--- "@context": https://schema.org "@type": TechArticle "@id": https://www.twilio.com/docs/conversations-classic/api/media-resource#article headline: Conversations (classic) Media Resource description: Use this API to upload and manage media files for use with Twilio Conversations (classic) services. url: https://www.twilio.com/docs/conversations-classic/api/media-resource inLanguage: en dateModified: 2026-10-06T16:25:49.000Z author: "@type": Organization name: Twilio Developer Education Team publisher: "@type": Organization name: Twilio --- # Conversations (classic) Media Resource The Media resource in Twilio's Media Content Service allows you to upload/download files for use in other Twilio products. You can attach these media files to [Conversation Messages](/docs/conversations-classic/api/conversation-message-resource) as part of the [Media Messaging](/docs/conversations-classic/media-support-conversations) feature. **Note:** The Media REST resource is accessed via a separate sub-domain from Chat and other Twilio products. The base URL for Media via the Media Content Service (MCS) is: ```bash https://mcs.us1.twilio.com/v1 ``` ## Authentication To authenticate requests to the Twilio APIs, Twilio supports [HTTP Basic authentication](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basic_access_authentication). Use your *API key SID* as the username and your *API key secret* as the password. You can create an API key [in the Twilio Console](/docs/iam/api-keys/keys-in-console) or [using the API](/docs/iam/api-keys/key-resource-v1). Learn more about [Twilio API authentication](/docs/usage/requests-to-twilio). ```bash curl -G https://mcs.us1.twilio.com/v1/Services \ -u $TWILIO_API_KEY:$TWILIO_API_KEY_SECRET ``` > \[!NOTE] > > You can't use the Twilio server-side SDKs or the Twilio CLI to make requests to the Media resource. ## Properties \[#properties] Each Media resource instance has these properties: | name | description | | :------------ | :------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | | sid | A 34-character string that uniquely identifies this resource. | | account\_sid | The unique id of the [Account][account] responsible for this message. | | service\_sid | The unique id of the [Chat Service][service] this message belongs to. | | date\_created | The date that this resource was created. | | date\_updated | The date that this resource was last updated, `null` if the message has not been edited. | | channel\_sid | The unique id of the [Conversation][conversation] (same as the underlying [Chat Channel][channel]) containing the [Message][message] that this media instance was added to. | | message\_sid | The unique id of the [Conversation Message][message] this media instance was added to. | | size | The size of the file this Media instance represents in BYTES | | content\_type | The MIME type of the file this Media instance represents. Please refer to the [MIME Types](https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/HTTP/Basics_of_HTTP/MIME_types) for a list of valid MIME types. | | file\_name | The filename of the underlying media file as specified when uploaded | | author | The identity of the [User][user] that uploaded the Media instance. This is automatically set to `sender` when using the REST API. | | url | An absolute URL for this media instance | | links | Links to access the underlying media file (`content`) and a temporary URL to use to access this (`content_direct_temporary`) | [account]: /docs/iam/api/account [message]: /docs/conversations-classic/api/conversation-message-resource [conversation]: /docs/conversations-classic/api/conversation-resource [channel]: /docs/chat/channels [service]: /docs/chat/rest/service-resource [user]: /docs/conversations-classic/api/user-resource ## Create/Upload a new Media resource ```bash POST /Services/{Chat Service SID}/Media ``` **Note**: The Chat Service SID must be the Chat Service Instance that this Media instance will be used for. You can find the Chat Service SID as a property of the [Conversation](/docs/conversations-classic/api/conversation-resource) to which you want to add a new media message. To create a new media instance, you should upload the media file itself as content on the `POST` request. (See Curl Example below.) Ultimately, this will be converted into a `POST` request, containing the following headers and the file itself as the request body. ### Headers | name | description | | :------------- | :----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | `Content-Type` | The MIME type of the file this Media instance represents. Please refer to the [MIME Types](https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/HTTP/Basics_of_HTTP/MIME_types) for a list of valid MIME types. This should be set explicitly by the API caller or automatically detected by the client. | | `Content-Size` | The size of the media (the file) being uploaded in bytes | ### Body The body or content of the `POST` must be the file itself in binary format. ### Query string parameters | name | description | | :--------- | :---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | `Category` | Optional. The role this Media instance plays on the Message it's attached to. Defaults to `media` (a regular file attachment). Set to `body` to use the content as the Message's body instead of an attachment — for example, an HTML or plain-text [email body](/docs/conversations-classic/media-support-conversations#sending-an-html-email-body). | ### Curl Example ```bash curl -u ":" --data-binary @ -H "Content-Type: " https://mcs.us1.twilio.com/v1/Services//Media ``` ## Retrieve a Media resource You can retrieve an uploaded Media resource by issuing a `GET` request with the SID of the media instance: ```bash GET /Services/{Chat Service SID}/Media/{Media SID} ``` ### Curl Example for retrieving a media resource ```bash curl -u ":" -G https://mcs.us1.twilio.com/v1/Services//Media/ ```