The Files API uploads files for use in Messages API requests. Reference files via file_id in content blocks, avoiding re-uploads across multiple API calls.
Beta: Pass betas: ["files-api-2025-04-14"] in your API calls (the SDK sets the required header automatically).
- Maximum file size: 500 MB
- Total storage: 100 GB per organization
- Files persist until deleted
- File operations (upload, list, delete) are free; content used in messages is billed as input tokens
- Not available on Amazon Bedrock or Google Vertex AI
import Anthropic, { toFile } from "@anthropic-ai/sdk";
import fs from "fs";
const client = new Anthropic();
const uploaded = await client.beta.files.upload({
file: await toFile(fs.createReadStream("report.pdf"), undefined, {
type: "application/pdf",
}),
betas: ["files-api-2025-04-14"],
});
console.log(`File ID: ${uploaded.id}`);
console.log(`Size: ${uploaded.size_bytes} bytes`);const response = await client.beta.messages.create({
model: "{{OPUS_ID}}",
max_tokens: 16000,
messages: [
{
role: "user",
content: [
{ type: "text", text: "Summarize the key findings in this report." },
{
type: "document",
source: { type: "file", file_id: uploaded.id },
title: "Q4 Report",
citations: { enabled: true },
},
],
},
],
betas: ["files-api-2025-04-14"],
});
console.log(response.content[0].text);const files = await client.beta.files.list({
betas: ["files-api-2025-04-14"],
});
for (const f of files.data) {
console.log(`${f.id}: ${f.filename} (${f.size_bytes} bytes)`);
}await client.beta.files.delete("file_011CNha8iCJcU1wXNR6q4V8w", {
betas: ["files-api-2025-04-14"],
});const response = await client.beta.files.download(
"file_011CNha8iCJcU1wXNR6q4V8w",
{ betas: ["files-api-2025-04-14"] },
);
const content = Buffer.from(await response.arrayBuffer());
await fs.promises.writeFile("output.txt", content);