OverviewPre-recorded audio

Why can’t I access recording URLs from the /upload endpoint directly?

The URLs generated by AssemblyAI’s /upload endpoint are designed exclusively for transcript processing and are only accessible by our API. These URLs cannot be accessed directly, which is why you receive an “AccessDenied” error when you try to navigate to the URLs or use them in other applications.

If you need a publicly accessible URL for your audio files to use in automation workflows or other applications, we recommend hosting your files in your own cloud storage solution, such as:

  • Amazon S3 bucket
  • Google Cloud Storage
  • Azure Blob Storage
  • Other cloud storage providers

Best Practice Workflow

For automation workflows that require access to the original audio file:

  1. Upload your audio file to your own cloud storage
  2. Generate a public or pre-signed URL from your storage provider
  3. Use that URL in your automation tools (like Make)
  4. Submit the same URL to AssemblyAI for transcription processing

This approach ensures you maintain control over file access while still being able to process transcripts through AssemblyAI’s API.