema for this field must have been defined first.

"customMetadata.category IN ["clothing", "accessories"]"

curl -X GET 'https://api.imagekit.io/v1/files' \
-G --data-urlencode "searchQuery=\"customMetadata.category\" IN [\"clothing\", \"accessories\"]" \
-u your_private_api_key:

List all files with a DateTimeOriginal value later than one year ago by using the embeddedMetadata.DateTimeOriginal field. i.e. all files that were originally created within the last one year.

"embeddedMetadata.DateTimeOriginal" > "1y"

curl -X GET 'https://api.imagekit.io/v1/files' \
-G --data-urlencode "searchQuery=\"embeddedMetadata.DateTimeOriginal\" > \"1y\"" \
-u your_private_api_key:

Search media library files by name

List all files with filename file-name.jpg. We will use the following value of thesearchQuery parameter. The match is always case-sensitive.

name="file-name.jpg"

curl -X GET 'https://api.imagekit.io/v1/files' \
-G --data-urlencode "searchQuery=name=\"file-name.jpg\"" \
-u your_private_api_key:

List files within a specific folder

List all files at a specific location.

When using path parameter, the search is limited to only one level. The files within nested folders are not returned.

curl -X GET "https://api.imagekit.io/v1/files?path=products" \
-u your_private_api_key:

Simple search files by tags without using searchQuery

This will list all the files which have either sale or summer tag.

curl -X GET 'https://api.imagekit.io/v1/files?tags=sale,summer' \
-u your_private_api_key:

Search all PNG files

This will list all PNG type files. We will use the following value of searchQuery

format="png"

curl -X GET 'https://api.imagekit.io/v1/files' \
-G --data-urlencode "searchQuery=format=\"png\"" \
-u your_private_api_key:

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