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Allow External Assets Safely

Permit external assets only when the render contract requires them and the trust boundary is explicit.

Decision path

When external assets should be allowed

The safe default is to block them. Allow them only when the document contract genuinely depends on them.

QuestionDo you actually need them?

If not, keep the default block in place and stop there.

ScopeAllow the narrowest surface

Prefer a tight protocol and host allow-list over a broad permission.

ResilienceTest asset failure modes

Make sure the output still behaves acceptably if the asset is unavailable.

Trust boundaryDocument the decision

Make the asset dependency visible in the surrounding workflow or product.

External assets are an explicit trust decision, not a background convenience.

External assets are useful when a rendered document needs images, linked media, or other hosted content, but they should never be enabled by accident.

  1. Decide whether the document genuinely depends on external assets.
  2. Prefer the narrowest allow-list that satisfies the use case.
  3. Keep the allowed protocols and hosts explicit in the render options.
  4. Verify that the output still behaves well if assets fail to load.
  5. Make the trust boundary visible in the surrounding product or workflow.

Practical Rule

If you do not need external assets, do not enable them. If you do need them, document the reason and keep the scope as tight as possible.