file/getMany

Retrieve a list of files from your Slack workspace. Filter by channel, uploading user, or retrieve all files. Supports pagination for large workspaces.

When to Use

Audit all files shared in a channel before archiving or closing it.
Find all files uploaded by a specific user as part of a data access review.
Generate a storage usage report across the workspace or a specific channel.
List all files in a channel prior to migrating content to an external document store.
Compliance review of shared content — identify file types and uploaders over a time period.

Configuration

Connection

Field	Required	Description
`botToken`	Required	Slack Bot Token starting with `xoxb-`. Must have the `files:read` OAuth scope.

Operation Fields

Field	Required	Description
`channel`	Optional	Slack channel ID (e.g. `C08ABCDEFGH`) to filter files shared in that specific channel. Omit to retrieve workspace-wide files.
`userId`	Optional	Slack user ID (starting with `U`) to filter files uploaded by a specific user. Can be combined with `channel`.
`returnAll`	Optional	Boolean. Default `true`. When `true`, paginates automatically through all results. Set to `false` to respect the `limit` field.
`limit`	Optional	Maximum number of files to return when `returnAll` is `false`. Default `20`. Maximum `1000` per page.

Sample Configuration

{
  "operation": "file/getMany",
  "connection": {
    "botToken": "{{ $credentials.slackBot.token }}"
  },
  "channel": "C08COMPLIANCE",
  "returnAll": true
}

Validation Errors

Error Code	Cause	Resolution
`invalid_channel`	The provided `channel` ID does not exist or is inaccessible.	Verify the channel ID and confirm the bot is a member of that channel.
`user_not_found`	The provided `userId` does not match any workspace member.	Validate the user ID against a `user/get` call first.
`missing_scope`	Bot token lacks the `files:read` scope.	Add `files:read` under OAuth & Permissions in your Slack App and reinstall.
`invalid_auth`	Bot token is invalid or revoked.	Regenerate the token and update the credential store.

Output

Success Port

Field	Type	Description
`fileCount`	number	Total number of files returned in this result set.
`files`	array	Array of file metadata objects. Each entry contains: `fileId`, `fileName`, `fileSize` (bytes), `fileType` (Slack type string), `uploadedBy` (user ID).
`status`	string	`"success"` on successful retrieval.
`errorCode`	string	Empty on success. Slack API error code on failure.
`payload`	object	Raw Slack API response including pagination info.

Error Port

Activated when the channel or user filter is invalid, or token permissions are insufficient.

Sample Output

{
  "fileCount": 3,
  "files": [
    {
      "fileId": "F08XYZ00001",
      "fileName": "audit-q1-2026.pdf",
      "fileSize": 102400,
      "fileType": "pdf",
      "uploadedBy": "U01ALICE"
    },
    {
      "fileId": "F08XYZ00002",
      "fileName": "data-export-2026-05-01.csv",
      "fileSize": 51200,
      "fileType": "csv",
      "uploadedBy": "U01BOB"
    },
    {
      "fileId": "F08XYZ00003",
      "fileName": "system-diagram.png",
      "fileSize": 307200,
      "fileType": "png",
      "uploadedBy": "U01ALICE"
    }
  ],
  "status": "success",
  "errorCode": "",
  "payload": {
    "ok": true,
    "paging": {
      "count": 20,
      "total": 3,
      "page": 1,
      "pages": 1
    }
  }
}

Expression Reference

Expression	Result
`{{ $output.getManyFiles.fileCount }}`	Total number of files returned — useful for summary notifications.
`{{ $output.getManyFiles.files }}`	Full file array for iteration in a loop node.
`{{ $output.getManyFiles.files[0].fileId }}`	First file's ID — for spot-check or single-item processing.
`{{ $output.getManyFiles.files[0].uploadedBy }}`	Uploader user ID for the first file.
`{{ $output.getManyFiles.files[0].fileSize }}`	File size in bytes for the first file.

Node Policies & GuardRails

Policy Area	Recommendation
Pagination Performance	For channels with many files, avoid `returnAll: true` in high-frequency workflows. Use `limit` to page incrementally and reduce API call overhead.
Compliance Scoping	When running compliance audits, always filter by channel to scope results. Workspace-wide queries can return sensitive files from unrelated channels.
Rate Limits	Slack's `files.list` API is Tier 3 (50+ requests/min). For large workspaces with thousands of files, build retry logic with exponential backoff on the error port.
Free Workspace Limits	The file list on free workspaces only reflects files within the storage window. Archived or deleted files will not appear.
Output Size	With `returnAll: true`, very large workspaces may return thousands of records. Consider piping output to a batch-processing loop rather than holding the full array in memory.

Examples

Audit Files in Compliance Channel Before Archiving

Before archiving the #compliance-2025 channel, list all files and write them to an external audit database.

{
  "operation": "file/getMany",
  "channel": "C08COMP2025",
  "returnAll": true
}

Find Files Uploaded by a Specific User

As part of an offboarding workflow, retrieve all files uploaded by a departing user so they can be reviewed and reassigned.

{
  "operation": "file/getMany",
  "userId": "{{ $input.offboardedUserId }}",
  "returnAll": true
}

Storage Usage Report — Limited Sample

Pull the 100 most recent files workspace-wide to estimate storage usage and identify large files.

{
  "operation": "file/getMany",
  "returnAll": false,
  "limit": 100
}