Upload a file with the API

An upload is three calls. The file itself never passes through our API servers: you send it straight to storage with a one-time signed URL, which is why the API handles files as large as your plan allows.

Full example#

Set LIS_API_KEY to your key (see Authentication), then:

FILE=report.pdf; TYPE=application/pdf
SIZE=$(wc -c < "$FILE" | tr -d ' ')

# 1. Start the upload
START=$(curl -s -X POST https://linkinseconds.com/api/v1/uploads \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $LIS_API_KEY" -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d "{\"name\":\"$FILE\",\"type\":\"$TYPE\",\"size\":$SIZE}")
URL=$(echo "$START" | jq -r .signedUrl)
UPLOAD_PATH=$(echo "$START" | jq -r .path)

# 2. Send the bytes straight to storage
curl -s -X PUT -H "Content-Type: $TYPE" --data-binary @"$FILE" "$URL"

# 3. Publish
curl -s -X POST https://linkinseconds.com/api/v1/uploads/complete \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $LIS_API_KEY" -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d "{\"path\":\"$UPLOAD_PATH\",\"name\":\"$FILE\",\"type\":\"$TYPE\"}"

1. Start the upload#

Checks your key, plan, the hourly limit and the file name and size, then returns a signed upload URL.

{
  "path": "6f1c…/a1b2c3d4.pdf",
  "signedUrl": "https://…"
}

If the idempotencyKey already produced a link, the response is { "existing": { "slug", "title", "url" } } and you can skip the next two steps.

2. Send the file#

PUT the raw bytes (not form data) with the same Content-Type you declared. The URL is valid for 10 minutes and can not be reused for another file. No API key is needed on this call.

3. Publish it#

We read the real size and first bytes from storage, check the file really is what its name says, run the safety scan and create the link. If anything fails, the uploaded bytes are deleted.

{
  "slug": "report-x7",
  "title": "report",
  "url": "https://linkinseconds.com/p/report-x7"
}

When a file is held for review

If the safety scan flags a file, the response includes "review": true. The link exists but is not public until a person clears it. Videos can return "processing": true while they are being scanned. Tell your users the link will start working shortly.

What you can upload#

• Any type listed in Supported file types: PDFs, images, video, audio, documents, HTML, ZIP and more. Executables and scripts are always refused.
• Up to your plan's per-file size and total storage. See Plans and limits.
• Albums and static websites are created from the website, not the API, for now.