I’m working with Airtable as my app’s database and trying to figure out file uploads. According to the documentation, when I want to add attachments to fields, I need to pass a URL pointing to the file location. The API requires the file to already exist somewhere online before I can attach it to a record.
This means I would need to first upload files to my own server or cloud storage, get the public URL, and then use that URL in my Airtable API call. Is there any method to upload files directly to Airtable without this extra step? I’m hoping to skip the intermediate hosting and just send files straight to Airtable through their API.
yeah, i’ve hit this annoying limitation too. you’re stuck with the two-step process - there’s no way around it with their current api. i went with firebase storage since i was already using it, but any cloud provider works. some devs upload to temp storage then delete it after airtable pulls the file.
Unfortunately, Airtable’s API does not support direct file uploads. I faced a similar challenge while developing a document management system. The API requires a public URL for file attachments, requiring an upload to a server or cloud storage first. In my case, I utilized AWS S3 with presigned URLs for this purpose. After uploading to S3, I used the generated URL in my Airtable API calls. It’s worth noting that other services like Cloudinary are options, but they also involve external hosting. The only option for direct uploads is through Airtable’s web interface, which doesn’t suit API operations.