---
title: "Download WhatsApp media"
method: GET
path: "/v1/whatsapp/media/{mediaId}"
tags: ["WhatsApp"]
---

# Download WhatsApp media

`GET /v1/whatsapp/media/{mediaId}`

Streams the binary for a WhatsApp attachment. This is the endpoint the
`url` on a WhatsApp `attachments[]` entry points at, in both the
`message.received` webhook and the List messages response.

**This is an authenticated endpoint, not a public link.** Send
`Authorization: Bearer <your API key>` exactly as you would for any other
call. Passing the URL straight to a browser, an LLM vision API, or a
no-code "download file" step without the header returns `401`. This is
the most common integration mistake on this endpoint, and it differs from
Instagram, Facebook and Telegram, whose `attachments[].url` is a direct
CDN link that needs no header.

**Fetch on receipt, not lazily.** WhatsApp media lives in Meta's media
store, not ours, and it is removed after a limited retention window
(currently 7 days, and Meta has been dropping some inbound media sooner).
Once Meta drops it the media is unrecoverable and this endpoint answers
`400` permanently, so retrying will never succeed. Download and store the
bytes when the webhook arrives.

## Path parameters

- `mediaId` string, required

## Query parameters

- `accountId` string, required

## Response `200`

The media binary, streamed with its original content type.

## Other responses

- `400` — Media is no longer available on WhatsApp servers (expired or deleted by Meta). Permanent, do not retry.
- `401` — Unauthorized
- `404` — Account not found, not accessible to the caller, or the media does not belong to it.
- `502` — Meta could not be reached or returned an unexpected error.

---

[API](https://skmtc.net/zernio/apis/zernio-api.md) · [All operations](https://skmtc.net/zernio/apis/zernio-api/llms.txt) · [OpenAPI document](https://skmtc-service-staging.skmtc.workers.dev/v1/apis/zernio/zernio-api/revisions/3c7cf84cec44/schema)