> ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.gc.ai/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Upload a File > Upload a file to GC AI for processing and storage. Files are uploaded as multipart form data and automatically processed (text extraction, summarization, and embedding creation). With a user-scoped key, files default to the user's "My Files" folder. With an org-scoped key, files default to the "Organization Files" folder and the `my-files` scope is not available. For PDFs and Word documents, extraction runs asynchronously. Poll `GET /files/{id}` until `status` is `ready`. ## OpenAPI ````yaml POST /files openapi: 3.0.3 info: title: GC AI External API version: 1.0.0 description: >- The GC AI External API allows programmatic access to GC AI's chat capabilities. It's designed for integration with workflow automation tools like Zapier, Make, n8n, or custom applications. ## Authentication All API requests must include an API key in the `Authorization` header: ``` Authorization: gcai_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx ``` API keys can be created in the GC AI app under **Settings → API**. ## Current Limitations The API is optimized for single-turn completions. The following are not yet available via API: - **Multi-turn conversations**: each request is independent - **Interactive clarification**: the model cannot pause to ask the caller a follow-up question; the `askUserQuestions` tool is disabled on the API surface in beta ## Usage Usage is tracked and viewable in the GC AI app under **Settings → API → View Usage**. ## Support For API support, contact [support@gc.ai](mailto:support@gc.ai) or reach out to your account representative. contact: email: support@gc.ai servers: - url: https://app.gc.ai/api/external/v1 description: Production server security: [] tags: - name: Chat description: AI chat completion endpoints - name: Files description: File upload and management endpoints - name: Folders description: Folder management endpoints - name: Playbooks description: Playbook review endpoints - name: Projects description: Project management endpoints - name: Utility description: Health check and connectivity endpoints paths: /files: post: tags: - Files summary: Upload a file description: >- Upload a file to GC AI for processing and storage. Files are uploaded as multipart form data and automatically processed (text extraction, summarization, and embedding creation). With a user-scoped key, files default to the user's "My Files" folder. With an org-scoped key, files default to the "Organization Files" folder and the `my-files` scope is not available. For PDFs and Word documents, extraction runs asynchronously. Poll `GET /files/{id}` until `status` is `ready`. operationId: uploadFile requestBody: required: true content: multipart/form-data: schema: $ref: '#/components/schemas/FileUploadRequest' responses: '200': description: File uploaded successfully content: application/json: schema: $ref: '#/components/schemas/FileResponse' '400': description: Invalid request (unsupported file type, empty content, etc.) content: application/json: schema: $ref: '#/components/schemas/Error' '401': description: Missing or malformed API key content: application/json: schema: $ref: '#/components/schemas/Error' '403': description: Insufficient project access content: application/json: schema: $ref: '#/components/schemas/Error' '404': description: Project not found content: application/json: schema: $ref: '#/components/schemas/Error' '500': description: Internal server error content: application/json: schema: $ref: '#/components/schemas/Error' '503': description: Service temporarily unavailable headers: Retry-After: schema: type: string description: >- Seconds to wait before retrying after a transient service outage. example: '5' required: true description: >- Seconds to wait before retrying after a transient service outage. content: application/json: schema: $ref: '#/components/schemas/Error' security: - ApiKeyAuth: [] components: schemas: FileUploadRequest: type: object properties: file: type: string format: binary description: The file to upload folder_id: type: string format: uuid description: >- Target folder ID. Defaults to the user's "My Files" folder. Mutually exclusive with `project_id` and `scope`. project_id: type: string format: uuid description: >- Upload the file into a project. The file is placed in the project's upload folder and linked to the project. Mutually exclusive with `folder_id` and `scope`. scope: type: string enum: - my-files - organization description: >- Upload to the root of a meta-collection ("my-files" or "organization"). Mutually exclusive with `folder_id` and `project_id`. `shared-with-me` is not valid for upload. example: my-files required: - file FileResponse: type: object properties: id: type: string format: uuid description: Unique file identifier name: type: string description: Original filename size: type: number description: File size in bytes content_type: type: string description: MIME type of the file example: application/pdf status: type: string enum: - extracting - embedding - ready - failed description: Current processing status of the file created_at: type: string description: ISO 8601 creation timestamp folder_id: type: string nullable: true format: uuid description: Folder the file belongs to extraction_error: type: string description: Error message if extraction failed project_id: type: string format: uuid description: Project the file is linked to, if uploaded with project_id warning: type: string description: >- Present when the file was uploaded successfully but a secondary operation (e.g. project linking) failed required: - id - name - size - content_type - status - created_at Error: type: object properties: error: type: string description: Error message message: type: string description: Additional error details details: type: object additionalProperties: nullable: true description: Validation error details (for 400 errors) required: - error securitySchemes: ApiKeyAuth: type: apiKey in: header name: Authorization description: |- API key for authentication. Format: `gcai_xxxxxxxxx` Create API keys in the GC AI app under Settings → API. ````