Read an application file

GET

apps

{app_id}

files

content

Read an application file

curl --request GET \
  --url https://api.squarecloud.app/v2/apps/{app_id}/files/content \
  --header 'Authorization: <authorization>'

import requests

url = "https://api.squarecloud.app/v2/apps/{app_id}/files/content"

headers = {"Authorization": "<authorization>"}

response = requests.get(url, headers=headers)

print(response.text)

const options = {method: 'GET', headers: {Authorization: '<authorization>'}};

fetch('https://api.squarecloud.app/v2/apps/{app_id}/files/content', options)
  .then(res => res.json())
  .then(res => console.log(res))
  .catch(err => console.error(err));

<?php

$curl = curl_init();

curl_setopt_array($curl, [
  CURLOPT_URL => "https://api.squarecloud.app/v2/apps/{app_id}/files/content",
  CURLOPT_RETURNTRANSFER => true,
  CURLOPT_ENCODING => "",
  CURLOPT_MAXREDIRS => 10,
  CURLOPT_TIMEOUT => 30,
  CURLOPT_HTTP_VERSION => CURL_HTTP_VERSION_1_1,
  CURLOPT_CUSTOMREQUEST => "GET",
  CURLOPT_HTTPHEADER => [
    "Authorization: <authorization>"
  ],
]);

$response = curl_exec($curl);
$err = curl_error($curl);

curl_close($curl);

if ($err) {
  echo "cURL Error #:" . $err;
} else {
  echo $response;
}

package main

import (
	"fmt"
	"net/http"
	"io"
)

func main() {

	url := "https://api.squarecloud.app/v2/apps/{app_id}/files/content"

	req, _ := http.NewRequest("GET", url, nil)

	req.Header.Add("Authorization", "<authorization>")

	res, _ := http.DefaultClient.Do(req)

	defer res.Body.Close()
	body, _ := io.ReadAll(res.Body)

	fmt.Println(string(body))

}

require 'uri'
require 'net/http'

url = URI("https://api.squarecloud.app/v2/apps/{app_id}/files/content")

http = Net::HTTP.new(url.host, url.port)
http.use_ssl = true

request = Net::HTTP::Get.new(url)
request["Authorization"] = '<authorization>'

response = http.request(request)
puts response.read_body

{
    "status": "success",
    "response": {
        "encoding": "base64",
        "data": "Y29uc29sZS5sb2coIkhlbGxvLCBTcXVhcmUgQ2xvdWQhIik7Cg=="
    }
}

string

required

The API key for your account. You can find this in your account settings.

Requires an API key with the files:read scope. Read File returns a single file inside a running application as JSON. Send ?encoding=base64 to get the file as a base64 string. It is meant for inspecting or downloading individual files (configs, logs, small assets) of up to 10 MB through the API, not for bulk transfers: use Create Snapshot to pull a full copy of the application instead.

Without encoding, the response is the legacy { type: "Buffer", data: number[] } object. This format is deprecated since September 27, 2026 and will be removed on March 27, 2027, when base64 becomes the default. Until then, legacy responses carry the Deprecation and Sunset headers. Send ?encoding=base64 in every request.

To see what is available before reading, call List Files first. To write a file back, use Create/Modify File, which takes the same base64 content with encoding: "base64". On workspace-shared applications the caller needs the maintain or admin role, and members without the restricted-files permission cannot read .env or .env.production, the request is rejected with PERMISSION_DENIED before the file is touched.

Parameters

string

required

The ID of the application. You can find this in the URL of your application’s dashboard.

string

required

The path to the file you want to read, relative to the root of your application. Up to 256 characters.

string

Send base64 to receive the file as a base64 string. Any other value answers INVALID_ENCODING. Without it, the response uses the deprecated Buffer format.

Response

string

Indicates whether the call was successful: success if it was, error if not.

object

The contents of the file.

Show Toggle object

string

Always base64.

string

The file, base64-encoded.

Decode data to get the file’s bytes:

const bytes = Buffer.from(data, "base64");

const bytes = Uint8Array.fromBase64(data);
// Older browsers: Uint8Array.from(atob(data), (c) => c.charCodeAt(0))

import base64

content = base64.b64decode(data)

{
    "status": "success",
    "response": {
        "encoding": "base64",
        "data": "Y29uc29sZS5sb2coIkhlbGxvLCBTcXVhcmUgQ2xvdWQhIik7Cg=="
    }
}

Common errors

Code	HTTP	Meaning
`INVALID_PATH`	400	The `path` query parameter failed validation (traversal, invalid characters, or longer than 256 characters).
`INVALID_ENCODING`	400	`encoding` has a value other than `base64`.
`PERMISSION_DENIED`	403	The caller lacks the workspace permission to read a restricted file (`.env`, `.env.production`).
`FILE_NOT_FOUND`	404	No file exists at the given path.
`FILE_TOO_LARGE`	413	The file is larger than 10 MB, the most the file manager reads.

CLI: squarecloud app file read
SDKs: api.apps.files.read() (JavaScript), client.apps.files.read() (Python), c.Apps.Files.Read() (Go)

Read an application file

curl --request GET \
  --url https://api.squarecloud.app/v2/apps/{app_id}/files/content \
  --header 'Authorization: <authorization>'

import requests

url = "https://api.squarecloud.app/v2/apps/{app_id}/files/content"

headers = {"Authorization": "<authorization>"}

response = requests.get(url, headers=headers)

print(response.text)

const options = {method: 'GET', headers: {Authorization: '<authorization>'}};

fetch('https://api.squarecloud.app/v2/apps/{app_id}/files/content', options)
  .then(res => res.json())
  .then(res => console.log(res))
  .catch(err => console.error(err));

<?php

$curl = curl_init();

curl_setopt_array($curl, [
  CURLOPT_URL => "https://api.squarecloud.app/v2/apps/{app_id}/files/content",
  CURLOPT_RETURNTRANSFER => true,
  CURLOPT_ENCODING => "",
  CURLOPT_MAXREDIRS => 10,
  CURLOPT_TIMEOUT => 30,
  CURLOPT_HTTP_VERSION => CURL_HTTP_VERSION_1_1,
  CURLOPT_CUSTOMREQUEST => "GET",
  CURLOPT_HTTPHEADER => [
    "Authorization: <authorization>"
  ],
]);

$response = curl_exec($curl);
$err = curl_error($curl);

curl_close($curl);

if ($err) {
  echo "cURL Error #:" . $err;
} else {
  echo $response;
}

package main

import (
	"fmt"
	"net/http"
	"io"
)

func main() {

	url := "https://api.squarecloud.app/v2/apps/{app_id}/files/content"

	req, _ := http.NewRequest("GET", url, nil)

	req.Header.Add("Authorization", "<authorization>")

	res, _ := http.DefaultClient.Do(req)

	defer res.Body.Close()
	body, _ := io.ReadAll(res.Body)

	fmt.Println(string(body))

}

require 'uri'
require 'net/http'

url = URI("https://api.squarecloud.app/v2/apps/{app_id}/files/content")

http = Net::HTTP.new(url.host, url.port)
http.use_ssl = true

request = Net::HTTP::Get.new(url)
request["Authorization"] = '<authorization>'

response = http.request(request)
puts response.read_body

{
    "status": "success",
    "response": {
        "encoding": "base64",
        "data": "Y29uc29sZS5sb2coIkhlbGxvLCBTcXVhcmUgQ2xvdWQhIik7Cg=="
    }
}

Get started

Account

Applications

Databases

Workspaces

AI

Read an application file

Parameters

Response

Common errors

​Parameters

​Response

​Common errors

​Related

Parameters

Response

Common errors

Related