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Backend with Tadabase

Uploading & downloading files

The upload-then-attach flow, and secure vs public files.

4 min read

Upload, then attach

Files are a two-step flow: upload the bytes to get a file id, then attach that id to a record field. Doing it in one step is the most common file bug.

ts 
// 1. upload
const up = await tada.files.upload(fileBytes, { name: 'contract.pdf', type: 'application/pdf' });
const fileId = up.data?.file_id;

// 2. attach to a File/Image field on the record
await tada.records.update('contracts', recordId, { field_20: [{ file_id: fileId }] });

Secure vs public files

Whether a file is protected is a property of the field, set in the Tadabase builder:

Field settingBehavior
SecureStored in a private bucket. Downloads use short-lived signed URLs (about 10 minutes) fetched per request.
PublicPermanent CDN link — fine for logos and public assets, wrong for anything sensitive.

Downloading

tada.files.get(fileId) returns metadata plus a fresh download URL. For secured files, always fetch a new URL at download time rather than storing one — the old link expires.
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