Server side file upload

You can upload files to the ImageKit.io media library from your server-side using private API key authentication.

File size limit The maximum upload file size is limited to 25MB on the free plan. On paid plan, this limit is 300MB for video files.

Version limit A file can have a maximum of 100 versions.

Endpoint

Request structure (multipart/form-data)

ParameterDescription

file required

This field accepts three kinds of values: - binary - You can send the content of the file as binary. This is used when a file is being uploaded from the browser. - base64 - Base64 encoded string of file content. - url - URL of the file from where to download the content before uploading. For example - https://www.example.com/rest-of-the-image-path.jpg.

Note: When passing a URL in the file parameter, please ensure that our servers can access the URL. In case ImageKit is unable to download the file from the specified URL, a 400 error response is returned. In addition to this, the file download request is aborted if response headers are not received in 8 seconds. This will also result in a 400 error.

fileName required

The name with which the file has to be uploaded.

The file name can contain: - Alphanumeric Characters: a-z , A-Z , 0-9 (including unicode letters, marks, and numerals in other languages)

- Special Characters: . and -

Any other character including space will be replaced by _

useUniqueFileName optional

Whether to use a unique filename for this file or not. - Accepts true or false. - If set true, ImageKit.io will add a unique suffix to the filename parameter to get a unique filename. - If set false, then the image is uploaded with the provided filename parameter, and any existing file with the same name is replaced. Default value - true

tags optional

Set the tags while uploading the file. - Comma-separated value of tags in the format tag1,tag2,tag3. For example - t-shirt,round-neck,men - The maximum length of all characters should not exceed 500. - % is not allowed. - If this field is not specified and the file is overwritten then the tags will be removed.

folder optional

The folder path (e.g. /images/folder/) in which the image has to be uploaded. If the folder(s) didn't exist before, a new folder(s) is created. The nesting of folders can be at most 50 levels deep. The folder name can contain: - Alphanumeric Characters: a-z , A-Z , 0-9 (including unicode letters, marks, and numerals in other languages)

- Special Characters: / _ and - - Using multiple / creates a nested folder. Default value - /

isPrivateFile optional

Whether to mark the file as private or not. This is only relevant for image type files. - Accepts true or false. - If set true, the file is marked as private which restricts access to the original image URL and unnamed image transformations without signed URLs. Without the signed URL, only named transformations work on private images Default value - false

isPublished optional

Whether to upload file as published or not. - Accepts true or false. - If set false, the file is marked as unpublished, which restricts access to the file only via the media library. Files in draft or unpublished state can only be publicly accessed after being published. - The option to upload in draft state is only available in custom enterprise pricing plans. Default value - true

customCoordinates optional

Define an important area in the image. This is only relevant for image type files.

  • To be passed as a string with the x and y coordinates of the top-left corner, and width and height of the area of interest in the format x,y,width,height. For example - 10,10,100,100

  • Can be used with fo-customtransformation.

  • If this field is not specified and the file is overwritten, then customCoordinates will be removed.

responseFields optional

Comma-separated values of the fields that you want the API to return in the response. For example, set the value of this field to tags,customCoordinates,isPrivateFile to get the value of tags, customCoordinates, isPublished and isPrivateFile in the response. Accepts combination of tags, customCoordinates, isPrivateFile, embeddedMetadata, customMetadata, and metadata.

extensions

optional

Stringified JSON object with an array of extensions to be applied to the image.

For reference about extensions read here.

webhookUrl

optional

The final status of pending extensions will be sent to this URL. To learn more about how ImageKit uses webhooks, refer here.

overwriteFile

optional

Default is true. If overwriteFile is set to false and useUniqueFileName is also false, and a file already exists at the exact location, upload API will return an error immediately.

overwriteAITags

optional

Default is true. If set to true and a file already exists at the exact location, its AITags will be removed. Set overwriteAITags to false to preserve AITags.

overwriteTags

optional

Default is true. If the request does not have tags , overwriteTags is set to true and a file already exists at the exact location, exiting tags will be removed. In case the request body has tags, setting overwriteTags to false has no effect and request's tags are set on the asset.

overwriteCustomMetadata

optional

Default is true. If the request does not have customMetadata , overwriteCustomMetadata is set to true and a file already exists at the exact location, exiting customMetadata will be removed. In case the request body has customMetadata, setting overwriteCustomMetadata to false has no effect and request's customMetadata is set on the asset.

customMetadata

optional

Stringified JSON key-value data to be associated with the asset. Checkout overwriteCustomMetadata parameter to understand default behaviour. Before setting any custom metadata on an asset you have to create the field using custom metadata fields API.

transformation

optional

Stringified JSON object with the properties:

  • pre - Accepts a "string" containing a valid transformation. Used for requesting a pre-transformation for an image or a video file.

  • post - Accepts an array of objects with the following properties:

    • type: Either transformation, gif-to-video, thumbnail or abs

    • value: A "string" corresponding to the required transformation. Required if type is transformation or abs. Optional if type is gif-to-video or thumbnail.

    • protocol: Either hls or dash. Only applicable if type is abs. Read more about Adaptive bitrate streaming (ABS).

    Used for requesting post-transformations for an image or a video file.

Response code and structure (JSON)

In case of an error, you will get an error code along with the error message. On successful upload, you will receive a 200 status code with uploaded file details in a JSON-encoded response body.

{
    "fileId": "598821f949c0a938d57563bd",
    "name": "file1.jpg",
    "url": "https://ik.imagekit.io/your_imagekit_id/images/products/file1.jpg",
    "thumbnailUrl": "https://ik.imagekit.io/your_imagekit_id/tr:n-media_library_thumbnail/images/products/file1.jpg",
    "height": 300,
    "width": 200,
    "size": 83622,
    "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,
    "customMetadata": {
        brand: "Nike",
        color: "red"
    },
    "embeddedMetadata": {
        Title: "The Title (ref2019.1)",
        Description: "The description aka caption (ref2019.1)",
        State: "Province/State(Core)(ref2019.1)",
        Copyright: "Copyright (Notice) 2019.1 IPTC - www.iptc.org  (ref2019.1)"
    },
    "extensionStatus": {
        "google-auto-tagging": "success",
        "aws-auto-tagging": "pending"
    },
    "fileType": "image"
}

Understanding response

The JSON-encoded response contains details of the uploaded file which can have the following properties:

Property nameDescription

fileId

Unique fileId. Store this fileld in your database, as this will be used to perform update action on this file

name

Name of the file.

filePath

The relative path of the file. In the case of an image, you can use this path to construct different transformations.

tags

The array of tags associated with the image. If no tags are set, it will be null.

AITags

Array of AITags associated with the image. If no AITags are set, it will be null. These tags can be added using the google-auto-tagging or aws-auto-tagging extensions.

versionInfo

An object containing the file or file version's id (versionId) and name.

isPrivateFile

Is the file marked as private. It can be either true or false.

customCoordinates

Value of custom coordinates associated with the image in the format x,y,width,height. If customCoordinates are not defined, then it is null.

url

A publicly accessible URL of the file.

thumbnailUrl

In the case of an image, a small thumbnail URL.

fileType

The type of file could be either image or non-image.

height

Height of the media file in pixels (Only for images and videos)

width

Width of the media file in pixels (Only for images and videos)

size

Size of the file in Bytes

bitRate

Bitrate of the media file (Only for videos)

videoCodec

Video codec of the first stream for the media file (Only for videos)

audioCodec

Audio codec of the first stream for the media file (Only for videos)

duration

Duration of the media file content in seconds (Only for videos)

customMetadata

A key-value data associated with the asset. Use responseField in API request to get customMetadata in the upload API response. Before setting any custom metadata on an asset, you have to create the field using custom metadata fields API.

embeddedMetadata

Consolidated embedded metadata associated with the file. It includes exif, iptc, and xmp data. Use responseField in API request to get embeddedMetadata in the upload API response.

metadata

Metadata associated with the file in legacy format.

extensionStatus

Extension names with their processing status at the time of completion of the request. It could have one of the following status values:

  • success: The extension has been successfully applied.

  • failed: The extension has failed and will not be retried.

  • pending: The extension will finish processing in some time. On completion, the final status (success / failed) will be sent to the webhookUrl provided.

If no extension was requested, then this parameter is not returned.

Examples

Here are some example requests and responses to understand the API usage.

Uploading file from file system

curl -X POST "https://upload.imagekit.io/api/v1/files/upload" \
-u your_private_api_key: \
-F 'file=@/Users/username/Desktop/my_file_name.jpg;type=image/jpg' \
-F 'fileName=my_file_name.jpg'

Uploading base64 encoded file with some tags

curl -X POST "https://upload.imagekit.io/api/v1/files/upload" \
-u your_private_api_key: \
-F 'file=iVBORw0KGgoAAAAN' \
-F 'fileName=my_file_name.jpg' \
-F 'tags=tag1,tag2'

Uploading file via URL

curl -X POST "https://upload.imagekit.io/api/v1/files/upload" \
-u your_private_api_key: \
-F 'file=https://imagekit.io/image.jpg' \
-F 'fileName=my_file_name.jpg'

Setting custom metadata during upload

curl -X POST "https://upload.imagekit.io/api/v1/files/upload" \
-u your_private_api_key: \
-F 'file=https://ik.imagekit.io/ikmedia/red_dress_woman.jpeg' \
-F 'fileName=women_in_red.jpg' \
-F 'customMetadata={"brand":"Nike", "color":"red"}'

Applying extensions while uploading

curl -X POST "https://upload.imagekit.io/api/v1/files/upload" \
-u your_private_api_key: \
-F 'file=@/Users/username/Desktop/my_file_name.jpg' \
-F 'fileName=my_file_name.jpg' \
-F 'extensions=[{"name":"remove-bg","options":{"add_shadow":true,"bg_colour":"green"}},{"name":"google-auto-tagging","maxTags":5,"minConfidence":95}]'

Applying pre & post transformations while uploading

curl -X POST "https://upload.imagekit.io/api/v1/files/upload" \
-u your_private_api_key: \
-F 'file=@/Users/username/Desktop/my_file_name.jpg' \
-F 'fileName=my_file_name.jpg' \
-F 'transformation={"pre":"rt-90", "post": [{"type": "transformation", "value": "bg-red"}]}

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