# How to upload images via API with Node.js?

**URL:** <https://meta.discourse.org/t/how-to-upload-images-via-api-with-node-js/172605>\
**Category:** Development\
**Tags:** rest-api\
**Created:** [December 8, 2020, 7:28am UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/how-to-upload-images-via-api-with-node-js/172605 "2020-12-08T07:28:36Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
**Showing post:** 1

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**Author:** ![jwulf](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/meta/user_avatar/meta.discourse.org/jwulf/32/202597_2.png) [@jwulf](https://meta.discourse.org/u/jwulf)\
**Post date:** [December 8, 2020, 7:28am UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/how-to-upload-images-via-api-with-node-js/172605/1 "2020-12-08T07:28:37Z")

</div>

This has been asked various times, but none of the solutions so far work for me.

I’m using Node.js to upload images for a post via the API.

I can create posts no problem, but images will not upload.

I convert the image (a png file) into a binary string.

Then I post an `application/json` request with the API creds in the headers, and a payload like this:

```plaintext
{
   type: "composer",
   synchronous: true,
   file: `${binary_string}`
}

```

I’ve tried both `file` as the field name for the file as the API docs say, and also `files[]` as [another post in the Forum suggested](https://meta.discourse.org/t/how-to-upload-image-using-discourse-api/148869/3).

Using `file`, I get a 422 with:

```plaintext
undefined method `tempfile' for #<String:0x00007fdfeba2b1d8>

```

Using `files[]`, I get a 422 error, with “Unprocessable Entity”.

As well as `application/json` as the docs say, I’ve also tried it as `multipart/form-data` as the Web UI does and [this poster did](https://meta.discourse.org/t/upload-avatar-image-with-api/55253/7).

For the form-data post, I did it like this:

```plaintext
 const form = new FormData();
 form.append("type", "composer");
 form.append("synchronous", "true");
 form.append("files[]", this.stringToBinary(file.data!), {
      contentType: file.mimetype,
 });

http.post("/uploads.json", form.getBuffer(), {
  headers: form.getHeaders(),
 }) // creds get added

```

With this one, with either `file` or `files[]`, I get a 422 with the error:

```plaintext
undefined method `tempfile' for #<String:0x00007fdfeba2b1d8>

```

Can anyone help?

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