# Get file contents

A query to get the contents of a file. Queries do not change the state of the file or require network consensus. The information is returned from a single node processing the query.

**Query Signing Requirements**

* The client operator private key is required to sign the query request

**Query Fees**

* Please see the transaction and query [fees](https://dev.uniultra.xyz/docs/networks/mainnet/fees#transaction-and-query-fees) table for the base transaction fee
* Please use the [Hedera fee estimator](https://hedera.com/fees) to estimate your query fee cost

| Constructor               | Description                            |
| ------------------------- | -------------------------------------- |
| `new FileContentsQuery()` | Initializes a FileContentsQuery object |

```java
new FileContentsQuery()
```

### Methods

| Method                | Type   | Description                                    |
| --------------------- | ------ | ---------------------------------------------- |
| `setFileId(<fileId>)` | FileId | The ID of the file to get contents for (x.z.y) |

{% tabs %}
{% tab title="Java" %}

```java
//Create the query
FileContentsQuery query = new FileContentsQuery()
    .setFileId(newFileId);

//Sign with client operator private key and submit the query to a Hedera network
ByteString contents = query.execute(client);

//Change to Utf-8 encoding
String contentsToUtf8 = contents.toStringUtf8();

System.out.println(contentsToUtf8);

//v2.0.0
```

{% endtab %}

{% tab title="JavaScript" %}

```javascript
//Create the query
const query = new FileContentsQuery()
    .setFileId(newFileId);

//Sign with client operator private key and submit the query to a Hedera network
const contents = await query.execute(client);

console.log(contents.toString());

//v2.0.7
```

{% endtab %}

{% tab title="Go" %}

```java
//Create the query
query := hedera.NewFileContentsQuery().
		SetFileID(newFileId)

//Sign with client operator private key and submit the query to a Hedera network
contents, err := query.Execute(client)

fmt.Println(string(contents))

//v2.0.0
```

{% endtab %}
{% endtabs %}

## Get query values

| Method        | Type   | Description                                    |
| ------------- | ------ | ---------------------------------------------- |
| `getFileId()` | FileId | The ID of the file to get contents for (x.z.y) |

{% tabs %}
{% tab title="Java" %}

```java
//Create the query
FileContentsQuery query = new FileContentsQuery()
    .setFileId(newFileId);

//Get file ID
FileId getFileId = query.getFileId();

//v2.0.0
```

{% endtab %}

{% tab title="JavaScript" %}

```javascript
//Create the query
const query = new FileContentsQuery()
    .setFileId(newFileId);

//Get file ID
const getFileId = query.getFileId();
```

{% endtab %}

{% tab title="Go" %}

```java
//Create the query
query := hedera.NewFileContentsQuery().
		SetFileID(newFileId)
		
//Get file ID
getFileId := query.GetFileID()

//v2.0.0
```

{% endtab %}
{% endtabs %}


---

# Agent Instructions: Querying This Documentation

If you need additional information that is not directly available in this page, you can query the documentation dynamically by asking a question.

Perform an HTTP GET request on the current page URL with the `ask` query parameter:

```
GET https://dev.uniultra.xyz/docs/sdks-and-apis/sdks/file-service/get-file-contents.md?ask=<question>
```

The question should be specific, self-contained, and written in natural language.
The response will contain a direct answer to the question and relevant excerpts and sources from the documentation.

Use this mechanism when the answer is not explicitly present in the current page, you need clarification or additional context, or you want to retrieve related documentation sections.