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Pysio13's avatar
Pysio13
Helpful | Level 6
2 years ago

Shared Link / "scl" to "s"

Hello. My question concerns my recent issue with file sharing. Usually, my links were generated in this way: 'https://www.dropbox.com/s/'. However, lately, every file is being generated in this way: ...
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  • JasonSilverDBX's avatar
    JasonSilverDBX
    2 years ago
    Thank you BenDBX  for splitting off a new thread specific to the 3rd party integrations issue, and especially for doing it in a way that migrates all the relevant posts to date!  To properly wrap up this thread, below is a summary.


    Why the new "/scl" link format?

     

    Dropbox is moving to an updated shared link architecture where links are based on the content being shared rather than on the user doing the sharing.  This new content-based link architecture is already in place for edit access links to folders and newly created links to files, and can be identified by the presence of an ‘rlkey’ parameter in the URL.  (They also begin with "/scl" instead of the previous architecture's  "/s".)  It is the rlkey parameter which grants access to the content.  That is why removing that parameter results in visitors having to sign in and request access.  I talk more about this transition in this forum thread.
     
    Over the next few months, we’ll round out the shared link portfolio by bringing this new architecture to newly created view-only access folder links, or view folder links for short.

    Direct Download on new link architecture is Solved

     
    Regarding this thread on “direct / forced” download not working on new links, this should be solved since a fix was implemented 2 weeks ago.  That is, all new links should now function the same as legacy links for these purposes.  This can be accomplished in two ways.  
    1. modifying the dl parameter in the URL
    2. modifying using dl.dropbox.com or dl.dropboxusercontent.com.  

     

    👉 In both cases you must retain the rlkey parameter for the URL to grant your recipients permission rights to access your file.

     

    What is the DL parameter?

     

    Anything following the ? in a URL are query parameters.  It’s worth reemphasizing that dl parameter in new links did not break and will continue to function identically to those in legacy links.  Manually changing the dl parameter does the following:

     

    https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/<token>/path.jpg?rlkey=<token>&dl=0

    • Default link. This will render the content in the Dropbox file viewer.

    https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/<token>/path.jpg?rlkey=<token>&dl=1

    • Downloads the content of the link (if the user has access to the content based on link settings). This query parameter takes precedence even if raw=1 is also added.

    https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/<token>/path.jpg?rlkey=<token>&raw=1

    • Directly renders the content in the browser (if the link has a public audience and no other restrictions). Note that this link has an HTTP 302 redirect, so the application or browser must be able to follow the redirect.

     

    What are the dl.dropbox... modifications?

     
    These are link transformations from the early days of Dropbox.  While we don't "officially" list these anymore in our Help Center, we are continuing to support them for now.  
     
    https://dl.dropbox.com/scl/fi/<token>/path.jpg?rlkey=<token>&dl=0
    • Replacing www with dl works exactly like a ?raw=1 link: this will directly render content for public links in the browser. It requires following an HTTP 302 redirect.
    https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/scl/fi/<token>/path.jpg?rlkey=<token>&dl=0
    • Works like a ?raw=1 link, but the application or browser will not need to follow an HTTP 302 redirect to access the content.
     
JasonSilverDBX's avatar
JasonSilverDBX
Icon for Dropbox Product Manager rankDropbox Product Manager
Thank you BenDBX  for splitting off a new thread specific to the 3rd party integrations issue, and especially for doing it in a way that migrates all the relevant posts to date!  To properly wrap up this thread, below is a summary.


Why the new "/scl" link format?

 

Dropbox is moving to an updated shared link architecture where links are based on the content being shared rather than on the user doing the sharing.  This new content-based link architecture is already in place for edit access links to folders and newly created links to files, and can be identified by the presence of an ‘rlkey’ parameter in the URL.  (They also begin with "/scl" instead of the previous architecture's  "/s".)  It is the rlkey parameter which grants access to the content.  That is why removing that parameter results in visitors having to sign in and request access.  I talk more about this transition in this forum thread.
 
Over the next few months, we’ll round out the shared link portfolio by bringing this new architecture to newly created view-only access folder links, or view folder links for short.

Direct Download on new link architecture is Solved

 
Regarding this thread on “direct / forced” download not working on new links, this should be solved since a fix was implemented 2 weeks ago.  That is, all new links should now function the same as legacy links for these purposes.  This can be accomplished in two ways.  
  1. modifying the dl parameter in the URL
  2. modifying using dl.dropbox.com or dl.dropboxusercontent.com.  

 

👉 In both cases you must retain the rlkey parameter for the URL to grant your recipients permission rights to access your file.

 

What is the DL parameter?

 

Anything following the ? in a URL are query parameters.  It’s worth reemphasizing that dl parameter in new links did not break and will continue to function identically to those in legacy links.  Manually changing the dl parameter does the following:

 

https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/<token>/path.jpg?rlkey=<token>&dl=0

  • Default link. This will render the content in the Dropbox file viewer.

https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/<token>/path.jpg?rlkey=<token>&dl=1

  • Downloads the content of the link (if the user has access to the content based on link settings). This query parameter takes precedence even if raw=1 is also added.

https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/<token>/path.jpg?rlkey=<token>&raw=1

  • Directly renders the content in the browser (if the link has a public audience and no other restrictions). Note that this link has an HTTP 302 redirect, so the application or browser must be able to follow the redirect.

 

What are the dl.dropbox... modifications?

 
These are link transformations from the early days of Dropbox.  While we don't "officially" list these anymore in our Help Center, we are continuing to support them for now.  
 
https://dl.dropbox.com/scl/fi/<token>/path.jpg?rlkey=<token>&dl=0
  • Replacing www with dl works exactly like a ?raw=1 link: this will directly render content for public links in the browser. It requires following an HTTP 302 redirect.
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/scl/fi/<token>/path.jpg?rlkey=<token>&dl=0
  • Works like a ?raw=1 link, but the application or browser will not need to follow an HTTP 302 redirect to access the content.
 
Aion's avatar
Aion
Explorer | Level 3
2 years ago

This really isn't a good enough alternative. The new format breaks a lot of situations, such as media embedding in an application such as Discord. There really should be another API to generate a direct-access URL. Why you think it's okay to completely upend current workflows and not care about certain use-cases is beyond me. I'm looking into alternate storage solutions to take my business elsewhere in the meantime, unless this gets resolved, and I'm sure others are too.

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