Airtable · api · fg-0426

Airtable attachment URLs saved in another system break a few hours later

Images stored from the API return an error after about two hours

Verified 2026-10-15 · Confirmed by 0 builders · Trust 50/100

Cause

Attachment download URLs returned by the API are temporary and expire about two hours after they are returned. Only the viewer link inside Airtable stays stable, and it requires base access.

Fix

Download the file when you read the record and store it in your own storage, or read the record again right before showing the file.

Apply

const att = record.fields["Photo"]?.[0];
if (att) await uploadToOwnBucket(await (await fetch(att.url)).arrayBuffer(), att.filename);

Affects: Airtable Web API attachment fields, download URLs on airtableusercontent.com, as of 2026-10

Sources

Have your agent know this before it fails

claude mcp add --transport http footgun https://getfootgun.com/api/mcp