Urgent: Pabbly Chatflow Unable to Send PDF & Video via WhatsApp – Invalid Media Link Error
Status: Closed · Asked by Anjali koli on · 0 views
Hi Pabbly Support Team,
We are setting up a WhatsApp automation in Pabbly Connect using Pabbly Chatflow after a Calendly booking.
Our workflow is:
Calendly Booking → Google Sheets → WhatsApp Template Message → PDF Document → Video
The initial WhatsApp template message is working correctly. However, we are facing issues while sending the PDF and Video through Pabbly Chatflow.
For the PDF, we are using the Send Document Message action with the following Google Drive file:
PDF:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1k5nhbzEPioftS0Y-b9d1souIeopkV1sc/view?usp=sharing
We also tried using the direct-download format:
https://drive.google.com/uc?export=download&id=1k5nhbzEPioftS0Y-b9d1souIeopkV1sc
But Pabbly returns the following error:
Status: Error
Message: Invalid media link: Invalid file type application/octet-stream
Similarly, we need to send the following video through Send Video Message:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1R1X1-0M3VVE_bHUovJx6L_Qk2eOE_Rin/view?usp=sharing
Both files are shared publicly with Anyone with the link – Viewer access.
Could you please help us with the following:
- What exact type of URL should be used in Document URL and Video URL in Pabbly Chatflow?
- Can Google Drive-hosted PDF and MP4 files be sent directly through Pabbly Chatflow?
- If yes, please share the correct URL format/setup required.
- If Google Drive links are not supported, please suggest the recommended way to host/send these files without using a separate paid hosting service.
- Please also confirm whether there are any file-size or MIME-type requirements for PDF and MP4 files.
We have already completed the rest of the workflow and the WhatsApp booking confirmation is working properly. The only pending issue is the PDF and video delivery.
This automation needs to go live today, so we would really appreciate it if your team could help us resolve this today itself.
I am also attaching screenshots of the current Pabbly setup and the error response for reference.
Regards,
Sidharth Parmar
Founder & CEO
ClimbNRise Digital Marketing Pvt. Ltd.
Hello Sidharth,
Thank you for the detailed explanation.
The “Invalid media link” error is occurring because the URL being passed to the Pabbly Chatflow action is a Google Drive URL and is not being provided as a direct, downloadable media URL in the required format.
As shown in the screenshots, you can resolve this by adding a File Uploader (Pabbly) – Upload File & Get URL action before each Chatflow step where a media file is being sent.
For the Document message
As shown in the screenshot:
Add File Uploader (Pabbly) → Upload File & Get URL before the Send Document Message step.
Pass the Google Drive/file URL in the File URL field of the File Uploader.
The File Uploader will generate a new URL for the uploaded file.
In the Pabbly Chatflow → Send Document Message step, replace the existing Google Drive URL in the Document URL field with the File URL returned by the File Uploader.
You can refer to the attached screenshots for the exact placement and mapping.
For the Video message
The same setup needs to be repeated separately for the video:
Add another File Uploader (Pabbly) → Upload File & Get URL action immediately before the Send Video Message step.
Pass the video file URL to the File Uploader.
Map the File URL returned by the File Uploader into the Video URL field of the Send Video Message action.
In other words, each media-sending Chatflow step should have its own File Uploader step immediately before it so that the Chatflow action receives the generated file URL instead of the original Google Drive URL.
For example:
Document:
Google Drive URL → File Uploader → File URL → Send Document Message
Video:
Google Drive URL → File Uploader → File URL → Send Video Message
Please make these changes for both the document and video steps, and then test the workflow again.
yes, all changes is done.
workflow now is working properly, Thank you for the support.