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Dear Community,

I am writing to report an issue that I have encountered with the automatic upload of images to Airtable, which subsequently causes errors when attempting to upload these images to WordPress via an automated workflow. Here is a detailed account of the observations and steps taken to diagnose and troubleshoot the issue:

Overview of the Issue:

I have implemented an automated workflow using Make.com to generate images using OpenAI's DALL-E, store these images in Airtable, and then upload the images from Airtable to WordPress. However, I am encountering a persistent error when attempting to upload the images from Airtable to WordPress. The error message received is:

```
[500] Sorry, this file type is not permitted for security reasons. (error code: rest_upload_unknown_error)
```

Detailed Observations:

1. Image Generation and Initial Upload:
- Images are generated using OpenAI's DALL-E and are saved in PNG format.
- These images are automatically uploaded to Airtable in an attachment field.

2. Issue with Direct Upload from Airtable to WordPress:
- When attempting to upload the images directly from Airtable to WordPress using the automated workflow, the process fails, and the aforementioned error is encountered.

3. Manual Upload Test:
- To diagnose the issue, I performed the following steps:
- Generated an image using the same automated workflow.
- Downloaded the image manually from Airtable.
- Deleted the originally uploaded image from Airtable.
- Re-uploaded the downloaded image back into Airtable manually.
- When running the automated workflow to upload the manually re-uploaded image from Airtable to WordPress, the process completed successfully without any errors.

Steps Taken to Troubleshoot:

1. Confirmed File Format:
- Verified that the generated images are in PNG format, which is supported by both Airtable and WordPress.

2. File Size and Integrity:
- Ensured that the file size is within acceptable limits and that the images are not corrupted.

3. Metadata and Conversion:
- Considered the possibility that the images might contain metadata or formatting issues when uploaded automatically.
- Added steps in the workflow to convert and resize images before uploading to Airtable to see if it resolves any metadata-related issues.

4. Workflow Steps Overview:
- The workflow includes the following steps:
- Generate image using OpenAI DALL-E.
- Convert and resize the image.
- Upload the image to Airtable.
- Retrieve the image from Airtable.
- Attempt to upload the image to WordPress.

5. Direct Upload Test:
- Attempted direct uploads from Airtable to WordPress using both automatically and manually uploaded images to identify discrepancies.

Conclusion:

The issue appears to be specifically related to how images are handled or stored when uploaded automatically to Airtable. Manually re-uploading the same images to Airtable resolves the issue, allowing them to be successfully uploaded to WordPress. This suggests that there may be a difference in how Airtable processes or stores images uploaded via API compared to those uploaded manually.

Request for Support:

I kindly request your assistance in investigating the following:

1. **Differences in Handling of API and Manual Uploads:**
- Are there any differences in how Airtable handles images uploaded via API versus those uploaded manually through the UI?

2. **Metadata Processing:**
- Does Airtable modify or add any metadata to images uploaded via API that could cause issues with subsequent processing or uploads?

3. **Potential Workarounds:**
- Are there any recommended steps or configurations to ensure that images uploaded via API are treated the same as those uploaded manually?

I appreciate your attention to this matter and look forward to your guidance on resolving this issue.

Thank you for your support.

Best regards,

Michael

Hi Michael. I’m not familiar with your exact workflow but one thought I had when reading your post was that it might be down to the fact that the Wordpress upload automation is firing before Airtable has finished processing the image. I run automations myself where I upload Airtable images to a CDN to get a permalink. When the CDN link is returned there is a delay before it’s useable as the image is still processing. That’s why when you do it manually you’re not seeing the issue. So just a thought but maybe try throwing in a delay step before uploading to Wordpress. Say 60-120 seconds to be safe, and see if that makes any difference. 

Hi Michael. I’m not familiar with your exact workflow but one thought I had when reading your post was that it might be down to the fact that the Wordpress upload automation is firing before Airtable has finished processing the image. I run automations myself where I upload Airtable images to a CDN to get a permalink. When the CDN link is returned there is a delay before it’s useable as the image is still processing. That’s why when you do it manually you’re not seeing the issue. So just a thought but maybe try throwing in a delay step before uploading to Wordpress. Say 60-120 seconds to be safe, and see if that makes any difference. 


J-hugg-ins, thanks for replying. I have to scenarios, as attached. First is for generating the image, 2nd for uploading to the media folder in WordPress. Just tried the idea of a longer waiting time. The error stil occurs.

Thank you for the idea! Any other ideas are welcome 🙂

Michael 

No problem Michael. Sorry it didn't work out. Looking at the specific error you get from Wordpress have you seen this article? Just on the off chance it might be useful. https://getflywheel.com/wordpress-support/how-to-fix-the-sorry-this-file-type-is-not-permitted-for-security-reasons-error-in-wordpress/

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