Skip to content
Primary navigation

Suggested
API Dashboard
API Reference
Beta
Threads
Messages

Retrieve message

$ openai beta:threads:messages retrieve
GET/threads/{thread_id}/messages/{message_id}

Retrieve a message.

ParametersExpand Collapse
--thread-id: string

The ID of the thread to which this message belongs.

--message-id: string

The ID of the message to retrieve.

ReturnsExpand Collapse
message: object { id, assistant_id, attachments, 11 more }

Represents a message within a thread.

id: string

The identifier, which can be referenced in API endpoints.

assistant_id: string

If applicable, the ID of the assistant that authored this message.

attachments: array of object { file_id, tools }

A list of files attached to the message, and the tools they were added to.

file_id: optional string

The ID of the file to attach to the message.

tools: optional array of CodeInterpreterTool { type } or object { type }

The tools to add this file to.

code_interpreter_tool: object { type }
type: "code_interpreter"

The type of tool being defined: code_interpreter

AssistantToolsFileSearchTypeOnly: object { type }
completed_at: number

The Unix timestamp (in seconds) for when the message was completed.

content: array of MessageContent

The content of the message in array of text and/or images.

image_file_content_block: object { image_file, type }

References an image File in the content of a message.

image_file: object { file_id, detail }
file_id: string

The File ID of the image in the message content. Set purpose="vision" when uploading the File if you need to later display the file content.

detail: optional "auto" or "low" or "high"

Specifies the detail level of the image if specified by the user. low uses fewer tokens, you can opt in to high resolution using high.

"auto"
"low"
"high"
type: "image_file"

Always image_file.

image_url_content_block: object { image_url, type }

References an image URL in the content of a message.

image_url: object { url, detail }
url: string

The external URL of the image, must be a supported image types: jpeg, jpg, png, gif, webp.

detail: optional "auto" or "low" or "high"

Specifies the detail level of the image. low uses fewer tokens, you can opt in to high resolution using high. Default value is auto

"auto"
"low"
"high"
type: "image_url"

The type of the content part.

text_content_block: object { text, type }

The text content that is part of a message.

text: object { annotations, value }
annotations: array of Annotation
file_citation_annotation: object { end_index, file_citation, start_index, 2 more }

A citation within the message that points to a specific quote from a specific File associated with the assistant or the message. Generated when the assistant uses the “file_search” tool to search files.

end_index: number
file_citation: object { file_id }
file_id: string

The ID of the specific File the citation is from.

start_index: number
text: string

The text in the message content that needs to be replaced.

type: "file_citation"

Always file_citation.

file_path_annotation: object { end_index, file_path, start_index, 2 more }

A URL for the file that’s generated when the assistant used the code_interpreter tool to generate a file.

end_index: number
file_path: object { file_id }
file_id: string

The ID of the file that was generated.

start_index: number
text: string

The text in the message content that needs to be replaced.

type: "file_path"

Always file_path.

value: string

The data that makes up the text.

type: "text"

Always text.

refusal_content_block: object { refusal, type }

The refusal content generated by the assistant.

refusal: string
type: "refusal"

Always refusal.

created_at: number

The Unix timestamp (in seconds) for when the message was created.

incomplete_at: number

The Unix timestamp (in seconds) for when the message was marked as incomplete.

incomplete_details: object { reason }

On an incomplete message, details about why the message is incomplete.

reason: "content_filter" or "max_tokens" or "run_cancelled" or 2 more

The reason the message is incomplete.

"content_filter"
"max_tokens"
"run_cancelled"
"run_expired"
"run_failed"
metadata: map[string]

Set of 16 key-value pairs that can be attached to an object. This can be useful for storing additional information about the object in a structured format, and querying for objects via API or the dashboard.

Keys are strings with a maximum length of 64 characters. Values are strings with a maximum length of 512 characters.

object: "thread.message"

The object type, which is always thread.message.

role: "user" or "assistant"

The entity that produced the message. One of user or assistant.

"user"
"assistant"
run_id: string

The ID of the run associated with the creation of this message. Value is null when messages are created manually using the create message or create thread endpoints.

status: "in_progress" or "incomplete" or "completed"

The status of the message, which can be either in_progress, incomplete, or completed.

"in_progress"
"incomplete"
"completed"
thread_id: string

The thread ID that this message belongs to.

Retrieve message

openai beta:threads:messages retrieve \
  --api-key 'My API Key' \
  --thread-id thread_id \
  --message-id message_id
{
  "id": "msg_abc123",
  "object": "thread.message",
  "created_at": 1699017614,
  "assistant_id": null,
  "thread_id": "thread_abc123",
  "run_id": null,
  "role": "user",
  "content": [
    {
      "type": "text",
      "text": {
        "value": "How does AI work? Explain it in simple terms.",
        "annotations": []
      }
    }
  ],
  "attachments": [],
  "metadata": {}
}
Returns Examples
{
  "id": "msg_abc123",
  "object": "thread.message",
  "created_at": 1699017614,
  "assistant_id": null,
  "thread_id": "thread_abc123",
  "run_id": null,
  "role": "user",
  "content": [
    {
      "type": "text",
      "text": {
        "value": "How does AI work? Explain it in simple terms.",
        "annotations": []
      }
    }
  ],
  "attachments": [],
  "metadata": {}
}