Files in Chats: Overview of Methods

If you are developing integrations for Bitrix24 using AI tools (Codex, Claude Code, Cursor), connect to the MCP server so that the assistant can utilize the official REST documentation.

A file in a chat is a Drive object linked to a message. For new development, files are handled by the im.v2.File.* methods: a single call uploads the file, creates a message with it, and returns the file data. The subsection is part of the Chats in Bitrix24 section.

Quick navigation: all methods

User documentation: Chats in Bitrix24: Interface and Capabilities

Which Methods to Choose

If You Need To

What to Use

Upload a file to a chat

im.v2.File.upload

Get a link to download a file

im.v2.File.download

Save a file from a chat to your Drive

im.disk.file.save

Delete a file from the chat folder

im.disk.file.delete

Maintain an integration built on a chain of Drive calls

im.disk.folder.get, im.disk.file.commit

Work with files on behalf of a chatbot

Files imbot.v2

Order of Work with Files

  1. Upload the file with the im.v2.File.upload method
  2. Retain result.file.id from the response — the file identifier, and result.messageId — the identifier of the created message
  3. When you need to provide the file to the user again, get the link with the im.v2.File.download method — it needs both the file identifier and the dialogId of the chat

If the file is already in the chat and its identifier is unknown, retrieve the message history with the im.dialog.messages.get method: it returns a files array where every file has an id field. This identifier is accepted by the download, save-to-Drive, and delete methods.

Identifiers and Limits

  • the current methods accept dialogId: chat{chatId} for a group chat, {userId} for a private dialog
  • in the im.disk.* methods the identifiers are written in uppercase and differ from method to method — see the exact set in the parameters of the required method
  • the file content is passed as a Base64 string — how to prepare it is described in the How to Upload Files article
  • the maximum file size is 100 MB

Relationship with Other Objects

Drive. A chat file is stored on Drive: the result.file.id field is the identifier of the Drive object. The im.v2.File.upload method addresses Drive itself. In the old scenario, Drive was called manually: the chat folder was returned by the im.disk.folder.get method, the file was uploaded by disk.folder.uploadfile, and the list of folder files — by disk.folder.getchildren.

Messages. Uploading a file creates a message in the chat and returns its messageId, so a separate im.message.add call is not needed. From then on, this message is handled by the methods of the Messages subsection.

Events. A subscribed application learns about a new message with a file from the messenger events — they are collected in the im.v2 Events section.

Chatbots. The same operations on behalf of a bot are performed by the methods of the Files imbot.v2 subsection.

Overview of Methods

Scope: im

Who can execute the method: a user with access to the chat. Only the participant who sent the file can delete it

Current Methods

Method

Description

im.v2.File.upload

Uploads a file to the chat

im.v2.File.download

Returns a link for downloading the file

Methods with No Replacement in im.v2

These methods belong to the im.disk.* group, but they have no replacement in the new generation of the API yet — use them.

Method

Description

im.disk.file.save

Saves a file from the chat to your Drive

im.disk.file.delete

Deletes a file from the chat folder

Deprecated Methods

These two methods are needed only by integrations already built on the old scenario. They are not recommended for new development.

Method

Description

Replacement in im.v2

im.disk.folder.get

Obtains the chat file storage folder

Not required: the upload method determines the folder itself

im.disk.file.commit

Adds a file to the chat

im.v2.File.upload

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