Protect a live link with a key, end date or rotation

Protect a live link with a key

A new Live Link starts as Anyone with the link. For data only some people should fetch, switch to Link + key and share the key separately.

With Link + key, the Key line shows the start and last 4 characters of the key. The full key is shown only to people who can edit the View.

• Copy copies the full key ("Key copied").
• New key makes a new key. The dialog warns: "The current key stops working at once. Anything using it needs the new key."
• Copy link with key copies a URL with the key inside, "For Mammoth's From URL import and scripts".

Send the key from a script

Send the key as the password of Basic authentication, or in an X-Mammoth-Key header. A successful fetch answers with a redirect to a short-lived address of the file, so follow redirects (-L for curl):

curl -L -H "X-Mammoth-Key: $LIVE_LINK_KEY" "<live_link_url>" -o latest.csv

Add a key to an old public-file link

Live links created before Mammoth addresses existed are still a public file. The settings say "This link is still a public file. Adding a key or rotating gives it a Mammoth address." Choosing Link + key on one opens Add a key to this link?.

1. Choose how long the old address keeps working: Stop now, 24 hours or 7 days (selected).
2. Click Add key.

The link gets a new Mammoth address. The old file address keeps working, without a key, for the time you picked.

Set an end date on a live link

After the end date, the settings say "This link has ended. Every fetch is refused." Choose Never to make it work again. Use an end date for a link that is only needed for a while.

See who fetched a live link

The Use line reads, for example, "Last fetched 2 hours ago by Power BI · 37 fetches in 7 days · 3 refused", or "Not fetched yet" before the first fetch.

Mammoth names the tool from the request: Power BI, Power Query, Google Sheets, Script (curl or Python requests), Browser or Other. A fetch is refused when it has the wrong key or none, comes after the end date or while the link is off, or comes before the link has any data.

Rotate a live link to a new URL

Rotate link gives the link a new URL, and a new key for a key link. Anything using the old URL has to be updated.

1. Click Rotate link. The Rotate this link? dialog opens.
2. Under Old link keeps working for, choose Stop now, 24 hours (selected) or 7 days.
3. Click Rotate link.

If the link has been fetched, the dialog reminds you, for example: "Last fetched 2 hours ago by Power BI. Update that report before the old link stops." While the old URL still works, the settings show when it stops.

Turn a live link off and on

Turn off makes the URL refuse every fetch. Settings and key are kept, so Turn on makes the same URL work again. While off, the settings say "Turned off. Every fetch is refused until you turn it back on."

Fix a refused live link fetch

A Mammoth address sends one of these plain-text messages instead of the data; BI tools show it as the error.

If none of these appears, check the Monitor's Needs Attention tab for an error on the Live link task.

If the settings don't open ("The link settings could not be loaded.") or a change fails ("The link could not be changed. Try again."), close the form, open the task with Edit again and retry.

Related

• Live links: create a link and connect Power BI or Excel.
• Manage a live link over the API: the same settings as API routes.
• Import from a URL: read a key link back into Mammoth.
• Hold exports for review: the Monitor panel.