Download Media

Download media files received through incoming WhatsApp messages.

When a customer sends an image, video, document, audio file, or sticker, the incoming webhook contains a direct media URL from Meta. Use this endpoint to securely retrieve the media file through SendZen.

SendZen handles the required Meta authentication internally, so you do not need to provide or manage a Meta access token.

How it works

Receive an incoming WhatsApp webhook containing media.

Get the media URL from the webhook payload.

Pass the media URL to the url query parameter.

Send your SendZen API key in the Authorization header.

The API returns the raw binary content of the media file.

Note
Pass the exact media URL received in the incoming webhook payload.
The url query parameter must be URL-encoded when making the request.

Example Request

The following example downloads the media and saves it to a local file:

Replace:

{phoneNumberId} with the WhatsApp Phone Number ID associated with your SendZen account.

<SENDZEN_API_KEY> with your SendZen API key.

The example url with the exact media URL received in the webhook.

The --data-urlencode option automatically URL-encodes the media URL before adding it to the request query string.

The --output downloaded_media option saves the returned binary response to a local file instead of printing it to the terminal.

Example with a URL-encoded media URL

You can also provide the encoded media URL directly:

Response

A successful request returns the raw binary content of the media file.

The response Content-Type matches the type of media being downloaded. For example:

Media	Content-Type
JPEG image	`image/jpeg`
PNG image	`image/png`
MP4 video	`video/mp4`
PDF document	`application/pdf`
Audio	Appropriate audio MIME type

Important
This endpoint does not return a JSON response on success. The response body contains the actual file bytes.

Authentication

Send your SendZen API key as a Bearer token:

You do not need to provide a Meta or WhatsApp access token.

SendZen automatically handles Meta Bearer Token authentication internally using the stored credentials associated with the provided phoneNumberId.

Error Responses

Status Code	Description
`400 Bad Request`	Invalid `phoneNumberId` or malformed media URL.
`401 Unauthorized`	Missing or invalid SendZen API key.
`404 Not Found`	WABA account or media file could not be found.
`500 Internal Server Error`	An unexpected error occurred while processing the request.

Provide your bearer token in the

Authorization

header when making requests to protected resources.

Example:

Authorization: Bearer ********************

curl --location 'https://api.sendzen.io/v1/1075755758965317/media?url=https%3A%2F%2Flookaside.fbsbx.com%2Fwhatsapp_business%2Fattachments%2F%3Fmid%3D45346...' \ --header 'Authorization: Bearer <token>'

How it works#

Example Request#

Example with a URL-encoded media URL#

Response#

Authentication#

Error Responses#