Download an inbox or outbox fax

Choose an inbound or outbound document

This compatibility endpoint retrieves a fax document belonging to your account. Use an enabled MultiTEL API account over HTTPS with its configured credentials and IP restrictions. It does not send or resend a fax.

These values belong in the path. The route is /v3/fax_file/{type}/{id}, not fax_download with extra path segments. The inbound hash is not the numeric record ID and is not an outbound job ID. Copy the identifier from the appropriate mailbox listing; it does not replace authentication.

Download a received fax

curl --silent --show-error --user "$API_USER:$API_PASSWORD" \
  --dump-header fax-response.headers --output fax-response.bin \
  https://api.multitel.net/v3/fax_file/inbound/c20ad4d76fe97759aa27a0c99bff6710

The example hash represents fictional inbox record 12. Obtain your own value from fax_inbox. Downloading an existing inbound record marks it as viewed. This happens before file availability is checked, so a file-not-available error can still leave viewed set to true. Do not use this endpoint merely to probe whether a received fax exists if you want its viewed state to remain unchanged.

The handler prefers a stored PDF. Otherwise it uses the stored TIFF and attempts PDF conversion when the converter is available. If conversion is unavailable or raises a handled exception, it returns the TIFF instead. Always inspect the returned Content-Type rather than assuming PDF.

Download an outbound fax

curl --silent --show-error --user "$API_USER:$API_PASSWORD" \
  --dump-header fax-response.headers --output fax-response.bin \
  https://api.multitel.net/v3/fax_file/outbound/0123456789abcdef0123456789abcdef

Use the uuid from fax_outbox. This compatibility download prefers a stored PDF blob, then a TIFF blob, then an available PDF file, TIFF file or original source file. Its preference order differs from the current outbound fax_download handler. For new integrations using send_fax, use that current download workflow with its job_id parameter.

An original source file may be returned as application/octet-stream rather than PDF or TIFF. The attachment filename can retain the source extension. The compatibility outbound download does not mark an inbox record as viewed, change job status or create a transmission.

Handle bytes and errors separately

Success returns raw document bytes with Content-Type, Content-Disposition attachment and Content-Length headers. It is not a Base64 JSON envelope. Save headers and bytes separately as shown, inspect the response type, and only then give the file an appropriate name or process it. An allowed source extension does not guarantee a valid or converted document.

API code 400 means a required path value is missing or type is invalid. API code 404 means the account-scoped record or its file is unavailable. Errors use the normal JSON status/response envelope and may use HTTP 200. Check the response Content-Type and JSON status.code so an error body is not opened as a document.

Privacy and availability

Fax content can contain sensitive information. Store downloaded files only where your intended recipients can access them, and avoid including full document bytes in logs. A mailbox record does not guarantee that its file will remain available. No file-retention period or compatibility guarantee for every historical stored document has been established.