# dev.atfs.repo.getFile

> Published by [atfs.dev](https://lexicon.garden/identity/did:web:atfs.dev)

✓ This is the authoritative definition for this NSID.

## Links

- [View on Lexicon Garden](https://lexicon.garden/lexicon/did:web:atfs.dev/dev.atfs.repo.getFile)
- [Documentation](https://lexicon.garden/lexicon/did:web:atfs.dev/dev.atfs.repo.getFile/docs)
- [Examples](https://lexicon.garden/lexicon/did:web:atfs.dev/dev.atfs.repo.getFile/examples)

## Definitions

### `dev.atfs.repo.getFile`

**Type**: `query`

Fetch a file previously uploaded to this atfs instance. Compatible with com.atproto.sync.getBlob — also mounted, unmodified, under that name, for callers that have no reason to know atfs has its own name for it — with one deliberate difference: did is optional here. Requiring a did the way a PDS does is a repo-scoping artifact (a PDS's blobs live inside a specific account's repo); atfs content is content-addressed by cid alone, and the /ipfs/<cid> gateway path already serves it that way, so a did-less getFile exposes nothing a full IPFS client couldn't already reach. When did is supplied, the file is served only if that account holds a claim on it — pin-set membership (see dev.atfs.repo.deleteFile), which any claimant satisfies whether or not it was the one that originally uploaded the file — a mismatch is reported identically to a missing file — matching com.atproto.sync.getBlob's own scoping exactly; the com.atproto.sync.getBlob alias always requires it, to stay PDS-compatible. Does not require auth, on either name.

#### Parameters

| Property | Type | Required | Description |
|----------|------|----------|-------------|
| `cid` | `string` (cid) | Yes | The blessed CID (see dev.atfs.file) of the file to fetch. |
| `did` | `string` (did) | No | Restrict the fetch to a file this account holds a claim on (pin-set membership — not necessarily the account that uploaded it). Optional here — unlike on the com.atproto.sync.getBlob alias, where it's required to stay PDS-compatible — since atfs content is addressed by cid alone, so omitting did simply serves any file with that cid. |

#### Output

**Encoding**: `*/*`

#### Errors

- **BlobNotFound**: No file is stored under this cid, or — when did is supplied — that account holds no claim on it; the two are reported identically, matching com.atproto.sync.getBlob's own behavior. Also reported, indistinguishably, when this instance once tried to fetch this cid and gave up: a failed fetch stays impossible to tell apart from a cid that was never asked for.
- **ContentPending**: This instance doesn't have the file yet but is actively trying to fetch it (see dev.atfs.repo.pinFile). Served over HTTP 503 with a Retry-After header naming how long to wait before asking again; retrying is the status check.

## Raw Schema

```json
{
  "id": "dev.atfs.repo.getFile",
  "defs": {
    "main": {
      "type": "query",
      "errors": [
        {
          "name": "BlobNotFound",
          "description": "No file is stored under this cid, or — when did is supplied — that account holds no claim on it; the two are reported identically, matching com.atproto.sync.getBlob's own behavior. Also reported, indistinguishably, when this instance once tried to fetch this cid and gave up: a failed fetch stays impossible to tell apart from a cid that was never asked for."
        },
        {
          "name": "ContentPending",
          "description": "This instance doesn't have the file yet but is actively trying to fetch it (see dev.atfs.repo.pinFile). Served over HTTP 503 with a Retry-After header naming how long to wait before asking again; retrying is the status check."
        }
      ],
      "output": {
        "encoding": "*/*"
      },
      "parameters": {
        "type": "params",
        "required": [
          "cid"
        ],
        "properties": {
          "cid": {
            "type": "string",
            "format": "cid",
            "description": "The blessed CID (see dev.atfs.file) of the file to fetch."
          },
          "did": {
            "type": "string",
            "format": "did",
            "description": "Restrict the fetch to a file this account holds a claim on (pin-set membership — not necessarily the account that uploaded it). Optional here — unlike on the com.atproto.sync.getBlob alias, where it's required to stay PDS-compatible — since atfs content is addressed by cid alone, so omitting did simply serves any file with that cid."
          }
        }
      },
      "description": "Fetch a file previously uploaded to this atfs instance. Compatible with com.atproto.sync.getBlob — also mounted, unmodified, under that name, for callers that have no reason to know atfs has its own name for it — with one deliberate difference: did is optional here. Requiring a did the way a PDS does is a repo-scoping artifact (a PDS's blobs live inside a specific account's repo); atfs content is content-addressed by cid alone, and the /ipfs/<cid> gateway path already serves it that way, so a did-less getFile exposes nothing a full IPFS client couldn't already reach. When did is supplied, the file is served only if that account holds a claim on it — pin-set membership (see dev.atfs.repo.deleteFile), which any claimant satisfies whether or not it was the one that originally uploaded the file — a mismatch is reported identically to a missing file — matching com.atproto.sync.getBlob's own scoping exactly; the com.atproto.sync.getBlob alias always requires it, to stay PDS-compatible. Does not require auth, on either name."
    }
  },
  "$type": "com.atproto.lexicon.schema",
  "lexicon": 1
}
```