danny-avila/LibreChat · error · Error

No file_id provided

Error message

No file_id provided

What it means

filterFile() throws this at process.js:1324 when a non-avatar upload arrives with no file_id in the request body. file_id is the client-generated UUID that uniquely identifies the upload; it is mandatory for every non-avatar path because downstream code copies metadata.file_id into the file record. The avatar branch (isAvatar:true) is the only caller exempt, since it uses a different keying scheme.

Source

Thrown at api/server/services/Files/process.js:1324

 * @param {Object} params - The parameters for the function.
 * @param {ServerRequest} params.req - The request object from Express.
 * @param {string} [params.req.endpoint]
 * @param {string} [params.req.file_id]
 * @param {number} [params.req.width]
 * @param {number} [params.req.height]
 * @param {number} [params.req.version]
 * @param {boolean} [params.image] - Whether the file expected is an image.
 * @param {boolean} [params.isAvatar] - Whether the file expected is a user or entity avatar.
 * @returns {void}
 *
 * @throws {Error} If a file exception is caught (invalid file size or type, lack of metadata).
 */
function filterFile({ req, image, isAvatar }) {
  const { file } = req;
  const { endpoint, endpointType, file_id, width, height } = req.body;

  if (!file_id && !isAvatar) {
    throw new Error('No file_id provided');
  }

  if (file.size === 0) {
    throw new Error('Empty file uploaded');
  }

  /* parse to validate api call, throws error on fail */
  if (!isAvatar) {
    isUUID.parse(file_id);
  }

  if (!endpoint && !isAvatar) {
    throw new Error('No endpoint provided');
  }

  const appConfig = req.config;
  const fileConfig = mergeFileConfig(appConfig.fileConfig);

View on GitHub (pinned to 5ff282f900)

Solutions

1. Confirm the request body includes file_id as a UUIDv4 string before submitting the multipart form.
2. Check that your client sends file_id in req.body, not as the multer file field name.
3. If you genuinely have no id (legacy caller), generate one client-side with crypto.randomUUID() and reuse it for the upload and the subsequent message attach.

Example fix

// before
const form = new FormData();
form.append('file', blob);
// after
const form = new FormData();
form.append('file', blob);
form.append('file_id', crypto.randomUUID());
form.append('endpoint', 'openAI');

function buildFileForm(file, endpoint) {
  if (!endpoint) throw new Error('endpoint required');
  const form = new FormData();
  form.append('file', file);
  form.append('file_id', crypto.randomUUID());
  form.append('endpoint', endpoint);
  return form;
}

const hasFileId = (body) => typeof body?.file_id === 'string' && body.file_id.length > 0;

When it happens

Trigger: POST /api/files or POST /api/files/images with a multipart payload whose JSON/text body omits file_id. Also fires if the client posts file_id under a wrong key (e.g. fileId, id) or sends the field only as a multipart file name rather than a body field.

Common situations: Frontend form that builds FormData but forgets body.append('file_id', crypto.randomUUID()). A migration that renamed the field. A custom client hitting the API directly without reading the OpenAPI/route contract in api/server/routes/files/files.js:639.

Related errors

• Empty file uploaded
• No endpoint provided
• No width provided
• No height provided
• Error uploading file: ${result.message}

AI-assisted analysis of danny-avila/LibreChat@5ff282f900 (2026-08-12). Data as JSON: /api/errors/65587f95dae4db92. Report an issue: GitHub.