@capacitor/file-transfer

@capacitor/file-transfer

The FileTransfer API provides mechanisms for downloading and uploading files.

Install

npm install @capacitor/file-transfer
npx cap sync

Example

Download

import { FileTransfer } from '@capacitor/file-transfer';
import { Filesystem, Directory } from '@capacitor/filesystem';

// First get the full file path using Filesystem
const fileInfo = await Filesystem.getUri({
  directory: Directory.Data,
  path: 'downloaded-file.pdf'
});

try {
    // Then use the FileTransfer plugin to download
    await FileTransfer.downloadFile({
        url: 'https://example.com/file.pdf',
        path: fileInfo.uri,
        progress: true
    });
} catch(error) {
    // handle error - see `FileTransferError` interface for what error information is returned
}

// Progress events
FileTransfer.addListener('progress', (progress) => {
  console.log(`Downloaded ${progress.bytes} of ${progress.contentLength}`);
});

Upload

import { FileTransfer } from '@capacitor/file-transfer';
import { Filesystem, Directory } from '@capacitor/filesystem';

// First get the full file path using Filesystem
const fileInfo = await Filesystem.getUri({
  directory: Directory.Cache,
  path: 'image_upload.png'
});

try {
    // Then use the FileTransfer plugin to upload
    const result = await FileTransfer.downloadFile({
        url: 'https://example.com/upload_api',
        path: fileInfo.uri,
        chunkedMode: true,
        headers: {
            // Upload uses `multipart/form-data` by default.
            // If you want to avoid that, you can set the 'Content-Type' header explicitly.
            'Content-Type': 'application/octet-stream',
        },
        progress: false
    });
    // get server response and other info from result - see `UploadFileResult` interface
} catch(error) {
    // handle error - see `FileTransferError` interface for what error information is returned
}

API

• downloadFile(...)
• uploadFile(...)
• addListener('progress', ...)
• removeAllListeners()
• Interfaces

Note: Some of the input options come from HttpOptions in @capacitor/core, but the plugin does not use all parameters from HttpOptions. The ones that are used are documented below.

For list of existing error codes, see Errors.

downloadFile(...)

downloadFile(options: DownloadFileOptions) => Promise<DownloadFileResult>

Perform an HTTP request to a server and download the file to the specified destination.

Param	Type
options	DownloadFileOptions

Returns: Promise<DownloadFileResult>

Since: 1.0.0

uploadFile(...)

uploadFile(options: UploadFileOptions) => Promise<UploadFileResult>

Perform an HTTP request to upload a file to a server

Param	Type
options	UploadFileOptions

Returns: Promise<UploadFileResult>

Since: 1.0.0

addListener('progress', ...)

addListener(eventName: "progress", listenerFunc: (progress: ProgressStatus) => void) => Promise<PluginListenerHandle>

Add a listener to file transfer (download or upload) progress events.

Param	Type
eventName	'progress'
listenerFunc	(progress: ProgressStatus) => void

Returns: Promise<PluginListenerHandle>

Since: 1.0.0

removeAllListeners()

removeAllListeners() => Promise<void>

Remove all listeners for this plugin.

Since: 1.0.0

Interfaces

DownloadFileResult

Prop	Type	Description	Since
path	string	The path the file was downloaded to.	1.0.0
blob	Blob	The blob data of the downloaded file. This is only available on web.	1.0.0

DownloadFileOptions

Prop	Type	Description	Since
url	string	The URL to download the file from.	1.0.0
path	string	The full file path the downloaded file should be moved to. You may use a plugin like @capacitor/filesystem to get a complete file path.	1.0.0
progress	boolean	If true, progress event will be dispatched on every chunk received. See addListener() for more information. Chunks are throttled to every 100ms on Android/iOS to avoid slowdowns. Default is false.	1.0.0
method	string	The Http Request method to run. (Default is GET)	1.0.0
params	HttpParams	URL parameters to append to the request. This HttpParams interface comes from @capacitor/core.	1.0.0
headers	HttpHeaders	Http Request headers to send with the request. This HttpHeaders interface comes from @capacitor/core.	1.0.0
readTimeout	number	How long to wait to read additional data in milliseconds. Resets each time new data is received. Default is 60,000 milliseconds (1 minute). Not supported on web.	1.0.0
connectTimeout	number	How long to wait for the initial connection in milliseconds. Default is 60,000 milliseconds (1 minute). In iOS, there's no real distinction between connectTimeoutand readTimeout. Plugin tries to use connectTimeout, if not uses readTimeout, if not uses default	1.0.0
disableRedirects	boolean	Sets whether automatic HTTP redirects should be disabled	1.0.0
shouldEncodeUrlParams	boolean	Use this option if you need to keep the URL unencoded in certain cases (already encoded, azure/firebase testing, etc.). The default is true. Not supported on web.	1.0.0

HttpParams

HttpHeaders

UploadFileResult

Prop	Type	Description	Since
bytesSent	number	Total number of bytes uploaded	1.0.0
responseCode	string	HTTP response code for the upload	1.0.0
response	string	HTTP response body from the upload (when available)	1.0.0
headers	{ [key: string]: string; }	HTTP headers from the upload response (when available)	1.0.0

UploadFileOptions

Prop	Type	Description	Since
url	string	The URL to upload the file to.	1.0.0
path	string	Full file path of the file to upload. You may use a plugin like @capacitor/filesystem to get a complete file path.	1.0.0
blob	Blob	Blob data to upload. Will use this instead of path if provided. This is only available on web.	1.0.0
chunkedMode	boolean	Whether to upload data in a chunked streaming mode. Not supported on web. Note: The upload uses Content-Type: multipart/form-data, when chunkedMode is true. Depending on your backend server, this can cause the upload to fail. If your server expects a raw stream (e.g. application/octet-stream), you must explicitly set the Content-Type header in headers.	1.0.0
mimeType	string	Mime type of the data to upload. Only used if "Content-Type" header was not provided.	1.0.0
fileKey	string	Type of form element. The default is set to "file". Only used if "Content-Type" header was not provided.	1.0.0
progress	boolean	If true, progress event will be dispatched on every chunk received. See addListener() for more information. Chunks are throttled to every 100ms on Android/iOS to avoid slowdowns. Default is false.	1.0.0
method	string	The Http Request method to run. (Default is POST)	1.0.0
params	HttpParams	URL parameters to append to the request. This HttpParams interface comes from @capacitor/core.	1.0.0
headers	HttpHeaders	Http Request headers to send with the request. This HttpHeaders interface comes from @capacitor/core.	1.0.0
readTimeout	number	How long to wait to read additional data in milliseconds. Resets each time new data is received. Default is 60,000 milliseconds (1 minute). Not supported on web.	1.0.0
connectTimeout	number	How long to wait for the initial connection in milliseconds. Default is 60,000 milliseconds (1 minute). Not supported on web. In iOS, there's no real distinction between connectTimeoutand readTimeout. Plugin tries to use connectTimeout, if not uses readTimeout, if not uses default	1.0.0
disableRedirects	boolean	Sets whether automatic HTTP redirects should be disabled. Not supported on web.	1.0.0
shouldEncodeUrlParams	boolean	Use this option if you need to keep the URL unencoded in certain cases (already encoded, azure/firebase testing, etc.). The default is true. Not supported on web.	1.0.0

PluginListenerHandle

Prop	Type
remove	() => Promise<void>

ProgressStatus

Prop	Type	Description	Since
type	'download' | 'upload'	The type of transfer operation (download or upload).	1.0.0
url	string	The url of the file associated with the transfer (download or upload).	1.0.0
bytes	number	The number of bytes transferred so far.	1.0.0
contentLength	number	The total number of bytes associated with the file transfer.	1.0.0
lengthComputable	boolean	Whether or not the contentLength value is relevant. In some situations, the total number of bytes may not be possible to determine.	1.0.0

Errors

The plugin returns the following errors with specific codes on iOS, Android, and Web:

Error code	Platform(s)	Description
OS-PLUG-FLTR-0004	Android, iOS	The method's input parameters aren't valid.
OS-PLUG-FLTR-0005	Android, iOS	Invalid server URL was provided or URL is empty.
OS-PLUG-FLTR-0006	Android, iOS	Unable to perform operation, user denied permission request.
OS-PLUG-FLTR-0007	Android, iOS	Operation failed because file does not exist.
OS-PLUG-FLTR-0008	Android, iOS, Web	Failed to connect to server.
OS-PLUG-FLTR-0009	Android, iOS	The server responded with HTTP 304 – Not Modified. If you want to avoid this, check your headers related to HTTP caching.
OS-PLUG-FLTR-0010	Android, iOS	The server responded with an HTTP error status code.
OS-PLUG-FLTR-0011	Android, iOS, Web	The operation failed with an error (generic error).

When handling errors in your application, you can check the error code to determine the specific issue. The error object typically contains additional information such as:

• code: The error code (as shown in the table above)
• message: A human-readable description of the error
• source: The source of the transfer (file path or URL)
• target: The target of the transfer (file path or URL)
• httpStatus: The HTTP status code (for HTTP errors)
• body: The response body (for HTTP errors)
• headers: The response headers (for HTTP errors)