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Web link

Web links are objects that point to URLs. These objects are also known as bookmarks within the Box web application.

Web link objects are treated similarly to file objects, they will also support most actions that apply to regular files.

This resource has a few variations that can be encountered when using the API.

The fields that are part of the standard variant are generally returned when the resource is requested via its own API endpoints. For example, when retrieving a file by ID, it will return these fields unless the fields parameter has been specified.

string
11446498

The unique identifier for this web link

string
web_link

web_link

Value is always web_link

string (date-time)
2012-12-12T10:53:43-08:00

When this file was created on Box’s servers.

User (Mini) object

The user who created this web link

string
Example page

The description accompanying the web link. This is visible within the Box web application.

string
1

The entity tag of this web link. Used with If-Match headers.

string
active

Whether this item is deleted or not. Values include active, trashed if the file has been moved to the trash, and deleted if the file has been permanently deleted

Value is one of active,trashed,deleted

string (date-time)
2012-12-12T10:53:43-08:00

When this file was last updated on the Box servers.

User (Mini) object

The user who last modified this web link

string
My Bookmark

The name of the web link

User (Mini) object

The user who owns this web link

Folder (Mini) object

The parent object the web link belongs to

object

The tree of folders that this web link is contained in, starting at the root.

Folder (Mini) array

The parent folders for this item

integer (int64)
1

The number of folders in this list.

string (date-time)
2012-12-12T10:53:43-08:00

When this file will be permanently deleted.

string
3

A numeric identifier that represents the most recent user event that has been applied to this item.

This can be used in combination with the GET /events-endpoint to filter out user events that would have occurred before this identifier was read.

An example would be where a Box Drive-like application would fetch an item via the API, and then listen to incoming user events for changes to the item. The application would ignore any user events where the sequence_id in the event is smaller than or equal to the sequence_id in the originally fetched resource.

object

The shared link object for this item. Will be null if no shared link has been created.

string
open

The access level for this shared link.

  • open - provides access to this item to anyone with this link
  • company - only provides access to this item to people the same company
  • collaborators - only provides access to this item to people who are collaborators on this item

If this field is omitted when creating the shared link, the access level will be set to the default access level specified by the enterprise admin.

Value is one of open,company,collaborators

integer
3

The number of times this item has been downloaded.

string (url)
https://www.box.com/shared/static/rh935iit6ewrmw0unyul.jpeg

A URL that can be used to download the file. This URL can be used in a browser to download the file. This URL includes the file extension so that the file will be saved with the right file type.

This property will be null for folders.

string
company

The effective access level for the shared link. This can be a more restrictive access level than the value in the access field when the enterprise settings restrict the allowed access levels.

Value is one of open,company,collaborators

string
can_download

The effective permissions for this shared link. These result in the more restrictive combination of the share link permissions and the item permissions set by the administrator, the owner, and any ancestor item such as a folder.

Value is one of can_edit,can_download,can_preview,no_access

boolean
true

Defines if the shared link requires a password to access the item.

object

Defines if this link allows a user to preview, edit, and download an item. These permissions refer to the shared link only and do not supersede permissions applied to the item itself.

boolean
true

Defines if the shared link allows for the item to be downloaded. For shared links on folders, this also applies to any items in the folder.

This value can be set to true when the effective access level is set to open or company, not collaborators.

boolean
false

Defines if the shared link allows for the item to be edited.

This value can only be true if can_download is also true and if the item has a type of file.

boolean
true

Defines if the shared link allows for the item to be previewed.

This value is always true. For shared links on folders this also applies to any items in the folder.

integer
3

The number of times this item has been previewed.

string (date-time)
2018-04-13T13:53:23-07:00

The date and time when this link will be unshared. This field can only be set by users with paid accounts.

string (url)
https://www.box.com/s/vspke7y05sb214wjokpk

The URL that can be used to access the item on Box.

This URL will display the item in Box's preview UI where the file can be downloaded if allowed.

This URL will continue to work even when a custom vanity_url has been set for this shared link.

string
my_url

The custom name of a shared link, as used in the vanity_url field.

string (url)
https://acme.app.box.com/v/my_url/

The "Custom URL" that can also be used to preview the item on Box. Custom URLs can only be created or modified in the Box Web application.

string (date-time)
2012-12-12T10:53:43-08:00

When this file was moved to the trash.

string
https://www.example.com/example/1234

The URL this web link points to

Response Example

{
  "id": "11446498",
  "type": "web_link",
  "created_at": "2012-12-12T10:53:43-08:00",
  "created_by": {
    "id": "11446498",
    "type": "user",
    "login": "ceo@example.com",
    "name": "Aaron Levie"
  },
  "description": "Example page",
  "etag": "1",
  "item_status": "active",
  "modified_at": "2012-12-12T10:53:43-08:00",
  "modified_by": {
    "id": "11446498",
    "type": "user",
    "login": "ceo@example.com",
    "name": "Aaron Levie"
  },
  "name": "My Bookmark",
  "owned_by": {
    "id": "11446498",
    "type": "user",
    "login": "ceo@example.com",
    "name": "Aaron Levie"
  },
  "parent": {
    "id": "12345",
    "type": "folder",
    "etag": "1",
    "name": "Contracts",
    "sequence_id": "3"
  },
  "path_collection": {
    "entries": [
      {
        "id": "12345",
        "etag": "1",
        "type": "folder",
        "sequence_id": "3",
        "name": "Contracts"
      }
    ],
    "total_count": 1
  },
  "purged_at": "2012-12-12T10:53:43-08:00",
  "sequence_id": "3",
  "shared_link": {
    "access": "open",
    "download_count": 3,
    "download_url": "https://www.box.com/shared/static/rh935iit6ewrmw0unyul.jpeg",
    "effective_access": "company",
    "effective_permission": "can_download",
    "is_password_enabled": true,
    "permissions": {
      "can_download": true,
      "can_edit": false,
      "can_preview": true
    },
    "preview_count": 3,
    "unshared_at": "2018-04-13T13:53:23-07:00",
    "url": "https://www.box.com/s/vspke7y05sb214wjokpk",
    "vanity_name": "my_url",
    "vanity_url": "https://acme.app.box.com/v/my_url/"
  },
  "trashed_at": "2012-12-12T10:53:43-08:00",
  "url": "https://www.example.com/example/1234"
}