Sharing Model

How file sharing works in TMA Cloud.

Overview

Share links provide public access to files and folders without requiring authentication.

Token: Cryptographically secure random token
Files: One or more files/folders linked
Expiration: Configurable expiration (7 days, 30 days, or never).
Owner: User who created the share

Access Control

Public Access: No authentication required
Token-Based: Access via unique token
Read-Only: Share links provide read access only
Download: Files can be downloaded via share link

Accessing Shared Content

A shared folder opens a listing page. Files download on click. Subfolders open in place, with a breadcrumb back to the shared root.
Large public folders load in stable folder-first pages as the visitor scrolls; the page does not use Previous/Next controls.
A single-file share opens a landing page with the file name, size, and a download button.
Each folder page has a Download all action that zips the current folder.
Only items linked to the share are reachable. Browsing a folder that is not part of the share returns 404 Not Found, even with a valid token.

Share a single file with a unique link.

Share entire folders, including all contents. The whole subtree is linked to the share, so subfolders are reachable through the same link.

Link multiple files to a single share link.

Adding to a Shared Folder

Items added to a shared folder after it is shared are linked into the same share automatically.

Default Format

http://your-domain.com/s/{token}

Configure a custom share base URL in Settings → Share Base URL (admin only).

When configured:

http://share.your-domain.com/s/{token}

Share domain middleware blocks all routes except /s/*, /health, and /metrics.

Link Expiration

Expiry Options

When creating or re-sharing a link, the user selects one of:

7 days (default)
30 days
No expiration

Re-sharing an existing link updates its expiry to the newly selected value.

Expired Link Behavior

Expired links return 410 Gone on the public page with an "Link expired" message
The Shared page in the file manager still lists expired files with a red clock icon and "Link expired" label
Downloads and ZIP exports for expired links are blocked with the same 410 response

A worker job removes expired share links every Sunday at 03:00 UTC. Cleanup deletes the share_links and share_link_files rows and sets shared = false on files that no longer have an active share link.

Viewing Shares

Go to the Shared section in the file manager
Active links show the green share icon with a compact countdown in days, hours, or minutes
Links with no expiration show ∞ beside the share icon
Expired links show a red clock icon and "Link expired" label
Get Info shows when the item was shared, the remaining duration, and the exact expiration time
Copy share links from the share modal

The shared time is set when an item joins a share. Re-sharing an active item keeps that time. Unsharing clears it, and sharing the item again starts a new time. Descendants of a shared folder and items added to it later receive their own shared time.

Revoking Shares

Unshare via context menu or toolbar
Immediate access revocation
Link becomes invalid

Security Considerations

Tokens are cryptographically secure
No authentication required (by design)
Expiration enforced on every access (not just cleanup)
Redis cache TTL is capped at the link's remaining lifetime to prevent stale access
Share domain isolation (optional)

File System - How files are organized
User Guide: Share Files - How to create shares
API: Sharing - API endpoints