Files¶

Apilane provides built-in file storage for your applications. Files are stored on the API server's file system and their metadata is tracked in the Files system entity.

How It Works¶

Files are uploaded via the Files controller (not the Data controller)
Each file gets a metadata record in the Files entity with properties like Name, Size, UID, and Public
File access is governed by the same security rules as any other entity
The maximum allowed file size is configurable per application

Uploading Files¶

Upload a file using a multipart/form-data POST request:

POST https://my.api.server/api/Files/Post
x-application-token: {appToken}
Content-Type: multipart/form-data

fileUpload: (binary file data)

Query parameters:

Parameter	Required	Default	Description
`uid`	No	Auto-generated GUID	A custom unique identifier for the file. Accepts `a-z`, `A-Z`, `0-9`, `_`, `-`. If a file with the same UID exists, it will be overwritten.
`public`	No	`false`	If `true`, the file is accessible to all users regardless of authorization rules.

Response: The new file's ID (integer).

Use case for public files

Set public=true for assets like profile pictures or images used in HTML pages that need to be accessible without authentication.

Downloading Files¶

Download a file by its ID or UID:

GET https://my.api.server/api/Files/Download?fileID={id}
x-application-token: {appToken}

GET https://my.api.server/api/Files/Download?fileUID={uid}
x-application-token: {appToken}

The response is the raw file binary with a Content-Type of application/octet-stream. Client caching is set to 60 minutes.

Tip

You can use the Download URL directly in HTML <img> tags or as download links.

Listing Files¶

Retrieve file metadata records (not the actual file content):

GET https://my.api.server/api/Files/Get
x-application-token: {appToken}

This endpoint supports the same filtering, sorting, and paging parameters as the Data endpoints.

Parameter	Default	Description
`pageIndex`	`1`	Page number
`pageSize`	`20`	Records per page (max 1000)
`filter`	`null`	JSON filter expression
`sort`	`null`	JSON sort expression
`properties`	all	Comma-separated list of properties to return
`getTotal`	`false`	Include total record count in response

Getting a Single File Record¶

Retrieve metadata for a specific file by its ID:

GET https://my.api.server/api/Files/GetByID?id={id}
x-application-token: {appToken}

Deleting Files¶

Delete one or more files by their IDs:

DELETE https://my.api.server/api/Files/Delete?ids=1,2,3
x-application-token: {appToken}

Response: An array of the deleted file IDs.

File Security¶

File access is controlled by the same role-based security rules as entities. Navigate to the Security section of your application in the Portal to configure:

Which roles can upload files (POST)
Which roles can list/view file metadata (GET)
Which roles can delete files (DELETE)

Files marked as public=true bypass read authorization and are accessible to anyone with the download URL.

SDK Usage¶

// Upload a file
byte[] fileBytes = System.IO.File.ReadAllBytes("photo.jpg");
var uploadResponse = await _apilaneService.PostFileAsync(
    FilePostRequest.New()
        .WithAuthToken(authToken)
        .WithFileName("photo.jpg")
        .WithPublicFlag(false),
    fileBytes);

// List files
var filesResponse = await _apilaneService.GetFilesAsync<MyFileEntity>(
    FileGetListRequest.New()
        .WithAuthToken(authToken));

// Delete files
var deleteResponse = await _apilaneService.DeleteFileAsync(
    FileDeleteRequest.New()
        .WithAuthToken(authToken)
        .AddIdToDelete(fileId));