Send documents

You may need to attach documents to certain Dashdoc resources, such as:

• Transport orders (e.g. weight notes, transport documents)

• Invoices (e.g. proof of delivery)

• Site entities (e.g. security protocols, instructions)

To support this, the Dashdoc API allows file uploads using multipart/form-data requests.

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Requirements

When uploading documents, make sure to:

• Use the HTTP header:

  Content-Type: multipart/form-data

• Let your HTTP client automatically generate the boundary parameter, which is required by the multipart encoding.

Example of the generated header:

Content-Type: multipart/form-data; boundary=Boundary_42_15460972_1713531308867

The boundary is a unique string used to separate parts in the request body. It must match what's used in the actual body content.

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Examples

Example: Using curl

curl -X POST https://www.dashdoc.com/api/v4/documents/ \
  -H "Authorization: Token your_api_token" \
  -F "file=@weight_note.pdf" \
  -F "type=Documents" \
  -F "transport=1f527452-45f4-11eb-a722-0242ac140004"

-F automatically handles the Content-Type and boundary.

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Example: Using Python (requests)

import requests

url = "https://www.dashdoc.com/api/v4/transport-messages/"
headers = {
    "Authorization": "Token your_api_token"
}
files = {
    "file": ("weight_note.pdf", open("weight_note.pdf", "rb")),
}
data = {
    "type": "documents",
    "transport": "1f527452-45f4-11eb-a722-0242ac140004"
}

response = requests.post(url, headers=headers, files=files, data=data)
print(response.status_code, response.json())

Example: Using Postman

In Postman, when you select "form-data" as the body type and add your file and fields, Postman will automatically set the correct Content-Type: multipart/form-data header. It also handles the boundary parameter internally — this value is generated dynamically when the request is sent and does not need to be set manually.

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Common Errors & Troubleshooting

Error:

{"detail":"Multipart form parse error - Invalid boundary in multipart: None"}

Cause: The boundary is missing from the Content-Type header or does not match the request body.

Fix:

• Don't set the Content-Type header manually. Let your HTTP client or library handle it.

• If you're generating the request manually, make sure:

  • A unique boundary is defined.

  • It appears both in the Content-Type header and correctly wraps parts in the body.

Error: 400 Bad Request

Cause:

• Required fields like type or transport are missing.

• The file is missing or empty.

• Invalid values (e.g., unsupported type).

Fix:

• Double-check field names and values.

• Ensure the type field is one of the expected values ("note","load_verification","share","document"or"photo").

• Ensure transport is a valid transport UID from your Dashdoc environment.

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Best Practices

• Test your request using Postman to inspect headers and payloads.

• Let your HTTP client manage the Content-Type and boundary.

• Validate required fields early in your application to avoid request failures.