Services
Technology Web App Development Mobile App Development Windows App Development Database Development UI/UX Development Cloud Development SEO Digital Marketing Guest Posting Content Writing Artificial Intelligence Data Science ERP Development CRM Development CMS Development LMS Development Business Listing Blockchain Technology Startup Promotion
Products
Data Converter Cleaner TUC - Unit Converter Import Export Survey Manager Tweet Controller
Developer
Article Blog Forum Interview Beginner News Startup Quiz
Users
Career
Apply Job Internship
Pricing
Login Sign Up Get a Quote

forum

home / developersection / forums / how can you upload a file to an api using python?
Ask Question
Anubhav Sharma
Anubhav Sharma

Student

The Anubhav portal was launched in March 2015 at the behest of the Hon'ble Prime Minister for retiring government officials to leave a record of their experiences while in Govt service .

Message

1 Answers

Ravi Vishwakarma
Ravi Vishwakarma 20 Nov 2025
Report Abuse

To upload a file to an API using Python, the most common method is to use the requests library with a multipart/form-data request.

Basic Example — Upload a File

import requests

url = "https://example.com/api/upload"
file_path = "C:/Users/Anna/Desktop/photo.jpg"

with open(file_path, "rb") as file:
    files = {
        "file": (file_path, file, "image/jpeg")  # (filename, file-data, MIME type)
    }
    response = requests.post(url, files=files)

print(response.status_code)
print(response.text)

Upload With Additional Form Data

If the API needs extra fields (e.g., userId, title):

import requests

url = "https://example.com/api/upload"

data = {
    "userId": "12345",
    "title": "Profile Picture"
}

with open("photo.jpg", "rb") as file:
    files = { "file": ("photo.jpg", file) }
    response = requests.post(url, data=data, files=files)

print(response.json())

Upload Using Bearer Token / Authentication

If the API requires authentication:

import requests

url = "https://example.com/api/upload"
token = "YOUR_ACCESS_TOKEN"

headers = {
    "Authorization": f"Bearer {token}"
}

with open("video.mp4", "rb") as f:
    files = { "file": ("video.mp4", f) }
    resp = requests.post(url, headers=headers, files=files)

print(resp.status_code, resp.text)

Upload Multiple Files in One Request

import requests

url = "https://example.com/api/upload"

files = [
    ("files", ("image1.jpg", open("image1.jpg", "rb"))),
    ("files", ("image2.jpg", open("image2.jpg", "rb")))
]

response = requests.post(url, files=files)
print(response.json())

Important Notes

Issue Fix
415 Unsupported Media Type Use files=, not data= for file content
401 Unauthorized Add token/header correctly
Upload gets corrupted Ensure binary mode "rb" when opening the file

If API Requires JSON Instead of Multipart

Some APIs expect Base64 inside JSON:

import base64
import json
import requests

with open("file.pdf", "rb") as f:
    encoded = base64.b64encode(f.read()).decode()

payload = {
    "fileName": "file.pdf",
    "fileBase64": encoded
}

resp = requests.post("https://example.com/api/upload", json=payload)
print(resp.json())
MindStick Training