REST API question

Hello @martijnrammeloo,

Hope you are well. The issue is that you cannot simply pass the filename as a string parameter. The files parameter expects a specific object structure with numeric keys as file IDs.

What You’re Probably Doing Wrong (incorrect)

{
"title": "My Package",
"files": "myfile.pdf"
}

This won’t work because files expects an object, not a string.

The Correct Way

When you’ve already uploaded files to the download-manager-files folder, you must pass the files parameter as an object with
numeric keys:

{
"title": "The Alchemist",
"description": "Package description",
"status": "publish",
"files": {
"1": "The Alchemist.pdf"
}
}

Key points:

• The key (“1”) is the file ID (use “1”, “2”, etc. for multiple files)
• The value is just the filename – not the full path
• Files must already exist in wp-content/uploads/download-manager-files/ Multiple Files Example
  {
"title": "My Package",
"status": "publish",
"files": {
"1": "file1.pdf",
"2": "file2.pdf",
"3": "file3.zip"
  }
}
  Alternative: Upload Files Directly via REST API Instead of pre-uploading, you can upload files when creating the package using
  
  multipart/form-data: curl -X POST \
https://yoursite.com/wp-json/wpdm/v1/packages \
-H 'Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY' \
-F "title=My Package" \
-F "status=publish" \
-F "files=@/path/to/your/file.pdf"

Documentation: https://imsas.github.io/wpdm-rest-api-docs

Please kindly check.

Thank you

Hello @martijnrammeloo,

Your $params array format is correct, but the issue is likely in how you’re
sending the request to the API.

Understanding the Issue

Your code:
$params = [
"title" => $file_name,
"status" => "publish",
"files" => ["1" => "k3.pdf"],
];

This array setup is correct according to the documentation (see: https://imsas.github.io/wpdm-rest-api-docs/). However, this is
only the data structure – you also need to send it properly to the API.

The Missing Piece: How to Send the Request

Your code is missing the part where you actually send this to the REST API. Here’s the complete working code:

Method 1: Pre-Uploaded Files (via JSON)

// Your API key from WordPress Admin > WPDM Settings > REST API
$api_url = 'https://yoursite.com/wp-json/wpdm/v1/packages';
$api_key = 'get-this-from-wpdm-settings'; // See below for how to get this

$params = [
"title" => $file_name,
"status" => "publish",
"files" => ["1" => "k3.pdf"], // Your existing code - this is correct!
];

// THIS IS THE MISSING PART – properly send the request:
$response = wp_remote_post(
$api_url,
[
'headers' => [
'Authorization' => 'Bearer ' . $api_key,
'Content-Type' => 'application/json', // CRITICAL!
],
'body' => json_encode($params), // CRITICAL!
'timeout' => 45,
]
);

// Check the result
if (is_wp_error($response)) {
echo 'Error: ' . $response->get_error_message();
} else {
$body = wp_remote_retrieve_body($response);
$data = json_decode($body, true);
if (isset($data['id'])) {
echo "Package created! ID: " . $data['id'];
} else {
echo "Response: " . $body;
}
}

What was likely missing:

• Content-Type: application/json header
• json_encode($params) in the body

cURL Version (Method 1)

curl -X POST \
https://yoursite.com/wp-json/wpdm/v1/packages \
-H 'Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY_FROM_SETTINGS' \
-H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
-d '{
"title": "My Package",
"status": "publish",
"files": {
"1": "k3.pdf"
}
}'

Where to Get Your API Key

The documentation says: “Authentication is done via the API key which you can find in your WPDM REST API settings.“

To get your API key:

1. Go to WordPress Admin Dashboard
2. Navigate to WordPress Download Manager > Settings
3. Find the REST API tab/section
4. Copy your API Key (auto-generated, you can regenerate it) Note: The documentation examples use a sample key like 613efe9acb0d5c2b – replace this with your actual key from settings.

File Location Requirements

Your file k3.pdf must exist in:
/wp-content/uploads/download-manager-files/k3.pdf

Verify this by checking WPDM Settings > File Manager for the exact upload path.

About “File ID” – Clarification

When I mentioned keys like “1”, “2”, “3” – these are NOT WordPress file IDs. They’re simply sequential numeric string keys to
identify each file. Think of them as “file #1”, “file #2”, etc. You don’t need to retrieve any ID from WordPress.

Documentation: https://imsas.github.io/wpdm-rest-api-docs/

• This reply was modified 4 months, 1 week ago by Nayeem Hyder.
• This reply was modified 4 months, 1 week ago by Nayeem Hyder.
• This reply was modified 4 months, 1 week ago by Nayeem Hyder.

Glad to hear that. However, if you need further help with anything else, then please don’t hesitate to open a new topic. If you get some free moments, can you please give us a 5* here https://ww.wp.xz.cn/support/plugin/download-manager/reviews/?rate=5#new-post, It will inspire us a lot. Thanks in advance

Thank you again and regards