---
title: "Get a media-library asset by ID"
method: GET
path: "/v1/assets/{asset_id}"
tags: ["assets"]
---

# Get a media-library asset by ID

`GET /v1/assets/{asset_id}`

## Request

- Base URL: `https://us1.platform.bird.com`
- URL: `https://us1.platform.bird.com/v1/assets/{asset_id}`
- Auth: one of:
  - HTTP bearer
  - API key in cookie `bird_session`

Returns one media-library asset. An asset that has been removed from the library is returned with `deleted_at` set rather than as a missing resource, because its URL keeps serving and messages already sent still reference it.

## Path parameters

- `asset_id` string, required

## Headers

- `X-Workspace-Id` string
- `X-Organization-Id` string

## Response `200`

The asset.

- Asset: A file in the workspace's media library, hosted at a permanent public URL. Embed or link `url` anywhere hosted media is needed, including in email that has already been sent: an asset's bytes and URL never change.
  - `created_at` string, date-time, required
  - `updated_at` string, date-time, required
  - `id` string, required
  - `url` string, uri, required: The asset's permanent public URL. Safe to embed or link in sent messages; for a document the usable form is a link.
  - `thumbnail_url` string, uri, nullable, required: A small preview of the asset, for rendering a picker or a grid. Intended for your own interfaces rather than for embedding in messages. Null for every kind but `image`: generating a preview of a video, an audio file, or a document would mean rendering its contents, which the library does not do. Show an icon for the `kind` instead.
  - `name` string, required: The asset's display name. Defaults to the uploaded file's name.
  - `content_type` string, required: The stored file's media type, determined from its contents.
  - `kind` string, required: The category a media-library asset's type falls into. Use it to group or filter a mixed library. - `image`: covers PNG, JPEG, and GIF. - `video`: covers MP4, WebM, and QuickTime. - `audio`: covers MP3, M4A, Ogg, and WAV. - `document`: covers PDF.
  - `size_bytes` integer, required: The stored file's size in bytes. Images are re-encoded on upload, so for those this can differ from the size of the file you sent. Every other kind is stored byte-for-byte.
  - `width` integer, nullable, required: The stored image's width in pixels. Null for every kind but `image`.
  - `height` integer, nullable, required: The stored image's height in pixels. Null for every kind but `image`.
  - `alt_text` string, nullable, required: Default alternative text describing the asset, carried along whenever it is placed. Most mail clients block images by default, so for an image this is often the only thing a recipient reads.
  - `folder_id` string, required
  - `deleted_at` string, date-time, nullable, required: When the asset was removed from the library, or null if it is still listed. A removed asset keeps serving at its original URL.

## Other responses

- `400`: Bad request
- `401`: Authentication required
- `403`: Insufficient permissions
- `404`: Resource not found
- `422`: The request has invalid field values, violates a business rule, or carries a query parameter the endpoint does not declare. Field validation errors use `type: validation_error` and include the affected fields in `details`. Business-rule errors identify the failed rule in `type`.
- `429`: Rate limit exceeded
- `500`: Internal server error
- `501`: The operation is not supported

---

[API](https://skmtc.dev/messagebird/apis/bird-api.md) · [All operations](https://skmtc.dev/messagebird/apis/bird-api/llms.txt) · [OpenAPI document](https://skmtc.dev/messagebird/apis/bird-api/revisions/6dfce1179799?raw)