diff --git a/lib/Controller/ExternalStorageController.php b/lib/Controller/ExternalStorageController.php
index aa7ffb2..bfea0a7 100644
--- a/lib/Controller/ExternalStorageController.php
+++ b/lib/Controller/ExternalStorageController.php
@@ -39,7 +39,7 @@ public function getExternalStorageConfigurationForSpecificFile(int $fileId): Dat
                 return new DataResponse(['error' => 'user not logged in'], Http::STATUS_INTERNAL_SERVER_ERROR);
             }
 
-            $externalStorageConfiguration = $this->externalStorageService->getExternalStorageConfigurationForSpecificFile($user, $fileId, false);
+            $externalStorageConfiguration = $this->externalStorageService->test($user, $fileId, false);
 
             if (!isset($externalStorageConfiguration['error'])) {
                 return new DataResponse(['success' => true, 'configuration' => $externalStorageConfiguration], Http::STATUS_OK); 
diff --git a/lib/Service/ExternalStorageService.php b/lib/Service/ExternalStorageService.php
index 8ff0f06..a2cfc26 100644
--- a/lib/Service/ExternalStorageService.php
+++ b/lib/Service/ExternalStorageService.php
@@ -25,15 +25,18 @@
 
 use Exception;
 use OCP\IUser;
+use OCP\Files\Config\IUserMountCache;
 use OCP\Files\IRootFolder;
 use OCA\Files_External\Service\GlobalStoragesService;
 use Psr\Log\LoggerInterface;
-use OCP\Files\File;
 use OCA\Files_External\Lib\StorageConfig;
 
+use OCA\Files_External\NotFoundException;
+use OCP\Files\StorageNotAvailableException;
+
 class ExternalStorageService {
 
-	public function __construct(private LoggerInterface $logger, private IRootFolder $rootFolder, private GlobalStoragesService $globalStoragesService, private HttpRequestService $httpClient) {}
+	public function __construct(private LoggerInterface $logger, private IUserMountCache $test, private IRootFolder $rootFolder, private GlobalStoragesService $globalStoragesService, private HttpRequestService $httpClient) {}
 
     /**
 	 * Get the metadata from the external storage metadata endpoint for specific file
@@ -73,30 +76,31 @@ public function getMetadataForSpecificFile(IUser $nextcloudUser, int $fileId): a
 	 */
     public function getExternalStorageConfigurationForSpecificFile(IUser $nextcloudUser, int $fileId, bool $includeAuthSettings): array {
         try {
-            $userFolder = $this->rootFolder->getUserFolder($nextcloudUser->getUID());
-            $files = $userFolder->getById($fileId);
-            if (count($files) <= 0 || !$files[0] instanceof File) {
-                return ['message' => 'file ' . $fileId . ' not found', 'error' => 'file_not_found'];
+            $mountsForFile = $this->test->getMountsForFileId($fileId, $nextcloudUser->getUID());
+            $this->logger->error("test mounts from fileId", ["getMountsForFileId" => $mountsForFile]);
+            
+            if (empty($mountsForFile)) {
+                return ['message' => 'no external storage found for file ' . $fileId, 'error' => 'external_storage_not_found'];
             }
 
-            // get the file according to the provided $fileId
-            $file = $files[0];
-
-            // fetch all configured external storages
-            $externalStorages = $this->globalStoragesService->getStorages();
+            // get configuration for external storage from ID
+            $externalStorage = $this->globalStoragesService->getStorage($mountsForFile[0]->getMountId());
 
-            // loop through each external storage to find the one related to your file
-            foreach ($externalStorages as $externalStorage) {
-                if ($this->isFileInExternalStorage($file, $externalStorage)) {
-                    return $this->buildExternalStorageConfiguration($externalStorage, $includeAuthSettings);
-                }
+            // check external storage type is a CIDgravity storage
+            // if not, it means storage not found (for our use case)
+            if ($externalStorage->getBackend()->getIdentifier() != "cidgravity") {
+                return ['message' => 'external storage type for file ' . $fileId . ' is not a cidgravity storage', 'error' => 'external_storage_invalid_type'];
             }
 
+            return $this->buildExternalStorageConfiguration($externalStorage, false);
+
         } catch (Exception $e) {
             return ['message' => 'error getting external storage config', 'error' => $e->getMessage()];
+        } catch (NotFoundException $e) {
+            return ['message' => 'external storage not found for file ' . $fileId, 'error' => $e->getMessage()];
+        } catch (StorageNotAvailableException $e) {
+            return ['message' => 'external storage not available for file ' . $fileId, 'error' => $e->getMessage()];
         }
-
-        return ['message' => 'external storage for file ' . $fileId . ' not found', 'error' => 'external_storage_not_found'];
 	}
 
     /**
@@ -105,11 +109,6 @@ public function getExternalStorageConfigurationForSpecificFile(IUser $nextcloudU
 	 * @return array
 	*/
     private function buildExternalStorageConfiguration(StorageConfig $externalStorage, bool $includeAuthSettings): array {
-
-        $this->logger->error("buildExternalStorageConfiguration", [
-            'externalStorage' => json_encode($externalStorage),
-        ]);
-
         $configuration = [];
         $configuration['is_cidgravity'] = $externalStorage->getBackend()->getIdentifier() == "cidgravity";
         $configuration['id'] = $externalStorage->getId();
@@ -125,39 +124,4 @@ private function buildExternalStorageConfiguration(StorageConfig $externalStorag
 
         return $configuration;
     }
-
-    /**
-	 * Check if specific file belongs to a specific external storage configuration
-	 * @param File $file File to search for
-	 * @param StorageConfig $externalStorage External storage configuration
-	 * @return bool
-	*/
-    private function isFileInExternalStorage(File $file, StorageConfig $externalStorage): bool {
-        $fileStorage = $file->getStorage();
-
-        if ($fileStorage->instanceOfStorage('\OC\Files\Storage\DAV')) {
-            if ($externalStorage->getBackend()->getIdentifier() == "cidgravity") {
-                // according to the code, this ID format will be webdav::[EXTERNAL_STORAGE_USER]@[EXTERNAL_STORAGE_HOST]/[EXTERNAL_STORAGE_ROOT]/
-                $fileStorageID = $fileStorage->getId();
-
-                // to check if this file belongs to this external storage
-                // create same ID format using external storage configuration
-                $protocol = 'http://';
-
-                if ($externalStorage->getBackendOption('secure')) {
-                    $protocol = 'https://';
-                }
-
-                $externalStorageHost = str_replace($protocol, "", $externalStorage->getBackendOption('host'));
-                $externalStorageID = 'webdav::' . $externalStorage->getBackendOption('user') . '@' . $externalStorageHost . '/' . $externalStorage->getBackendOption('root');
-                
-                // check if the fileStorageID falls under externalStorageID
-                if (strpos($fileStorageID, $externalStorageID) === 0) {
-                    return true;
-                }
-            }
-        }
-
-        return false;
-    }
 }
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/lib/Service/HttpRequestService.php b/lib/Service/HttpRequestService.php
index 88e0a63..59c87fa 100644
--- a/lib/Service/HttpRequestService.php
+++ b/lib/Service/HttpRequestService.php
@@ -34,7 +34,7 @@ public function __construct(private LoggerInterface $logger) {
         $this->ch = curl_init();
     }
 
-    public function post($url, $data, $headers = ['Content-Type: application/json']) {
+    public function post($url, $data, $headers = ['Content-Type: application/json'], $username = null, $password = null) {
         $jsonData = json_encode($data);
 
         // set CURL configuration
@@ -44,6 +44,12 @@ public function post($url, $data, $headers = ['Content-Type: application/json'])
         curl_setopt($this->ch, CURLOPT_HTTPHEADER, $headers);
         curl_setopt($this->ch, CURLOPT_RETURNTRANSFER, true);
 
+        // if username and password provided, setup basic authentication
+        if ($username !== null && $password !== null) {
+            curl_setopt($this->ch, CURLOPT_HTTPAUTH, CURLAUTH_BASIC);
+            curl_setopt($this->ch, CURLOPT_USERPWD, "$username:$password");
+        }
+
         // execute the request
         $response = curl_exec($this->ch);
 
@@ -53,7 +59,7 @@ public function post($url, $data, $headers = ['Content-Type: application/json'])
             throw new Exception("cURL Error: $errorMessage");
         }
 
-        return $response;
+        return json_decode($response, true);
     }
 
     public function __destruct() {