Asset URL stored as app domain instead of S3 URL - selfhosted

[essamharoon]

Issue Summary

Version 4.1.0 and 4.1.1
Formbricks is storing uploaded file URLs in the database using the application domain (https://fb.domain.com/storage/...) instead of the S3 endpoint (https://s3.domain.com/...), even though S3 storage is correctly configured and ASSET_PREFIX_URL points to the S3 bucket.

As a result, while files are successfully uploaded to S3, the database references still point to the app’s proxy route (/storage/) rather than the actual S3 path. This behavior suggests that Formbricks is using WEBAPP_URL as the base when persisting file URLs instead of ASSET_PREFIX_URL, causing confusion and preventing direct access to S3-hosted files without routing through the application.

Expected Behavior

When S3 storage is enabled and ASSET_PREFIX_URL is defined, Formbricks should store URLs referencing the S3 endpoint directly, so database records reflect the true file location on S3 rather than the app’s /storage proxy.

Other information (incl. screenshots, Formbricks version, steps to reproduce,...)

No response

Your Environment

None

[mattinannt]

Hi @essamharoon , thanks for raising an issue :-)
What you are describing is expected behavior. This is in parts necessary to perform authentication and authorization checks on the Formbricks server to make sure they can only be accessed by users with the right permission.

What is the benefit you are seeing from storing the S3-URL directly? Is this due to performance concerns if the requests are routed through the Formbricks application?