DALL·E file IDs no longer work in openaiFileIdRefs? Possible bug after recent update

ChatGPT Bugs
1

Hi all,

I wanted to surface what seems like a recent and potentially breaking change when using DALL·E-generated images in openaiFileIdRefs for POST requests or GPT Actions.

The issue

When I generate an image with DALL·E and immediately try to use its file-xxxxx ID in a POST request via openaiFileIdRefs, the request fails with the following error:

`GetDownloadLinkError   Encountered exception: <class 'file_service_client.client.GetDownloadLinkError'>`

This seems to happen even before the file is passed to an external API—so somewhere during OpenAI’s internal expansion of the file_id into a full JSON object (with download_link).

This used to work flawlessly

According to OpenAI’s documentation, openaiFileIdRefs supports DALL·E-generated images. And indeed, I’ve used this exact setup dozens if not over a hundred times over the past several months without a single issue.

But starting around two weeks ago—coincidentally right after a DALL·E model update—this same approach started failing consistently.

Repro steps & what I tested

  • Used a fresh DALL·E image

  • Captured its file-xxxxx ID

  • Added it to openaiFileIdRefs

  • Attempted POST action immediately (and even after waiting 10+ seconds)

  • :white_check_mark: User-uploaded images still work fine

  • :cross_mark: DALL·E file IDs now fail 100% of the time

Even delaying the request 10–20 seconds after generation doesn’t help, unless I explicitly download and re-upload the image file myself.

This seems to indicate that the image is not fully “registered” in file-store or exists only ephemerally.

Why this matters

  • This behavior contradicts OpenAI’s docs, which don’t warn of any such limitation.

  • It breaks workflows that have worked reliably for months.

  • It’s not just a delay issue—it seems systemic, and likely related to recent backend changes.

Anyone else seeing this?

I’m curious if other developers here are running into the same issue.

Is this a recent change to DALL·E or file-store behavior?

Or worse, an unintended regression caused by recent infrastructure updates?

If it’s a bug…

If this is a bug, I sincerely hope OpenAI picks it up quickly—this effectively makes DALL·E output unusable in automated workflows unless we manually re-upload each image, which defeats the whole point.

Thanks in advance to anyone who can confirm or offer a workaround. Would love to know if this is on OpenAI’s radar.

2

I myself rarely used DALL•E but I must say, I wasn’t surprised that another parts of ChatGPt is malfunctioning.

I suppose now on top of the memory ones, they have to deal with Image Generation related issues now… I wonder what else is about to go hayware after the recent updates? Because clearly the update is so, so clever (sarcastic)

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