curl -X PATCH 'https://api.elevenlabs.io/v1/convai/knowledge-base/documentation-id/update-file' \
  -H "xi-api-key: $ELEVENLABS_API_KEY" \
  -F 'file=@sample.bin'

# PATCH /v1/convai/knowledge-base/{documentation_id}/update-file (ElevenLabs API)
Base URL: https://api.elevenlabs.io
Auth: xi-api-key: <ELEVENLABS_API_KEY>
Last verified: 2026-09-03

> Update File Document

## Critical Gotchas
* Authentication uses the non-standard `xi-api-key` header, not `Authorization: Bearer`. Sending a Bearer token returns HTTP 401.
* Text-to-speech responses are raw binary audio, not JSON. Write the body to a file (`--output speech.mp3`) rather than parsing it.

## cURL
curl -X PATCH 'https://api.elevenlabs.io/v1/convai/knowledge-base/documentation-id/update-file' \
  -H "xi-api-key: $ELEVENLABS_API_KEY" \
  -F 'file=@sample.bin'

## Parameters
| Name | In | Type | Required | Description |
| :--- | :--- | :--- | :--- | :--- |
| documentation_id | path | string | Yes | The id of a document from the knowledge base. This is ret... |
| file | body | string | Yes | Documentation that the agent will have access to in order... |

## Response (200 OK)
{"id":"string","name":"string"}

---
Need an API key? Get one at https://elevenlabs.io/app/sign-up

PATCH

/v1/convai/knowledge-base/{documentation_id}/update-file

ElevenLabs API

Update File Document

Base URL: https://api.elevenlabs.io
Auth: xi-api-key: <ELEVENLABS_API_KEY>
Last verified: 2026-09-03 · upstream hash matched

Actions

Agents: curl -H "Accept: text/markdown" this URL
→ 198 tokens · Vary: Accept

Critical gotchas

Authentication uses the non-standard xi-api-key header, not Authorization: Bearer. Sending a Bearer token returns HTTP 401.

Text-to-speech responses are raw binary audio, not JSON. Write the body to a file (--output speech.mp3) rather than parsing it.

cURL

curl -X PATCH 'https://api.elevenlabs.io/v1/convai/knowledge-base/documentation-id/update-file' \  -H "xi-api-key: $ELEVENLABS_API_KEY" \  -F 'file=@sample.bin'

Get a free ElevenLabs API key → sponsored

Parameters

Name	In	Type	Required	Description
documentation_id	path	string	Yes	The id of a document from the knowledge base. This is returned on document addition.
file	body	string	Yes	Documentation that the agent will have access to in order to interact with users.

Response 200 OK

{
  "id": "string",
  "name": "string",
  "metadata": {
    "created_at_unix_secs": 0,
    "last_updated_at_unix_secs": 0,
    "size_bytes": 0
  },
  "supported_usages": [
    "auto"
  ],
  "access_info": {
    "access_source": "creator",
    "creator_email": "john.doe@example.com",
    "creator_name": "John Doe",
    "is_creator": true,
    "role": "admin"
  },
  "folder_parent_id": "string",
  "folder_path": [
    {
      "id": "string",
      "name": "string"
    }
  ],
  "type": "string",
  "url": "string",
  "extracted_inner_html": "string",
  "content_format": "html",
  "auto_sync_info": {
    "minimum_frequency_days": 7,
    "auto_remove": false,
    "consec_failures": 0,
    "next_refresh_by": 0
  }
}