> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.methodfi.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# The file endpoint

Files represent downloadable artifacts generated by Method.

Files cannot be created directly. They are created by Method as a result of
other API requests, and are referenced by the resource that generated them.
For example, a Connect request with `artifacts` returns its generated Files
in the Connect's `files` array.

> [!NOTE]
>
> Contextual metadata about a File, such as its `bureau`, is returned on the
> generating resource, not on the File object itself.

## File Objects

```json THE FILE OBJECT theme={null}
{
  "id": "file_jZWkPMhXPeYAn",
  "type": "raw_credit_report",
  "mime_type": "application/json",
  "download_url": "https://s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/files.dev.methodfi.tldn/artifacts/team_aBcD1234/connect/ent_qKNBB68bfHGNA/cxn_4ewMmBbjYDMR4/raw_credit_report.json?X-Amz-Algorithm=AWS4-HMAC-SHA256&X-Amz-Expires=3600&X-Amz-Signature=...",
  "download_expires_at": "2024-04-12T15:56:46.645Z",
  "created_at": "2024-04-12T14:56:46.645Z",
  "updated_at": "2024-04-12T14:56:46.645Z"
}
```


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