Skip to content

Request access to a file (internal) #64874

Description

@jospoortvliet

Tip

Help move this idea forward

  • Use the 👍 reaction to show support for this feature.
  • Avoid commenting unless you have relevant information to add; unnecessary comments create noise for subscribers.
  • Subscribe to receive notifications about status changes and new comments.

overview

In SharePoint, Google and other platforms, when a user receives a link share but they lack permissions, they can request them. Nextcloud usually just says - not found. There is a security aspect to it but within an instance, it does make sense to be able to ask for access.

Current state

If you share an internal link but the recipient has no access, they get 'file not found'. Similar with Deck boards etc.

Wished state/what others do

When you share an internal link but the recipient has no access, they get the option to request access. This can look like these options:

Image Image

In the case of Nextcloud, it can be you're logged in, or not.

Not logged in

In Nextcloud, instead of saying "file not found" on an invalid file, and you are not logged in, we say:

File not found. If you think this is a mistake, log in or request access.

-> log in because, well, maybe you aren't logged in but have an account. Of course only if you are indeed not logged in ;-)

The 'Request access' option gives you the option to enter an email or (if federation is enabled on the server) a federated cloud ID. Not sure if we would want to add more options like phone number, or also/optionally allow just a name.

If the file does not exist, well, nothing happens after this of course.

Logged in

When you are logged in, you usually get a popup with a warning the file was not found. It should give you the ability to request access, too, just with a click.

If the file does not/no longer exists, nothing happens after this.

Managing requests

There will then need to be an UI to manage these access requests. Some screenshots of how our MS friends do it:

Image Image

Maybe this should be in the Files sharing sidebar (left), and you should get notifications when a request is made.

Optional

Microsoft allows control over this:

Image

For public links

To have this work for public links doesn't really make sense, these are meant to be unique.

It would probably make sense to support expired shares:
#17996

So once a share has expired, don't delete it but put it in the Files sidebar for another month or two so users can re-activate the old link. This is very handy when you accidentally had an expiration date...

Federation

Not sure if it is relevant to federation. Would depend on if a federated share gets a file_id that is unique across the instance. If so, then, it makes sense if this works across servers, yes.

Activity

Sign up for free to join this conversation on GitHub. Already have an account? Sign in to comment

Metadata

Metadata

Assignees

No one assigned

    Labels

    0. Needs triagePending check for reproducibility or if it fits our roadmapenhancement

    Projects

    Milestone

    No milestone

    Relationships

    None yet

    Development

    No branches or pull requests

    Issue actions