Get Files API metadata and check expiry

GET https://api.x.ai/v1/files/{id} returns one file’s metadata without downloading bytes. Use it after upload, before an Imagine file_id reference, or to see whether a TTL is still live. List, download, and delete live in List, download, and delete Files API uploads.

curl

curl https://api.x.ai/v1/files/file-abc123 \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $XAI_API_KEY"

xAI SDK (HasField)

Permanent files omit expires_at. Check the field before you read it:

import os
from xai_sdk import Client

client = Client(api_key=os.getenv("XAI_API_KEY"))
file = client.files.get("file-abc123")

print(file.filename, file.size, file.created_at)
if file.HasField("expires_at"):
    print("Expires at:", file.expires_at.ToDatetime())
else:
    print("Expires at: never")

OpenAI-compatible SDK

import os
from openai import OpenAI

client = OpenAI(
    api_key=os.getenv("XAI_API_KEY"),
    base_url="https://api.x.ai/v1",
)

file = client.files.retrieve("file-abc123")
print(file.filename, file.bytes, file.expires_at)  # expires_at is None when permanent

Object fields

Field	Meaning
id	Stable file_… id for chat, Imagine, and content download
filename	Name supplied at upload
bytes / size	Size in bytes (JSON vs xAI SDK naming)
created_at	Upload time (Unix seconds on JSON)
expires_at	Absolute delete time, or absent / null when permanent
purpose	Echoed for SDK compatibility; xAI does not enforce it
object	Always "file" on JSON responses

After expires_at, get / list / content return not found and the id cannot be referenced. Manual delete still works before then. Max upload size is 512 MB.

Pitfalls

• Calling .expires_at on the xAI SDK object without HasField when the file is permanent.
• Treating purpose as an access control flag.
• Caching ids past TTL — expired ids stop resolving.