PDFs Attached by Make API Not Opening

[Justin_E]

Hello, as of this morning, any PDFs that I attach via the Make integration will no longer open in a preview window, but instead tries to download a file without an extension.  This Make scenario has been running for months without issue, with hundreds of PDFs attached in the manner per day - all being able to open up in Airtable without an issue.  But as of this morning, nothing added today will open properly.  Any attachments added yesterday still open fine.  Any ideas what is happening here?

Edit - apparently this is only happening on this specific Base.  If I run a Make scenario to add an attachment to a different Base - it attaches fine and opens normally.  But then if I change it to attach to my primary Base, the same download issue occurs.  I need to get it back to working normally on this primary Base.  

This is what I have determined so far:
1.  Only is affecting my primary base
2. If I manually attached a PDF via airtable, it opens up in preview normally.  The issue is only occuring with PDFs that are attached via API.
3. The PDF itself is attaching because if I click the download icon, the pdf downloads properly and can be opened just fine.  The problem is that the preview in Airtable does not work and instead forces download of a file taking a form similar to "J-KL6kryNjPm5j3K8KhV7zKiqyyENOF-Slg_Dd8ThC8" without an extension.

The ability to preview these PDFs is mission critical to my workflow, so I do need to get this figured out.

[ScottWorld]

Since you said that this has been working just fine for months, and it just broke today for the very first time, it's very possible that this might be a bug in Airtable that you may need to report to support@airtable.com.

However, just to double-check, can you please verify that the following 2 things are still configured properly?

Since you said that this has already worked for months, I'm certain that you've configured the following things correctly. So I'm posting this for anybody else that might be having a similar issue, but also for you to double-check on your end as well:

When sending an attachment file to an Airtable attachment field via the API — such as using Make's automations & integrations — it is imperative that these 2 things are correct:

1. The file must be accessible to the public without requiring a login to view the file. You can test this by going to the URL in an incognito browser window.

2. You must send the actual URL to the actual file itself, not the URL to a wrapper webpage that contains the file within the wrapper webpage.

Since it seems like both of these things are configured correctly on your end, can you send any screenshots or videos of this issue?

But it could always be a bug in Airtable that you would need to report to support@airtable.com.

— ScottWorld, Expert Airtable Consultants

[Justin_E]

Yeah, my concern is that in the past when I have reached out to Airtable support, I have never heard anything back.  I will email them now and give it a shot.

Here is an example of the issue I am experiencing.  A dummy PDF was uploaded via Make.  If I click it in Airtable, it opens the black preview window and forces a download of a file with no extension.  However, if I click the download button for the attachment, it downloads just fine - so it is actually attached.

https://www.loom.com/share/92eb8eb6a71c47b1bd7238655b3c0c87?sid=d69eae35-a90b-44aa-9f04-bec05332b640

[ScottWorld]

That's so weird, because I've encountered the EXACT OPPOSITE problem in the past: where the preview won't show up at all, but as soon as you click on it, it displays full screen just fine (and downloads just fine).

My guess is that this is some sort of an Airtable bug, unless it's something unique to the PDF file itself (such as a partially-corrupted PDF file).

But yes, hopefully support@airtable.com will respond to you!

[Zack_S]

@Justin_E @ScottWorld One of my clients is experiencing the exact same thing. 

This is all true for me as well

---

@Justin_E wrote:

Hello, as of this morning, any PDFs that I attach via the Make integration will no longer open in a preview window, but instead tries to download a file without an extension.  This Make scenario has been running for months without issue, with hundreds of PDFs attached in the manner per day - all being able to open up in Airtable without an issue.  But as of this morning, nothing added today will open properly.  Any attachments added yesterday still open fine.  Any ideas what is happening here?

Edit - apparently this is only happening on this specific Base.  If I run a Make scenario to add an attachment to a different Base - it attaches fine and opens normally.  But then if I change it to attach to my primary Base, the same download issue occurs.  I need to get it back to working normally on this primary Base.  

This is what I have determined so far:
1.  Only is affecting my primary base
2. If I manually attached a PDF via airtable, it opens up in preview normally.  The issue is only occuring with PDFs that are attached via API.
3. The PDF itself is attaching because if I click the download icon, the pdf downloads properly and can be opened just fine.  The problem is that the preview in Airtable does not work and instead forces download of a file taking a form similar to "J-KL6kryNjPm5j3K8KhV7zKiqyyENOF-Slg_Dd8ThC8" without an extension.

The ability to preview these PDFs is mission critical to my workflow, so I do need to get this figured out.

---

[Rupert_Hoffsch1]

I can confirm that this is an Airtable problem. All of DocsAutomator's (https://docsautomator.co) clients are experiencing the same issue — though not for all bases. Hope Airtable fixes this soon!

[MikeD]

At least one of our clients has the exact same issue so it is definitely a bug with Airtable!
(tested 2 different routes to upload a file via API: MAKE & DocsAutomator)

I really hope this gets fixed soon! Our clients has to process hundreds of files manually now, which is obviously very painful 😞

[Rupert_Hoffsch1]

@MikeD Let's hope this gets resolved soon!

[kuovonne]

I'm having a similar problem, except that I am using scripting to upload the attachments. The problem isn't happening in all bases, just some of them.

[Zack_S]

With so many people having issues I am sure they are well aware of the problem now at least. They responded to my email as well, so hopefully they are on top of it!