Storage

Dirstarter uses Amazon S3 for file storage and media handling, providing a reliable and scalable solution for storing images, screenshots, and other media files.

Amazon S3

Amazon S3 is a cloud storage service that offers:

High availability and durability
Global distribution
Pay-per-use pricing
Built-in CDN integration
Fine-grained access control
Versioning and lifecycle management

Setup

Create an AWS account

Go to aws.amazon.com and create an account.

Create a new S3 bucket:

Navigate to the S3 service

Create a new bucket with the following options:

Pick globally unique bucket name (e.g., your-project-name)
Select a region close to your target audience
Disable "Block all public access" (very important if you want files to be publicly accessible)
Bucket versioning: Optional, enables version control for files

Click "Create bucket"

Add a bucket policy to allow public access. Go to the Permissions tab and add the following policy:

{
  "Version": "2012-10-17",
  "Statement": [
    {
      "Sid": "PublicReadGetObject",
      "Effect": "Allow",
      "Principal": "*",
      "Action": "s3:GetObject",
      "Resource": "arn:aws:s3:::your-project-name/*"
    }
  ]
}

Create an IAM user with S3 access:

Navigate to the IAM service

Create a new policy:

Select S3 as the service
Add permissions: GetObject, PutObject, DeleteObject, ListBucket
Limit the resources to your bucket: arn:aws:s3:::your-project-name/*

Example policy:

{
  "Version": "2012-10-17",
  "Statement": [
    {
      "Effect": "Allow",
      "Action": [
        "s3:PutObject",
        "s3:GetObject",
        "s3:DeleteObject",
        "s3:ListBucket"
      ],
      "Resource": "arn:aws:s3:::your-project-name/*"
    }
  ]
}

Create a new IAM user:

Select "Programmatic access"
Attach the policy you created

Save the Access Key ID and Secret Access Key

Add the following environment variables:

.env

S3_BUCKET=your-project-name
S3_REGION=your-region
S3_ACCESS_KEY=your_access_key
S3_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY=your_secret_key
S3_ENDPOINT=https://your-endpoint.com # Optional, for S3-compatible providers
S3_PUBLIC_URL=https://your-cdn.com # Optional, custom public URL for assets

S3-Compatible Alternatives

While Amazon S3 is our recommended choice, you can use any S3-compatible storage service. Here are some popular alternatives:

When using a non-AWS S3 provider, set the S3_ENDPOINT environment variable in your .env file to the correct endpoint URL. The S3 client in services/s3.ts uses this value automatically.

Media Handling

The boilerplate includes a comprehensive media handling system in lib/media.ts:

lib/media.ts

export async function uploadToS3Storage(file: Buffer, key: string) {
  // Auto-detects file type and appends extension
  // Uploads to S3 using multipart upload
  // Returns the public URL with cache-busting parameter
}

Documentation