diff --git a/apps/api/src/feed-service.ts b/apps/api/src/feed-service.ts
index 63ddb799..5979b322 100644
--- a/apps/api/src/feed-service.ts
+++ b/apps/api/src/feed-service.ts
@@ -184,6 +184,22 @@ export async function findLatestRepoScreenshots(
   return page.items;
 }
 
+/**
+ * Whether a live link in this workspace can serve its files: the active
+ * storage lane (the record's own fields) has a public base URL, without which
+ * `publicUrl` in @uploads/storage is null. A live link is public, so creating
+ * one without it would leave a link whose page can only fail.
+ */
+export function liveLinksServable(workspace: WorkspaceRecord): boolean {
+  return Boolean(workspace.publicBaseUrl);
+}
+
+export function feedNotPublicError(): ServiceUnavailableError {
+  return new ServiceUnavailableError("Feed object is not publicly served.", {
+    code: "feed_object_not_public",
+  });
+}
+
 async function mapBounded<T, R>(
   values: T[],
   concurrency: number,
@@ -258,9 +274,7 @@ export async function hydrateFeedItems(
         ? objectPublicUrls(env, itemConfig, match.key)
         : { url: null, embedUrl: null };
     if (opts.requirePublicUrls !== false && meta && !withheld && urls.url === null)
-      throw new ServiceUnavailableError("Feed object is not publicly served.", {
-        code: "feed_object_not_public",
-      });
+      throw feedNotPublicError();
     const dates = meta && !withheld ? publicObjectDateFields(meta) : {};
     const id = await feedItemIdFor(match.key);
     return {
diff --git a/apps/api/src/github-comment.test.ts b/apps/api/src/github-comment.test.ts
index a7097a8d..48199688 100644
--- a/apps/api/src/github-comment.test.ts
+++ b/apps/api/src/github-comment.test.ts
@@ -386,6 +386,20 @@ describe("gatherCommentBody live link (spec: PR comment links to the live link)"
     );
   });
 
+  it("creates no live link on a workspace with no public base URL", async () => {
+    const { env, ws, workspaceName, bucket } = makeTestEnv();
+    await putTagged(env, bucket, "gh/acme/web/pull/12/a.png", PR12);
+    const result = await gatherCommentBody(
+      env,
+      { ...ws, name: workspaceName, publicBaseUrl: undefined },
+      workspaceName,
+      target,
+    );
+    expect(await findFeedByScope(env.DB, workspaceName, "acme/web", "", 12)).toBeNull();
+    expect(result.body).not.toContain("View all on uploads.sh");
+    expect(result.body).not.toContain("/c/");
+  });
+
   it("omits the line when githubCommentLinkToFilePage is false", async () => {
     const { env, ws, workspaceName, bucket } = makeTestEnv();
     await putTagged(env, bucket, "gh/acme/web/pull/12/a.png", PR12);
diff --git a/apps/api/src/github-comment.ts b/apps/api/src/github-comment.ts
index 8b61cf2e..068a8519 100644
--- a/apps/api/src/github-comment.ts
+++ b/apps/api/src/github-comment.ts
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@
 
 import { dbFor } from "./db-session";
 import { feedItemIdFor, isInFeedScope, type FeedScope } from "@uploads/comment-render/scope";
-import { feedItemUrl, feedUrl } from "./feed-service";
+import { feedItemUrl, feedUrl, liveLinksServable } from "./feed-service";
 import { createFeed } from "./feeds";
 import { listObjects } from "./files-core";
 import { getMetadataForKeys } from "./file-metadata";
@@ -232,7 +232,15 @@ async function gatherAttachments(
 
   const liveLinkUrl =
     items.length > 0
-      ? await applyPrFeedPageUrls(env, workspaceName, target, items, scopeMetaByKey, linkToFilePage)
+      ? await applyPrFeedPageUrls(
+          env,
+          ws,
+          workspaceName,
+          target,
+          items,
+          scopeMetaByKey,
+          linkToFilePage,
+        )
       : null;
 
   if (!showMetadata || items.length === 0) return { items, liveLinkUrl };
@@ -325,10 +333,12 @@ async function resolvePosterUrl(
  * predicate as the scope query — and the id is hashed directly, with no
  * 50-row page to fall off. Returns the live link URL when `linkToFilePage`
  * is on, else null. Failures never fail the comment: `/f/` (or the raw URL)
- * stays and the line is omitted.
+ * stays and the line is omitted. A workspace with no public base URL gets no
+ * live link at all, since its page could not serve the files.
  */
 async function applyPrFeedPageUrls(
   env: Env,
+  ws: WorkspaceRecord,
   workspaceName: string,
   target: GhTarget,
   items: AttachmentItem[],
@@ -336,6 +346,7 @@ async function applyPrFeedPageUrls(
   linkToFilePage: boolean,
 ): Promise<string | null> {
   try {
+    if (!liveLinksServable(ws)) return null;
     // Comment-sync rows are uncapped and keep `comment` for life. GhTarget
     // spells issues `issues`; createFeed takes `pr`/`issue`, and the slot
     // lookup ignores kind, so a later web/CLI create for the same number
diff --git a/apps/api/src/routes/feeds.ts b/apps/api/src/routes/feeds.ts
index 0318694e..80350fc4 100644
--- a/apps/api/src/routes/feeds.ts
+++ b/apps/api/src/routes/feeds.ts
@@ -4,8 +4,10 @@ import { createFeed, getFeed, listFeeds, softDeleteFeed } from "../feeds";
 import {
   decodeFeedCursor,
   encodeFeedCursor,
+  feedNotPublicError,
   feedSummary,
   hydrateOwnerFeed,
+  liveLinksServable,
   unwrapFeedMutation,
 } from "../feed-service";
 import { writeRateLimit } from "../guards";
@@ -23,6 +25,8 @@ async function ownerFeed(c: Context<WorkspaceVars>, id: string) {
 
 export async function createFeedHandler(c: Context<WorkspaceVars>) {
   const body = await jsonBody(c);
+  // Checked before the insert, so a refused create leaves no row behind.
+  if (!liveLinksServable(c.get("workspace"))) throw feedNotPublicError();
   const result = unwrapFeedMutation(
     await createFeed(dbFor(c.env), {
       workspace: c.get("workspaceName"),
diff --git a/apps/api/test/routes-feeds.test.ts b/apps/api/test/routes-feeds.test.ts
index 2b11efd3..9a0d560f 100644
--- a/apps/api/test/routes-feeds.test.ts
+++ b/apps/api/test/routes-feeds.test.ts
@@ -73,6 +73,14 @@ beforeEach(async () => {
       publicBaseUrl: "https://storage.uploads.sh",
       tokenHash: await sha256Hex(TOKEN),
     },
+    // No public base URL: objects are reachable only through signed URLs.
+    gamma: {
+      provider: "r2",
+      bucket: "shared",
+      binding: "UPLOADS_DEFAULT",
+      prefix: "gamma/",
+      tokenHash: await sha256Hex(TOKEN),
+    },
   };
   env = {
     DB: sqlite as unknown as D1Database,
@@ -427,6 +435,21 @@ describe("feed routes", () => {
     expect(((await res.json()) as { source: string | null }).source).toBe("user");
   });
 
+  it("refuses a live link on a workspace with no public base URL and saves no row", async () => {
+    // Both an empty scope and one with files: a live link could serve neither.
+    await putShot("gamma", "gh/acme/app/pull/1/a.png", { "gh.repo": "acme/app" });
+    for (const body of [{ repo: "acme/app", pr: 1 }, { repo: "acme/empty" }]) {
+      const created = await request("/v1/workspaces/gamma/feeds", {
+        method: "POST",
+        body: JSON.stringify(body),
+      });
+      expect(created.status).toBe(503);
+      expect(await created.json()).toMatchObject({ error: { code: "feed_object_not_public" } });
+    }
+    const list = await request("/v1/workspaces/gamma/feeds");
+    expect(((await list.json()) as { feeds: unknown[] }).feeds).toEqual([]);
+  });
+
   it("creates 60 PR-scoped feeds over the API and caps only repo-scoped feeds at 50", async () => {
     for (let n = 1; n <= 60; n++) {
       const created = await request("/v1/workspaces/alpha/feeds", {