---
title: "send a media message (image, video, audio, document)"
method: POST
path: "/instances/{id}/client/action/send-media"
tags: ["message"]
---

# send a media message (image, video, audio, document)

`POST /instances/{id}/client/action/send-media`

## Request

- Base URL: `https://waapi.app/api/v1`
- URL: `https://waapi.app/api/v1/instances/{id}/client/action/send-media`
- Auth: HTTP bearer

Send a media file to a chat. Provide either `mediaUrl` (a publicly accessible URL) or `mediaBase64` (base64-encoded file content with `mediaName`), but not both.

The chatId format varies depending on the chat type:
- Individual chat: {phone_number}@c.us (e.g. 123456789@c.us)
- Group chat: {group_id}@g.us (e.g. 123456789-123456789@g.us)
- Channel/Newsletter: {channel_id}@newsletter (e.g. 123456789@newsletter)

Supported media types:
- Images: jpg, jpeg, png, gif
- Videos: mp4, 3gp, mov
- Audio: mp3, wav, ogg, m4a
- Documents: pdf, doc, docx, txt, xlsx, etc

## Path parameters

- `id` integer, required

## Request body

- object
  - `chatId` string, required: Chat ID <countrycode_short><usernumber>@c.us or @g.us for groups
  - `mediaUrl` string: URL of the media file to send
  - `mediaBase64` string: Base64 encoded media content
  - `mediaCaption` string: Optional caption for the media
  - `mediaName` string: Optional filename for the media (required for Base64)
  - `replyToMessageId` string: Optional message ID to reply to in format: <fromMe>_<chatId>_<messageHash>
  - `previewLink` boolean: Whether to show link previews
  - `asSticker` boolean: Send image as a sticker
  - `asVoice` boolean: Send audio as voice message
  - `asDocument` boolean: Send media as a document
  - `firedandforget` boolean: Set to true to process the request asynchronously. Returns a reference UUID for polling via GET /instances/{id}/request/{reference}. Alias: faf

## Response `200`

Request reached the instance. `data.status` reports whether the action was carried out; on error `data` carries `message` and `explanation`. Payload: Returns the sent message object.

- object
  - `status` 'success' | 'error': Whether the request reached the instance. `success` here does **not** mean the action was carried out — that is reported by `data.status`, which is the authoritative one. A malformed input arrives as `status: success` with `data.status: error`.
  - `data` union: The action's outcome. `status: success` carries the payload; `status: error` is an `actionError`.
    - object
      - `status` 'success', required: Whether the instance carried the action out — the authoritative field. In this branch it is always `success`; when the instance refused the action the whole `data` object is an `actionError` with `status: error`, `message` and `explanation`.
      - `instanceId` union
        - integer
        - string
      - `data` object
        - `_data` object
          - `id` object
            - `fromMe` boolean
            - `remote` string
            - `id` string
            - `_serialized` string
          - `type` string
          - `t` integer
          - `ack` integer
          - `from` string
          - `to` string
          - `isNewMsg` boolean
          - `hasMedia` boolean
          - `mediaKey` string
          - `mimetype` string
    - ActionError: Shape of `data` when the instance refused the action. HTTP status is still 200 and the outer `status` is still `success`.
      - `status` 'error', required
      - `message` string
      - `explanation` string
      - `instanceId` union
        - integer
        - string

## Other responses

- `401`: Unauthorized — invalid or missing bearer token
- `403`: Forbidden — insufficient permissions or account blocked
- `404`: Not found — instance does not exist or does not belong to you
- `409`: Conflict — instance is not ready
- `422`: Validation error — invalid or missing request parameters, or the send was refused before it was attempted. A send is refused when the recipient's number is not registered (override with `skipNumberCheck: true`), or when the connected account is under a reach-out restriction and this exact recipient has already been observed being rejected — contacts who replied are unaffected, and retrying counts towards the limit that caused the restriction. The `message` field names which of the two applies.
- `429`: Refused by the instance's send protection. Nothing was sent; retry after the given number of seconds. Integrations that already handle 429 need no change.

---

[API](https://skmtc.dev/waapi/apis/waapi-api-2.md) · [All operations](https://skmtc.dev/waapi/apis/waapi-api-2/llms.txt) · [OpenAPI document](https://skmtc.dev/waapi/apis/waapi-api-2/revisions/490302f75576?raw)