Get a stable preview URL for an Airtable attachment

The Airtable REST API returns a temporary download URL in the url field of every attachment object. This URL is served from airtableusercontent.com and expires after approximately 2 hours. Do not save or share the raw API url as a permanent link — it will stop working shortly after it is issued.

Usage

air_attachment_preview_url(attachment)

Arguments

attachment

A single attachment metadata list (as returned by air_read(..., attachments = "meta")) or a list of such attachment lists. Each element should contain fields such as id, url, filename, size, and type.

Value

A character vector of NA_character_, one element per attachment. The function always returns NA because a stable viewer URL cannot be constructed from API metadata alone. See the @section above for the correct manual workflow.

Stable attachment viewer URLs

Airtable maintains a separate attachment viewer URL (served from airtable.com) that does not expire (unless the attachment or record is deleted). This stable URL requires the recipient to have access to the base or interface in which the attachment lives.

Crucially, the stable viewer URL cannot be derived from any field that the REST API returns (id, url, filename, size, type, thumbnails). It is only obtainable by navigating to the record in the Airtable web app, clicking the attachment to open its preview, and copying the URL from the browser address bar.

Because no stable URL can be constructed programmatically from attachment metadata, air_attachment_preview_url() always returns NA_character_ and emits an informative message directing users to the correct workflow.

Examples

# Suppose you have attachment metadata from air_read():
att <- list(
  id       = "attABCDEF123456",
  url      = "https://v5.airtableusercontent.com/v3/some_signed_path",
  filename = "report.pdf",
  size     = 204800L,
  type     = "application/pdf"
)

# The temporary download URL (expires in ~2 hours):
att$url
#> [1] "https://v5.airtableusercontent.com/v3/some_signed_path"

# Attempting to get a stable preview URL — always NA with an explanation:
if (FALSE) { # \dontrun{
air_attachment_preview_url(att)
} # }

# To obtain a permanent, shareable link for a colleague:
# 1. Open the record in the Airtable web app.
# 2. Click the attachment to open its viewer.
# 3. Copy the URL from the browser address bar (it is from airtable.com).
# 4. Share that URL — it does not expire as long as the attachment exists
#    and the recipient has access to the base.