Sharing Files

Crabdrop can generate presigned URLs for any file in your bucket. A presigned URL gives temporary, direct download access to a file without requiring S3 credentials.

Generating a Presigned URL

1. Right-click a file and select Share
2. Choose an expiry duration:
   • 15 minutes
   • 1 hour
   • 24 hours
   • 7 days
3. Click Generate Link
4. Copy the URL from the modal

How Presigned URLs Work

• The URL contains a cryptographic signature that grants temporary access
• Anyone with the URL can download the file until it expires
• No authentication is needed by the recipient
• The URL is generated by the AWS SDK using your credentials

Limitations

• Encrypted files: The presigned URL serves the raw encrypted data. The recipient gets the ciphertext, which is unusable without the encryption passphrase and Crabdrop to decrypt it. Only share presigned URLs for unencrypted files unless the recipient also has Crabdrop and your passphrase.
• Expiry: URLs expire after the specified duration. There is no way to revoke a URL before expiry other than deleting the file.
• Provider support: Presigned URL support varies by S3-compatible provider. Most support it, but check your provider’s documentation.