Is there a way to invalidate/delete the specific URL generated by the "Create File" action? (Security/Retention question)

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Hi everyone,

I’m building a CSV export feature using the native Create File action. The workflow works great: it generates the file and gives me a URL hosted on storage.googleapis.com/....

Exact URL Example: https://storage.googleapis.com/glide-prod.appspot.com/uploads-v2/qhbXQPBIR7IDU4YIGyqy/pub/4xPmrTjtIrARtnpwIYW4/rides-export-December%201%2C%202025-December%2017%2C%202025.csv

I have implemented a “burn after reading” logic in my app where I clear the column value immediately after the user downloads the file, so the link disappears from the UI. However, I am concerned about the lifecycle of the actual file on the server.

My questions are:

  1. Persistence: Does the underlying URL generated by Create File expire automatically after a certain time (e.g., 24 hours), or is it permanent?
  2. Manual Deletion: Is there a Glide API endpoint or specific action I can call to strictly delete or invalidate the file blob itself from the server?

My goal is to ensure that if a URL were to leak or remain in a browser history, it wouldn’t grant access to that export forever.

Has anyone managed to programmatically delete these assets, or do we just rely on obscurity?

Thanks in advance!

2

Hey, this is taken rom their docs page (Files | Glide Docs)

Uploaded files will eventually be deleted if they aren’t used for a long time.

“Being used” means that there is a link from your app to the file in a table. So as long your app links to a file somewhere in your table, Glide will not delete it (assuming your team is within your plan’s storage quota).

  • If a Glide-hosted file is referenced in a row and that row is being used in an app—it will not be deleted

  • If a Glide-hosted file is referenced in a row, but the team is affected by quota overages—it may be deleted after 21 days.

  • If a Glide-hosted file is referenced in a row, but that table is not used in any Glide app—it may be deleted after 21 days.

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Thank you!