How to Share Files From the Command Line — CLI Guide for Developers

FlingDrop’s command-line interface (CLI) lets you upload files and retrieve temporary download links directly from your terminal — without opening a browser or using a GUI. It is available for Windows, macOS, and Linux, making it the right tool for developers, sysadmins, and DevOps engineers who work in the terminal. If you prefer programmatic access via the REST API instead of the CLI, see How to Automate File Delivery with the FlingDrop REST API.

Installation

macOS

# Download the macOS binary
curl -L https://app.flingdrop.com/cli/download/macos -o flingdrop
chmod +x flingdrop
sudo mv flingdrop /usr/local/bin/

Or install via Homebrew (if tap is configured):

brew install flingdrop

Linux

curl -L https://app.flingdrop.com/cli/download/linux -o flingdrop
chmod +x flingdrop
sudo mv flingdrop /usr/local/bin/

Windows

Download flingdrop.exe from flingdrop.com/download or via PowerShell:

Invoke-WebRequest -Uri "https://app.flingdrop.com/cli/download/windows" -OutFile "flingdrop.exe"

Add the directory containing flingdrop.exe to your PATH for global access.

Configuration

Before your first upload, configure your API Key:

flingdrop config set api-key YOUR_API_KEY_HERE

Your API Key is available in your FlingDrop dashboard or was emailed to you at registration. The key is stored in ~/.config/flingdrop/config.json (Linux/macOS) or %APPDATA%\flingdrop\config.json (Windows).

Verify your configuration:

flingdrop config show

Basic Usage

Upload a file

flingdrop upload report.pdf

Output:

Uploading report.pdf... done
Download link: https://app.flingdrop.com/d/f_abc123xyz
Expires: 2026-04-01 (30 days)
Link copied to clipboard.

Upload with custom expiration

flingdrop upload contract.pdf --expires 14

Upload and get just the URL (for scripting)

flingdrop upload data-export.csv --quiet
# Outputs only the URL, no progress text

List your uploaded files

flingdrop list

Delete a file

flingdrop delete f_abc123xyz

Scripting Examples

Bash: Nightly backup upload

#!/bin/bash
BACKUP_FILE="/var/backups/db-$(date +%Y%m%d).sql.gz"
pg_dump mydb | gzip > "$BACKUP_FILE"

LINK=$(flingdrop upload "$BACKUP_FILE" --expires 7 --quiet)
echo "Backup uploaded: $LINK"

# Send link via email, Slack, or PagerDuty notification
curl -X POST https://hooks.slack.com/services/YOUR/WEBHOOK \
  -H 'Content-type: application/json' \
  -d "{\"text\": \"Nightly backup ready: $LINK\"}"

Python: Upload from a script

import subprocess

def upload_to_flingdrop(file_path, expires_days=7):
    result = subprocess.run(
        ['flingdrop', 'upload', file_path, '--expires', str(expires_days), '--quiet'],
        capture_output=True, text=True
    )
    return result.stdout.strip()

download_url = upload_to_flingdrop('/tmp/report.pdf', expires_days=14)
print(f"Report available at: {download_url}")

CI/CD: Share build artifacts

In a GitHub Actions workflow, upload build artifacts and post the link to a PR comment:

- name: Upload build artifact
  run: |
    LINK=$(flingdrop upload dist/app.zip --expires 3 --quiet)
    echo "Build artifact: $LINK" >> $GITHUB_STEP_SUMMARY
  env:
    FLINGDROP_API_KEY: ${{ secrets.FLINGDROP_API_KEY }}

Note: Set FLINGDROP_API_KEY as an environment variable to override the config file in CI environments.

Environment Variable Configuration

For CI/CD and containerized environments where writing to a config file is not practical:

export FLINGDROP_API_KEY=your_api_key_here
flingdrop upload file.zip

The environment variable takes precedence over the config file.

Plan Limits

The CLI respects the same limits as the web interface and API. Attempting to upload a file larger than your plan allows returns an error with a clear message.

Troubleshooting

command not found: flingdrop: Ensure the binary is in a directory listed in your $PATH. Run echo $PATH to verify.

Authentication failed: Re-run flingdrop config set api-key YOUR_KEY. Verify the key in your FlingDrop dashboard.

File size exceeds plan limit: Upgrade your plan in the FlingDrop dashboard to increase the per-file limit.

Upload stalls on large files: FlingDrop uses multipart uploads for files over 100MB. If your network connection is unstable, the CLI will retry automatically up to 3 times before failing.

Summary

FlingDrop’s CLI provides a fast, scriptable interface for temporary file sharing that integrates naturally into developer workflows — from ad-hoc terminal usage to CI/CD pipelines and scheduled scripts. Install once, configure your API Key, and flingdrop upload becomes the fastest way to share a file from any terminal session.

Related guides:

• How to Automate File Delivery with the FlingDrop REST API
• 10 Use Cases for Automated File Sharing via API in Enterprise Workflows
• The Complete Guide to Temporary Download Links for SaaS Companies