Get file

What it does#

Get file asks the customer to send a file, such as a photo of a referral letter, a receipt or an insurance form, and waits until they do. The bot saves a link to the file, so your team or your other systems can open it.

To send a file to the customer, use Send File.

Set it up#

1. 1

   Add the step

   Drag Get file from the Flow group in the Steps panel and connect the step before it.

2. 2

   Name it and write the request

   Click the step. Name it, for example referralFile. Under Message, replace Please send us your files (example) with exactly what you need, for example Please send a photo or PDF of your referral letter.

   

   

3. 3

   Connect the next step

   Drag the step's output to what comes next. The Phone preview tab shows Waits for a file or photo.

4. 4

   Use the link

   Write {{@referralFile}} in a later step, for example in a Talk to a person message to your team, or send it to your systems with HTTP or Google Sheets.

What the customer sees#

• WhatsApp: your message. They send a photo, document or video as usual.
• Website: your message with a Choose file button (or drag and drop). Files up to 5 MB: images, MP4 video, PDF, Word, Excel, CSV and TXT. They see a thumbnail and Sent when it's done.

Messages#

Click the step and open Messages at the bottom of its settings to change what the bot says on its own here. Messages has No file was sent: what the customer gets when they send text instead of a file.

Each field shows the default in grey. Leave it empty to keep the default, or write your own: it applies to every Get file step in this chatbot and goes live with Publish. Use for all my chatbots makes it the text for all your chatbots (account owner or admin). More texts are in Settings > System messages.

Errors and what you see#

• The customer gets "It doesn't look like a file 📎 try again or type back 🙃". They typed text, sent a voice note, a sticker or a contact, or (on the website) pasted a link. Only photos, documents and videos count. They stay on this step until they send one. You can change this reply in the step's Messages.
• "That file didn't go through. Check it's under 5 MB and try again." On the website, the file was over 5 MB or the upload failed. Send a smaller file or try again.
• "This step isn't ready yet". Connect the step before it and the next step.
• You need two files. Use two Get file steps, one after the other, each with its own name.

Examples#

Referral letter for a first visit. Get file (referralFile) → Text What's your full name? → Talk to a person with the message New referral from {{@fullName}}: {{@referralFile}}.

Insurance card, front and back. Two Get file steps, cardFront then cardBack, each asking for one side.