Why Can't I Retrieve Content from Files with the 'assistants' Purpose?

Below is an explanation based on the API documentation:

Explanation

Files created with the purpose "assistants" aren’t allowed to be downloaded via the file content endpoint. The error message you see—“Not allowed to download files of purpose: assistants”—is an intentional limitation. While you can list, get metadata, upload, and delete these files, retrieving their raw content using:

PYTHONCopied
client.files.retrieve_content(file_id)

is disallowed for files intended for assistant usage.

What to Do

• Review File Purpose:
  Verify that the files you’re trying to download were intended to be accessible via a download endpoint. If you need a file’s actual content, consider whether it should be uploaded with a different purpose rather than "assistants".

• Use Alternative Endpoints:
  For assistant-related files, you'll have access to endpoints for metadata and file management, but not for the raw contents. You can use endpoints that provide file info (like the assistant file endpoints) if that meets your needs.

Conclusion

This behavior is by design. If you require a different behavior (e.g., downloading file content), you might need to adjust your file’s purpose or check if there’s another recommended workflow in the documentation for your use case.

If you have further questions on managing file content in the context of the Assistants API, feel free to ask!