Cloud Storage Guidelines

Documentation Index

Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://developer.finogates.com/llms.txt

Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

​

Overview

When submitting documents from cloud storage services such as Google Drive, Dropbox, AWS S3, or others, you must provide a direct download link.
Preview links, share pages, and redirect-based URLs will fail validation. This guide explains how to generate valid, secure, and properly formatted direct URLs for each supported provider.

---

​

General Rules for Cloud Storage

Regardless of provider, all URLs must:

• Use HTTPS
• Be publicly accessible
• Be a direct file URL
• Resolve to a supported file type (PDF, JPEG, PNG, DOCX, etc.)

---

​

Google Drive

Google Drive shares files using a viewer URL, which is not accepted.
You must convert it into a direct download URL.

​

Step-by-Step

1. Right-click file → Get link
2. Change permissions to “Anyone with the link”
3. Extract the file ID from the sharing link
   Example viewer URL:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ABC123def456/view

4. Convert to a direct download URL:

https://drive.google.com/uc?export=download&id=1ABC123def456

​

Valid Google Drive URL

https://drive.google.com/uc?export=download&id=1ABC123def456

---

​

Dropbox

Dropbox share links are preview links and must be transformed.

​

Step-by-Step

1. Create a shared link
2. Replace dl=0 with dl=1

​

Example

Original link (invalid): https://www.dropbox.com/s/abc12345xyz/document.pdf?dl=0 Direct download link (valid): https://www.dropbox.com/s/abc12345xyz/document.pdf?dl=1

---

​

AWS S3

AWS S3 supports direct file URLs when the object is public.

​

Step-by-Step

1. Upload file to your S3 bucket
2. Make sure the object is set to public read
3. Use the S3 file link:

https://bucket-name.s3.region.amazonaws.com/path/to/file.pdf

​

Example

https://my-docs.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/licensing/certificate.pdf Note:
If using pre-signed URLs, ensure they remain valid until Finogates processes the file.
URLs that expire immediately may fail.

---

​

Google Cloud Storage (GCS)

​

Step-by-Step

1. Upload file to a bucket
2. Ensure public access for the object
3. Use the public URL format:

https://storage.googleapis.com/BUCKET_NAME/FILE_NAME

​

Example

https://storage.googleapis.com/company-docs/proof-of-address.png

---

​

OneDrive / SharePoint

These services often generate redirected or preview links, which fail validation.
To use them:

• Must generate a direct download link
• Ensure anonymous access is allowed

​

Example Conversion

https://onedrive.live.com/?cid=123&id=ABC12345ABC12345%21123 Direct download format: https://onedrive.live.com/download?cid=123&id=ABC12345ABC12345%21123

---

​

iCloud Drive (Not Recommended)

iCloud links commonly:

• Expire quickly
• Require additional authentication
• Use redirect-based links

Because of these limitations, avoid using iCloud for document submission.

---

​

Summary

---

​

Best Practices

• Always test the URL in an incognito browser session
• Avoid URLs that expire in less than 10 minutes
• Prefer reliable cloud providers such as AWS S3 or Google Cloud Storage
• Keep file names clean and simple: certificate.pdf, id-front.jpg, etc.