How to configure file upload functionality for RapidAPI endpoint

Other Questions RapidAPI
1

I built a FastAPI service that processes PDF files and extracts text content. The service works fine when deployed on Heroku and I can test it locally without issues.

Here’s my API implementation:

import os
import uvicorn
from fastapi import FastAPI, UploadFile, File
import PyPDF2
from io import BytesIO

app = FastAPI()

@app.post("/extract_text")
async def extract_text(uploaded_file: UploadFile = File(...)):
    pdf_reader = PyPDF2.PdfReader(BytesIO(await uploaded_file.read()))
    extracted_content = []
    for page in pdf_reader.pages:
        extracted_content.append(page.extract_text())
    return {'content': '\n'.join(extracted_content)}

if __name__ == "__main__":
    uvicorn.run(app, host="0.0.0.0", port=int(os.environ.get("PORT", 8080)))

My test script works perfectly:

import requests

document_path = "sample_document.pdf"
file_data = {'uploaded_file': (document_path, open(document_path, 'rb'))}

api_response = requests.post('https://myservice.herokuapp.com/extract_text', files=file_data)
print(api_response.json())

Now I want to publish this API through RapidAPI platform but I’m stuck. When I try to configure the endpoint on RapidAPI, I only see options for JSON payload and form data. There doesn’t seem to be a clear way to handle file uploads through their interface. Has anyone successfully configured file upload endpoints on RapidAPI? What’s the correct approach to make this work?

2

I’ve been through this exact thing when I published my document processing API on RapidAPI. The interface is confusing at first. After you set up multipart/form-data and the file parameter, there’s a crucial step most people miss. In your endpoint config, the parameter name has to match your FastAPI function signature exactly. You’re using uploaded_file as the parameter name, so make sure RapidAPI’s parameter configuration uses that exact same name. Here’s a gotcha I ran into: RapidAPI’s test console doesn’t always show what real users will experience. Your endpoint might work fine in their testing interface but break for actual subscribers because of parameter naming mismatches. Also, add proper error handling for unsupported file types in your FastAPI code before you publish. RapidAPI users love testing with random file formats, and PyPDF2 will crash if someone uploads a non-PDF. Wrap your PDF processing in a try-catch block to make it production-ready.

3

Check your Heroku deployment’s CORS settings for RapidAPI’s domain. I had the same problem - RapidAPI couldn’t hit my endpoint even though everything looked right. Their platform caches old configs too, so refresh or wait a few minutes after changes.

4

RapidAPI does support file uploads, but the setup through their web interface isn’t straightforward. You’ll need to handle this differently than regular JSON endpoints.

First, make sure your FastAPI endpoint accepts multipart/form-data - sounds like you’ve already got this with the UploadFile parameter. In RapidAPI, set the content type to multipart/form-data in your endpoint config.

Here’s the key part: when adding parameters in the RapidAPI dashboard, look for the parameter type dropdown and select “file” instead of “string”. That’s what trips most people up.

Your existing FastAPI code should work fine once this is configured properly. I ran into the same issue when I uploaded my image processing API last year. Their docs are pretty weak on this specific use case, but once you get the parameter type right, file uploads work perfectly through their testing interface and for users.