Synology DSM Skill

Interact with a Synology NAS through the DSM Web API using curl.

Prerequisites

The user must have these environment variables set (or provide them inline):

• SYNOLOGY_HOST — NAS hostname or IP (e.g., 192.168.1.100)
• SYNOLOGY_PORT — DSM port (5000 for HTTP, 5001 for HTTPS)
• SYNOLOGY_USER — DSM username
• SYNOLOGY_PASS — DSM password

Base URL: http://$SYNOLOGY_HOST:$SYNOLOGY_PORT/webapi

Security: Always prefer HTTPS (port 5001). Never hardcode credentials in commands shown to the user — use $SYNOLOGY_PASS references. If the user hasn't set env vars, ask them to provide connection details.

Step 1: Authentication

Every session starts with login. Use format=sid to get a session ID.

Login

curl -s "http://$SYNOLOGY_HOST:$SYNOLOGY_PORT/webapi/entry.cgi?\
api=SYNO.API.Auth&version=6&method=login\
&account=$SYNOLOGY_USER&passwd=$SYNOLOGY_PASS\
&session=FileStation&format=sid" | jq .

Response:

{"data": {"sid": "YOUR_SESSION_ID"}, "success": true}

Save the sid for all subsequent requests: SID=<value from response>

Logout

curl -s "http://$SYNOLOGY_HOST:$SYNOLOGY_PORT/webapi/entry.cgi?\
api=SYNO.API.Auth&version=6&method=logout\
&session=FileStation&_sid=$SID"

2FA Handling

If login returns error code 406, the account has 2FA enabled. Ask the user for their OTP code, then include &otp_code=<CODE> in the login request.

Session Notes

• Sessions timeout after ~15 minutes of inactivity
• If you get error code 106 (session timeout), re-authenticate
• Always logout when done to clean up sessions

Step 2: API Discovery (Optional)

Query all available APIs on the NAS:

curl -s "http://$SYNOLOGY_HOST:$SYNOLOGY_PORT/webapi/query.cgi?\
api=SYNO.API.Info&version=1&method=query" | jq .

This returns every API name, path, and supported version range. Useful for checking what packages are installed.

Step 3: FileStation — File Management

All FileStation calls use _sid=$SID for authentication.

List shared folders (root)

curl -s "http://$SYNOLOGY_HOST:$SYNOLOGY_PORT/webapi/entry.cgi?\
api=SYNO.FileStation.List&version=2&method=list_share&_sid=$SID" | jq .

List files in a folder

curl -s "http://$SYNOLOGY_HOST:$SYNOLOGY_PORT/webapi/entry.cgi?\
api=SYNO.FileStation.List&version=2&method=list\
&folder_path=/volume1/homes&additional=size,time&_sid=$SID" | jq .

Parameters: folder_path (required), offset, limit, sort_by (name|size|mtime), sort_direction (asc|desc), additional (size,time,perm,type)

Create folder

curl -s "http://$SYNOLOGY_HOST:$SYNOLOGY_PORT/webapi/entry.cgi?\
api=SYNO.FileStation.CreateFolder&version=2&method=create\
&folder_path=/volume1/homes&name=new_folder&_sid=$SID" | jq .

Rename file or folder

curl -s "http://$SYNOLOGY_HOST:$SYNOLOGY_PORT/webapi/entry.cgi?\
api=SYNO.FileStation.Rename&version=2&method=rename\
&path=/volume1/homes/old_name&name=new_name&_sid=$SID" | jq .

Delete file or folder

curl -s "http://$SYNOLOGY_HOST:$SYNOLOGY_PORT/webapi/entry.cgi?\
api=SYNO.FileStation.Delete&version=2&method=delete\
&path=/volume1/homes/unwanted_file&_sid=$SID" | jq .

For large deletions, use method=start to get a task ID, then poll with method=status&taskid=<id>.

Upload file

curl -s -X POST \
  -F "api=SYNO.FileStation.Upload" \
  -F "version=2" \
  -F "method=upload" \
  -F "path=/volume1/homes" \
  -F "overwrite=true" \
  -F "file=@/local/path/to/file.txt" \
  -F "_sid=$SID" \
  "http://$SYNOLOGY_HOST:$SYNOLOGY_PORT/webapi/entry.cgi"

Download file

curl -s -o output_file.txt \
  "http://$SYNOLOGY_HOST:$SYNOLOGY_PORT/webapi/entry.cgi?\
api=SYNO.FileStation.Download&version=2&method=download\
&path=/volume1/homes/file.txt&mode=download&_sid=$SID"

Search files

# Start search
curl -s "http://$SYNOLOGY_HOST:$SYNOLOGY_PORT/webapi/entry.cgi?\
api=SYNO.FileStation.Search&version=2&method=start\
&folder_path=/volume1&pattern=*.pdf&_sid=$SID" | jq .
# Returns taskid

# Get results
curl -s "http://$SYNOLOGY_HOST:$SYNOLOGY_PORT/webapi/entry.cgi?\
api=SYNO.FileStation.Search&version=2&method=list\
&taskid=<TASK_ID>&_sid=$SID" | jq .

Get file/folder info

curl -s "http://$SYNOLOGY_HOST:$SYNOLOGY_PORT/webapi/entry.cgi?\
api=SYNO.FileStation.List&version=2&method=getinfo\
&path=/volume1/homes/file.txt&additional=size,time&_sid=$SID" | jq .

For full FileStation API reference, see references/filestation-api.md.

Step 4: DownloadStation — Download Management

Get DownloadStation info

curl -s "http://$SYNOLOGY_HOST:$SYNOLOGY_PORT/webapi/entry.cgi?\
api=SYNO.DownloadStation.Info&version=1&method=getinfo&_sid=$SID" | jq .

List all download tasks

curl -s "http://$SYNOLOGY_HOST:$SYNOLOGY_PORT/webapi/entry.cgi?\
api=SYNO.DownloadStation.Task&version=1&method=list\
&additional=transfer&_sid=$SID" | jq .

The additional=transfer parameter includes download/upload speed and progress.

Add download task (URL)

curl -s -X POST \
  -d "api=SYNO.DownloadStation.Task&version=1&method=create\
&uri=https://example.com/file.zip&_sid=$SID" \
  "http://$SYNOLOGY_HOST:$SYNOLOGY_PORT/webapi/entry.cgi"

Add download task (torrent file)

curl -s -X POST \
  -F "api=SYNO.DownloadStation.Task" \
  -F "version=1" \
  -F "method=create" \
  -F "file=@/local/path/to/file.torrent" \
  -F "_sid=$SID" \
  "http://$SYNOLOGY_HOST:$SYNOLOGY_PORT/webapi/entry.cgi"

Pause / Resume / Delete tasks

# Pause
curl -s "http://$SYNOLOGY_HOST:$SYNOLOGY_PORT/webapi/entry.cgi?\
api=SYNO.DownloadStation.Task&version=1&method=pause\
&id=<TASK_ID>&_sid=$SID"

# Resume
curl -s "http://$SYNOLOGY_HOST:$SYNOLOGY_PORT/webapi/entry.cgi?\
api=SYNO.DownloadStation.Task&version=1&method=resume\
&id=<TASK_ID>&_sid=$SID"

# Delete (force_complete=false keeps downloaded files)
curl -s "http://$SYNOLOGY_HOST:$SYNOLOGY_PORT/webapi/entry.cgi?\
api=SYNO.DownloadStation.Task&version=1&method=delete\
&id=<TASK_ID>&force_complete=false&_sid=$SID"

Multiple task IDs can be comma-separated: &id=task1,task2,task3

For full DownloadStation API reference, see references/downloadstation-api.md.

Step 5: System Info

Get DSM system information

curl -s "http://$SYNOLOGY_HOST:$SYNOLOGY_PORT/webapi/entry.cgi?\
api=SYNO.DSM.Info&version=2&method=getinfo&_sid=$SID" | jq .

Returns: model, RAM, serial, DSM version, uptime, temperature.

Get storage/volume info

curl -s "http://$SYNOLOGY_HOST:$SYNOLOGY_PORT/webapi/entry.cgi?\
api=SYNO.Storage.CGI.Storage&version=1&method=load_info&_sid=$SID" | jq .

Get network info

curl -s "http://$SYNOLOGY_HOST:$SYNOLOGY_PORT/webapi/entry.cgi?\
api=SYNO.DSM.Network&version=1&method=list&_sid=$SID" | jq .

Error Handling

All API responses follow: {"success": true/false, "data": {...}, "error": {"code": N}}

Common error codes

Auth-specific error codes

For full error code reference, see references/error-codes.md.

Workflow Example

A typical session:

1. Login and capture SID
2. Perform operations (list files, add downloads, etc.)
3. Logout when done

Always check "success": true in responses before proceeding. On error 106/107, re-login automatically.