Using file.ax

file.ax is not just a file drop. It is a maximalist toolkit for hosting files, editing text payloads, shortening links, importing remote content and automating uploads from scripts.

If you only need the shortest possible mental model:

1. Log in.
2. Upload or paste content.
3. Adjust link behavior if needed.
4. Share the resulting URL.
5. Use folders, domains, and API credentials when the workflow grows.

What file.ax is good at

• Fast file hosting with short links.
• Browser uploads and resumable uploads.
• Text and paste workflows.
• Direct file editing for inline content.
• File and link management from one account.
• Password-protected downloads.
• QR generation for links.
• Remote download import, including direct URLs and YouTube jobs.
• Secondary passwords and API keys with folder scope.
• DNS tools, E-Mail and SMS tools, and E2E uploads.

For raw endpoint details, use the API docs at /docs/.

First login and navigation

After authentication, the main surfaces are:

Uploading files

The normal browser workflow starts in the manager.

Standard uploads

Use the upload area to pick one or more files, then choose:

• expiry
• target folder
• domain/host
• whether the file should force download
• whether the link should skip the embedded page
• optional E2E mode

The upload flow is designed for real files, not just tiny payloads. The platform supports chunked uploads and resumable behavior on the API side, which is the recommended path for larger jobs.

Clipboard upload

You can paste files directly from the clipboard in the manager. That is useful for screenshots, copied images, or quick one-off drops where saving a local file first is unnecessary.

Choosing expiry

Expiry controls how long the file should remain live.

Common patterns:

• 1 day for temporary drops
• 7 days for short-lived shares
• longer or effectively permanent links for stable assets

If you treat file.ax like a working scratchpad, choosing expiry early keeps your storage cleaner and your links intentional.

Choosing the host

file.ax can serve links through different hosts depending on what your account is allowed to use.

Typical reasons to switch host:

• shorter or nicer-looking links
• alternate routing
• a different presentation surface
• custom domain usage

If you need alternate routing, file.wf utilizes Cloudflare reverse proxy. You can select alternative domains, such as gatto.me, directly when creating or editing a file.

Files, links, and the manager

The manager is where uploaded assets stop being “just files” and become maintained links.

Folders

Folders let you organize files by project, customer, campaign, or environment.

You can:

• create folders
• rename folders
• delete folders
• upload directly into a selected folder
• move existing files into another folder

If you later create scoped credentials, folder structure becomes even more important because it can define what a secondary password or API key is allowed to touch.

Links vs files

file.ax stores both normal files and shortened links. That means the same account can host content and redirect traffic.

Use files when you want file hosting.

Use links when you want:

• a branded short URL
• a redirect to another destination
• a cleaner public share URL
• a QR target that points somewhere else

Editing metadata and behavior

Once a file exists, you can change how it behaves.

Common controls include:

• filename
• destination path
• host/domain
• content type
• expiry
• password lock
• replace with a newer version
• force download vs inline behavior
• skip embedded page

This is the part many people miss: upload is only step one. file.ax is designed so you can keep refining the link after creation.

UI reference: file elements and actions

The old manager UI is built around a stacked two-row item block:

1. a top row with the filename input and the action buttons
2. a bottom row with the public link/path input and the OK / NO state marker

That structure is shared by normal files and shortened links. It is not the newer filemanager23 info panel.

1. Hosted file item in the old manager

What this block is showing:

The important part is that both text boxes are live controls:

• editing the top box changes the filename
• editing the bottom box changes the public host/path
• both save on Enter or blur

2. Short-link item in the old manager

Short links use the same shell, but the top field represents the redirect destination instead of a file name, and several file-only buttons are removed.

Differences for links:

• no Page toggle
• no force-download toggle
• no content-type button
• no replace button
• no direct file-content edit button

3. What the buttons actually do

These labels are simplified in the mockup, but they map to the real button semantics in the old manager:

4. Editable boxes and save behavior

The old manager UI relies on editable boxes rather than a separate inspector panel.

The bottom field is especially important because it is how the old manager exposes direct host/path editing without a separate modal.

5. Mobile action mode

On mobile, or when mobile action mode is enabled, the legacy icon strip collapses into a single Actions button that opens a modal list.

That mode keeps the same actions, but makes them less error-prone on touch devices.

Inline, download, and direct editing

How a file opens matters.

Inline vs force download

For many file types, you can decide whether the browser should try to open the file inline or download it immediately.

Use inline when:

• you want a media file to play in-browser
• you want an image, PDF, or text payload to render directly
• you are building a link that behaves like a page
• you don’t need the file to be downloaded but served

Use force download when:

• the file should always save locally
• the MIME type may confuse browsers
• the asset is meant to be fetched as a binary

Skip embedded page

The embedded page is the intermediate viewer/download surface. Skipping it makes the link more direct.

That is useful when:

• the asset is meant to be embedded elsewhere
• the link should behave like a raw file URL
• you want fewer clicks between the shared link and the content

Direct editing with /edit/...

If a file or link is inline-only and you want to change the content directly, open:

https://[domain such as file.ax]/edit/[filename]

Paste workflows

file.ax is also a paste and text publishing tool.

Use /paste when you want to:

• publish a note quickly
• store text snippets
• create a lightweight page without going through a full upload workflow
• overwrite or maintain text content over time

You can edit the text content directly in the browser.

QR codes

The QR maker gives you a fast way to turn a link into a scannable asset.

Use it when:

• you need a code for posters, packaging, or print
• you want to shorten first, then encode the short link
• you want a stable scannable target under one of your allowed hosts

Good workflow:

1. Create or choose the final short link first.
2. Generate the QR from that final destination.
3. Test on a phone before distributing.

If the underlying path changes later, the QR has to be regenerated unless the short link itself remains stable and only its destination changes.

Passwords, scoped credentials, and API keys

file.ax has more than one kind of access control.

File passwords

A file can be protected so the download path requires a password. Use that when the link itself can be shared broadly but the content still needs a gate.

Secondary passwords

In /profile, you can create scoped passwords for scripts, servers, teammates, or limited operators.

These can control:

• folder scope
• whether files can be listed
• whether files can be edited

That lets you hand out a credential for one project folder without exposing the whole account.

API keys

API keys use the same general permission model and are the better fit for programmatic access where a bearer-style credential is more convenient than a user/password pair.

Use secondary credentials or API keys when:

• a CI job should upload to one folder only
• a server should publish files but not browse everything
• another operator needs access without your main login
• you want revocable automation credentials

Remote import and download jobs

The /download and YouTube tools are for pulling content into file.ax without uploading from your own machine.

Direct download import

This is for remote URLs like large archives, binaries, or media hosted elsewhere.

Useful when:

• the source file is already on a server
• your local bandwidth is limited
• you want file.ax to fetch and host the result directly

YouTube / media jobs

The media pipeline can queue jobs, show progress, and upload the finished result back into your account.

This is better than ad hoc local conversion when you want:

• repeatable mp3/mp4 extraction
• upload-to-account in one flow
• job history and status tracking

For the exact API, see YouTube and Direct Download APIs.

Link shortener workflows

Short links are a first-class feature, not an afterthought.

Use them for:

• redirecting traffic to external destinations
• creating human-friendly paths
• QR generation
• switching public destinations later without changing the published QR or short URL

If you manage both files and short links in the same account, it becomes easy to decide whether a public URL should point to hosted content or act as a redirect.

Replacing files without changing the link

Use replace when:

• the public URL is already distributed
• you need to publish a corrected asset
• the path should stay stable

Common examples:

• updated PDF
• newer app build
• revised image or design export
• refreshed audio or video file

If a link is already in documentation, a QR, or a client handoff, replace is usually safer than creating a new path.

Content types and rendering

Changing content type is useful when the browser is not treating the payload the way you want.

Examples:

• plain text that should render as text
• HTML that should be served with the correct MIME type
• audio/video payloads that need better inline handling

Use this carefully. Wrong content type values can break previews, downloads, or browser rendering.

End-to-end encrypted uploads

file.ax also supports E2E file workflows.

Use E2E when:

• you want ciphertext stored server-side
• you want decryption controlled client-side
• you need more privacy than a normal hosted file provides

This is a specialized mode, so read the implementation notes before using it for anything operationally important:

• E2E Client Integration
• the E2E page at /e2e

Keep in mind that this is not zero-knowledge encryption. The server still sees the ciphertext and metadata, but it does not have the keys to decrypt the content. Moreover, this significantly reduces the features available for the file, such as previewing or content-type-based rendering, since the server cannot interpret the encrypted data.

Mail aliases and verification

The mail area turns file.ax into more than file storage.

You can:

• add and verify destination emails
• create aliases
• use temporary/random mail flows
• forward received mail to a verified destination

This is useful for:

• signups
• one-off testing
• separating inbound mail by project or service

For route-level behavior, see Mail Alias and Verification APIs.

DNS tools

The DNS section is for domain-level control. If you operate custom domains or subdomains, this is where file.ax starts acting like infrastructure instead of a simple host.

Use it when:

• attaching custom domains
• managing records
• routing traffic for hosted or linked assets

Reference: DNS APIs (.fz.mk).

SMS tools

The SMS section is for reserving numbers and reading inbound message feeds.

Use it as a temp-mail for SMS.

Reference: SMS APIs.

Automation and scripting

file.ax has a full scripting surface. If you are past the point of manual uploads, move to the docs.

Best starting points:

• Upload and Edit APIs
• Plain Endpoints (Scripts)
• File and Download APIs
• YouTube and Direct Download APIs

Practical automation patterns:

• upload build artifacts from CI
• scope an API key to a single deployment folder
• create short links after upload
• replace stable asset URLs during release
• run remote import jobs instead of ferrying large files locally

Pro tips

These are the fast wins that are easy to miss:

• Inline-only file or link? Open /edit/[filename] to edit it directly.
• You can paste files straight from your clipboard in the manager.
• To upload from a server, run curl file.ax | bash.
• Want alternate routing? Move files to file.wf to use the alternate serving path.
• Want an alternate domain? Pick it in the domain selector while creating or editing the file.
• To move an existing file to another domain, change its host/path in the manager instead of rebuilding the link from scratch.
• html.<host> is the HTML-safe host. It is meant for HTML and similar browser-rendered payloads, does not use normal cookie-backed sessions, and non-HTML-style paths may get pushed back to the main host.
• http.<host> is the legacy plain-HTTP host. It keeps the same file paths and download routes but skips the automatic HTTPS redirect, which is useful for old firmware, iLOs, old phones, and similarly broken clients.
• Use folders before you need them. Scoped credentials become much easier once your content is already organized.
• Replace files instead of rotating public URLs when the path has already been shared externally.
• Generate QR codes from the final short link, not from a temporary or unreviewed destination.