Hey everyone! I’m trying to figure out how to handle file uploads in Airtable. I’m building a Flutter app and using Airtable as my backend.
The docs mention that to add an image or file via API, I need to provide a URL. But this seems like a roundabout way of doing things. Do I really have to upload files to my own server first, get a URL, and then send that to Airtable?
Is there any way to skip this step and upload files directly to Airtable? It would be great if I could just send the file and get a download link from Airtable itself.
I’m pretty new to this, so any tips or workarounds would be super helpful. Thanks in advance!
I’ve encountered this issue before when working with Airtable. Unfortunately, direct file uploads aren’t supported through their API. The URL approach is indeed the standard method.
To streamline the process, I’d recommend using a cloud storage service like Amazon S3 or Google Cloud Storage. You can set up direct uploads from your Flutter app to these services, then pass the resulting URL to Airtable.
Another option is to use Airtable’s Attachments field type. This allows users to upload files directly through the Airtable interface, which might be suitable depending on your app’s requirements.
While it’s not ideal, these workarounds can help manage file uploads more efficiently within the constraints of Airtable’s API.
yeah, i feel ya. airtable’s a bit tricky with file uploads. have you considered using firebase storage? it works great with flutter and gives you urls quick. just upload there, grab the url, and send it to airtable. not perfect, but it gets the job done without too much hassle. good luck!
I’ve been in your shoes, trying to simplify file uploads with Airtable. From my experience, there’s no direct way to upload files to Airtable via their API. It’s a bit of a pain, but that’s how their system is set up.
What I’ve found works well is using Firebase Storage. It integrates nicely with Flutter and gives you a URL almost instantly. You just upload the file to Firebase, grab the URL, and then send that to Airtable. It’s not perfect, but it’s pretty seamless once you get it set up.
Another trick I’ve used is to base64 encode smaller files and store them directly in Airtable as a string. It’s not ideal for large files, but for small stuff, it can save you the hassle of external storage. Just remember to decode it when you need to use the file again.
Hope this helps! Let me know if you need any more details on implementation.