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Image and File URLs

Overview

Glassix uses Amazon S3 to store and serve attachments such as images, PDFs, and other file types. To secure these files, we generate presigned URLs, which are time-limited links that allow access to specific objects stored in S3 without requiring authentication.

The most common places for you to encounter a presigned URL are:

  • Copying an image address
  • Copying an attachment address
  • Extracting an image or attachment URL in a flow, via the API or via one of the SDKs
  • Sending an external email with an attachment from Glassix

Every time you do run into a presigned URL, it will look something like this:

https://glassix-private-prod.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/104062512182470_whatsappim_jt9bzvcu_890af5b7-d7d1-4f46-9e71-046ba12ae96a.jpg?X-Amz-Expires=21600&X-Amz-Algorithm=AWS4-HMAC-SHA256&X-Amz-Credential=AKIAQ5NFYO37DHIHUM5Q%2F20250612%2Feu-central-1%2Fs3%2Faws4_request&X-Amz-Date=20250612T084120Z&X-Amz-SignedHeaders=host&X-Amz-Signature=a11491c6e749e6557f1c2bfa919a6b7a03d875db086f1a7e3818f23cd3e81066
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Note:

If you've copied a link either from the UI or from an API return, and the link follows the format above, you are working with a presigned URL.

Presigned URLs don't function like normal links, so it's important to read through the information below.


Expiration

All S3 presigned URLs generated by Glassix expire 6 hours after they're created. This is a fixed limit defined by our implementation of Amazon S3.

When you attempt to open an expired presigned URL, you will see an error message like the ones below:

<Error>
  <script id="datalayer-checker-script"/>
  <Code>AccessDenied</Code>
  <Message>Request has expired</Message>
  <X-Amz-Expires>21600</X-Amz-Expires>
  <Expires>2025-06-01T19:38:42Z</Expires>
  <ServerTime>2025-06-15T13:31:20Z</ServerTime>
  <RequestId>71WNDSDKJFHZST3JKHN</RequestId
	<HostId>FMXzLyUanwtx4Az6ohsjmNrtyfAZgAKWN2zqhBWUvtVFbU7hfaAeT6LNj9GCWbzSE0Ilo5Zcuk4HMV9Jgie</HostId>
</Error>
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Info:

For more details on how presigned URLs work, you can refer to the official AWS documentation:https://docs.aws.amazon.com/AmazonS3/latest/userguide/using-presigned-url.html


Where You Will Find Presigned URLs

Agent Console (UI)

When viewing an attachment in a conversation, a new presigned URL is generated automatically each time the conversation is loaded.

Behavior: If the previous URL has expired, a new valid URL will be created without requiring any action from the agent. Expired links are seamlessly refreshed on page reload.

API Responses and Webhooks

When you retrieve a message using the API or receive a webhook event, the attachment URL provided is a presigned URL.

Important: These URLs are also valid for 6 hours. If accessed after that period, they will return an error such as 403 Forbidden or Access Denied.

Recommendation: Consume or download the file immediately upon receiving the API response or webhook. If needed later, call the relevant API again to obtain a new URL.

Flows

When you retrieve the URI of attachments in a flow via the Last customer attachment URI or via a dynamic parameter, the attachment URI provided is a presigned URL.

If this URL is then sent directly to the end-user in a message, or if this URL is sent in an external email, it will expire.

Important: These URLs are also valid for 6 hours. If accessed after that period, they will return an error such as 403 Forbidden or Access Denied.

Recommendation: Consume or download the file immediately upon receiving external email. If sending to end-users, include a note about the expiration time for the link. If needed later, call the relevant API again to obtain a new URL from the ticket where the flow was used.

Email Conversation History

Presigned URLs may appear in outbound emails only when an agent replies to a customer and the email includes embedded images from the conversation history (such as screenshots, pasted images or images in signatures of prior emails in the chain).

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Important:

These image links are time-limited and may expire after 6 hours. If an image fails to load in an email chain, it may be due to the expiration of the presigned URL embedded in the quoted history.

There is no expiration for:

  • Attachments sent to customers
  • Interactive document links
  • Any file explicitly attached or linked in the email body

Regenerating Presigned URLs

If you need a new presigned URL for one of your uploaded files, you can get one by:

  • Re-fetching the conversation via the API (GET /conversations/{id})
  • Triggering a new webhook event (e.g., reassignment or tag update)
  • (If in the Agent Console) Refreshing the browser tab and copying the newly-generated link

Glassix will automatically refresh presigned URLs whenever they're loaded in the UI.

Updated 12 days ago