openai/openai-python · error · ValueError

Expected a non-empty value for `file_id` but received {file_

Error message

Expected a non-empty value for `file_id` but received {file_id!r}

What it means

The OpenAI Python SDK validates required path parameters before sending the request; `file_id` was falsy (None or empty string) when calling containers.files.content.retrieve. The SDK refuses to build the URL `/containers/{container_id}/files/{file_id}/content` with an empty segment.

Source

Thrown at src/openai/resources/containers/files/content.py:70

        extra_body: Body | None = None,
        timeout: float | httpx2.Timeout | None | NotGiven = not_given,
    ) -> _legacy_response.HttpxBinaryResponseContent:
        """
        Retrieve Container File Content

        Args:
          extra_headers: Send extra headers

          extra_query: Add additional query parameters to the request

          extra_body: Add additional JSON properties to the request

          timeout: Override the client-level default timeout for this request, in seconds
        """
        if not container_id:
            raise ValueError(f"Expected a non-empty value for `container_id` but received {container_id!r}")
        if not file_id:
            raise ValueError(f"Expected a non-empty value for `file_id` but received {file_id!r}")
        extra_headers = {"Accept": "application/binary", **(extra_headers or {})}
        return self._get(
            path_template(
                "/containers/{container_id}/files/{file_id}/content", container_id=container_id, file_id=file_id
            ),
            options=make_request_options(
                extra_headers=extra_headers,
                extra_query=extra_query,
                extra_body=extra_body,
                timeout=timeout,
                security={"bearer_auth": True},
            ),
            cast_to=_legacy_response.HttpxBinaryResponseContent,
        )


class AsyncContent(AsyncAPIResource):
    @cached_property

View on GitHub (pinned to 9917c6e28e)

Solutions

  1. Pass the file's id string (e.g. file_obj.id), not the object or an empty variable
  2. Validate file_id before the call: if not file_id: ...
  3. Log the value right before the call to confirm what is being passed

Example fix

// before
content = client.containers.files.content.retrieve(container_id, file_id="").parse()
// after
if not file_id:
    raise ValueError("file_id is required")
content = client.containers.files.content.retrieve(container_id, file_id).parse()
Defensive patterns

Strategy: validation

Validate before calling

if not file_id:
    raise ValueError("file_id is required to download container file content")

Type guard

def has_file_id(file_id: str | None) -> bool:
    return isinstance(file_id, str) and len(file_id) > 0

Try / catch

try:
    content = client.containers.files.content.retrieve(container_id, file_id).parse()
except ValueError as e:
    if "file_id" in str(e):
        return 400, str(e)
    raise

Prevention

When it happens

Trigger: Calling retrieve(container_id, '') or retrieve(container_id, None) for container file content download; passing a file object instead of its .id; using an unset variable.

Common situations: Confusing the uploaded File object with its id string; forgetting to capture file.id from the create response; empty form/env input flowing into the call.

Understand the failure class

Background: Missing required parameter errors: what 'X is required' and 'the required X param is missing' mean, and how to fix them — this error's family across 27 libraries.

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of openai/openai-python@9917c6e28e (2026-08-28). Data as JSON: /api/errors/ade46d493e1a7b48. Report an issue: GitHub.