How do I share an R Markdown HTML report?

Render it as usual — `rmarkdown::render("report.Rmd")` produces a self-contained HTML file by default — then POST that file to https://commareports.com/api/v1/reports from R with httr, or with one curl. You get a URL to send instead of a 12 MB email attachment.

Do plots and interactive widgets survive?

Yes. With `self_contained: true` (the html_document default) knitr base64-inlines plots and htmlwidget dependencies into the single file, and Comma renders report HTML verbatim with scripts enabled in a sandboxed iframe — so plotly, leaflet and DT widgets stay interactive.

Can reviewers comment on a specific figure or table row?

That is the main reason to publish rather than attach. Comma renders the report with an anchored comment layer on top, so a reviewer highlights a figure or a row and pins a thread to it, and the thread persists when the report is re-rendered next month.

How do I keep one link when the report is rerun monthly?

Save the report id once and PATCH it on each render. Every render appends a revision at the same URL, so the link in last quarter's email still opens the current version, and any two revisions can be diffed.

Does this work for flexdashboard and bookdown output?

Flexdashboard renders to a single self-contained HTML file and publishes identically. Bookdown produces a multi-page site, so publish the entry page as the report body and upload the other files as assets — relative links are rewritten.

Share an R Markdown report

R Markdown solved reproducibility and stopped there. rmarkdown::render() gives you a self-contained HTML file with every plot inlined and every widget working — and then the distribution story is "email it," because that's what's available. So the analysis becomes a 12 MB attachment, the feedback comes back as "the chart on page 4 looks off," and the next month's rerun starts a second attachment with no relationship to the first.

Publish from R

rmarkdown::render("report.Rmd", output_file = "report.html")

httr::PATCH(
  paste0("https://commareports.com/api/v1/reports/", Sys.getenv("COMMA_REPORT_ID")),
  httr::add_headers(Authorization = paste("Bearer", Sys.getenv("COMMA_API_TOKEN"))),
  body = list(
    title = paste("Monthly analysis —", format(Sys.Date(), "%Y-%m")),
    html  = readr::read_file("report.html")
  ),
  encode = "json"
)

PATCH on a saved report id rather than POST keeps one URL with a revision per render — the link you sent in March still opens August's numbers, and any two months can be diffed. Use a scoped token with reports:write and keep it in .Renviron, not in the .Rmd.

What changes

Comments land on the figure. "The chart on page 4" becomes a thread pinned to that chart, still there at the next rerun. See commenting on HTML.
Widgets still work. Self-contained knitr output keeps plotly, DT and leaflet interactive inside the sandbox — see interactive HTML reports.
Stakeholders don't need R. Or a VPN, or an attachment. The sharing model is per report: private, team-visible, domain-gated, or named reviewers.
The rerun is a schedule, not a reminder. A routine can refresh the report on a cron.

Limits

HTML body: 5 MB. Self-contained reports with many high-resolution figures pass it; render plots at a sane dpi, or upload the heavy assets separately (25 MB per file) via assets.
Scripts run, sandboxed: allow-scripts, no allow-same-origin.

Try it

Comma is free — unlimited reports, unlimited commenters, unlimited revision history.

Create your first report →

Jupyter notebooks · Quarto · Marimo
EDA reports — profiling output, same pattern
Google Docs for HTML — why the comment layer matters

Share an R Markdown report

Publish from R

What changes

Limits

Try it

Related