Is there a way to mass-delete attachments that were generated with the document builder ?automation?

Almonto1

I previously created a document mapping automation that attached a personalized report to each row of data, but it now requires edits. Is there a way to delete the old auto-generated attachments in one go without deleting the other attachments? If not, I'll have around 2 thousand rows to delete attachments from 1 by 1, so any assistance is appreciated!

jmyzk_cloudsmart_jp

Hi @Almonto1

Yes, there is a way — but you need to use the Smartsheet API.

Here’s the overview:

1. Use List Attachments API method to retrieve all attachments for the sheet.
2. Check the Created By field. If created_by.name is "Smartsheet Automation", you can assume it was generated by the document builder. (*)
3. Use the Delete Attachment method to delete those attachments one by one.
4. Important: Since you have over 2000 rows, and Smartsheet does not allow bulk delete of attachments, you will need to make one API call per deletion.
   • API Rate Limit is 300 calls per minute (Smartsheet API Best Practices).
   • To avoid hitting the limit, pause every 300 deletes (wait 60 seconds).
5. If you want help setting this up, feel free to contact me.

(*) Sample List Attachments Response

The first attachment is by me. The second attachment is by document builder automation.

Attachment ID: 7052208425963396, Name: Attachment to cell image test.pdf, Created by: jmiyazaki

Attachment ID: 1304140950835076, Name: Mapping for 日本語フォント.pdf, Created by: Smartsheet Automation

https://developers.smartsheet.com/api/smartsheet/openapi/attachments (Smartsheet API Documentation on Attachments)

Test code and result