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Media storage with Uploadcare

Uploadcare provides a cloud platform designed to simplify file uploading, processing, storage, and delivery via a fast CDN. It offers tools that manage and optimize media like images, videos, and docu...

Uploadcare provides a cloud platform designed to simplify file uploading, processing, storage, and delivery via a fast CDN. It offers tools that manage and optimize media like images, videos, and documents for your applications.

Neon now offers native storage

Neon Object Storage is S3-compatible object storage built into the Neon backend. Object storage branches with your database: each branch gets its own isolated namespace, so you can test file uploads in preview branches without touching production. No separate cloud account needed. Use any S3-compatible SDK with your existing Neon credential.

For more information, see Neon Object Storage.

This guide demonstrates how to integrate Uploadcare with Lakebase Postgres by storing file metadata in your Lakebase Postgres database while using Uploadcare for file uploads and storage.

Setup steps

Section titled “Setup steps”

  1. Create a project on Neon

    1. Navigate to the Neon Console to create a new project.
    2. Copy the connection string by clicking the Connect button in the Console nav. For more information, see Connect from any application.

  2. Create an Uploadcare account and project

    1. Sign up for an account at Uploadcare.com.
    2. Create a new project within your Uploadcare dashboard.
    3. Navigate to your project's API Keys section.
    4. Note your Public Key and Secret Key. They are needed to interact with the Uploadcare API and widgets. Uploadcare API Keys

  3. Create a table for file metadata

    We need to create a table to store metadata about the files uploaded to Uploadcare. This table will include fields for the file's unique identifier, URL, upload timestamp, and any other relevant metadata you want to track.

    1. You can run the create table statement using the SQL Editor or from a client such as psql that is connected to your database. Here is an example SQL statement to create a simple table for file metadata which includes a file ID, URL, user ID, and upload timestamp:
      SQL
      CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS uploadcare_files (
    id SERIAL PRIMARY KEY,
    file_id TEXT NOT NULL UNIQUE,
    file_url TEXT NOT NULL,
    user_id TEXT NOT NULL,
    upload_timestamp TIMESTAMPTZ DEFAULT NOW()
);
    2. Run the SQL statement. You can add other relevant columns (file size, content type, etc.) depending on your application needs.

  4. Upload files to Uploadcare and store metadata in Neon

    You can integrate file uploads using any of Uploadcare's many options, which include UI widgets and SDKs tailored for specific languages and frameworks. For the examples in this guide, we will use the Uploadcare API directly. Feel free to choose the integration method that best fits your project; the fundamental approach of storing metadata in Neon remains the same.

    For this example, we'll build a simple Node.js server using Hono to handle file uploads. It will use the @uploadcare/upload-client package to upload files to Uploadcare and @neondatabase/serverless package to save metadata into your Neon database.

    First, install the necessary dependencies:

    Bash
    npm install @uploadcare/upload-client @neondatabase/serverless @hono/node-server hono

    Create a .env file in your project root and add your Uploadcare and Neon connection details which you obtained in the previous steps:

    Bash
    UPLOADCARE_PUBLIC_KEY=your_uploadcare_public_key
DATABASE_URL=your_neon_database_connection_string

    The following code snippet demonstrates this workflow:

    JavaScript
    import { serve } from '@hono/node-server';
import { Hono } from 'hono';
import { uploadFile } from '@uploadcare/upload-client';
import { neon } from '@neondatabase/serverless';
import 'dotenv/config';

const sql = neon(process.env.DATABASE_URL);
const app = new Hono();

// Replace this with your actual user authentication logic, by validating JWTs/Headers, etc.
const authMiddleware = async (c, next) => {
  c.set('userId', 'user_123'); // Example: Get user ID after validation
  await next();
};

app.post('/upload', authMiddleware, async (c) => {
  try {
    // 1. Get User ID and File Data
    const userId = c.get('userId');
    const formData = await c.req.formData();
    const file = formData.get('file');
    const fileName = formData.get('fileName') || file.name;
    const buffer = Buffer.from(await file.arrayBuffer());

    // 2. Upload to Uploadcare
    const result = await uploadFile(buffer, {
      publicKey: process.env.UPLOADCARE_PUBLIC_KEY,
      fileName: fileName,
      contentType: file.type,
    });

    // 3. Save Metadata to Neon
    // Uses file_id (Uploadcare UUID), file_url (CDN URL), and user_id
    await sql`
            INSERT INTO uploadcare_files (file_id, file_url, user_id)
            VALUES (${result.uuid}, ${result.cdnUrl}, ${userId})
        `;

    console.log(`Uploaded ${result.uuid} for user ${userId} to ${result.cdnUrl}`);

    return c.json({ success: true, fileUrl: result.cdnUrl });
  } catch (error) {
    console.error('Upload Error:', error);
    return c.json({ success: false, error: 'Upload failed' }, 500);
  }
});

const port = 3000;
serve({ fetch: app.fetch, port }, (info) => {
  console.log(`Server running at http://localhost:${info.port}`);
});

    Explanation

    1. Setup: It initializes the Neon database client and the Hono web framework. It relies on environment variables (DATABASE_URL, UPLOADCARE_PUBLIC_KEY) being set, via a .env file.
    2. Authentication: A placeholder authMiddleware is included. Crucially, this needs to be replaced with real authentication logic. It currently just sets a static userId for demonstration.
    3. Upload Endpoint (/upload):
      • It expects a POST request with multipart/form-data.
      • It retrieves the user ID set by the middleware.
      • It extracts the file data and fileName from the form data.
      • It uploads the file content directly to Uploadcare.
      • Upon successful upload, Uploadcare returns details including a unique uuid and a cdnUrl.
      • It executes an INSERT statement using the Neon serverless driver to save the uuid, cdnUrl, and the userId into a uploadcare_files table in your database.
      • It sends a JSON response back to the client containing the fileUrl from Uploadcare.

    For this example, we'll build a simple Flask server to handle file uploads. It will use the pyuploadcare package to upload files to Uploadcare and psycopg2 to save metadata into your Neon database.

    First, install the necessary dependencies:

    Bash
    pip install Flask pyuploadcare psycopg2-binary python-dotenv

    Create a .env file in your project root and add your Uploadcare and Neon connection details which you obtained in the previous steps:

    env
    UPLOADCARE_PUBLIC_KEY=your_uploadcare_public_key
UPLOADCARE_SECRET_KEY=your_uploadcare_secret_key
DATABASE_URL=your_neon_database_connection_string

    The following code snippet demonstrates this workflow:

    Python
    import os

import psycopg2
from dotenv import load_dotenv
from flask import Flask, jsonify, request
from pyuploadcare import Uploadcare

load_dotenv()

# Use a global PostgreSQL connection instead of creating a new one for each request in production
def get_database():
    return psycopg2.connect(os.getenv("DATABASE_URL"))

# Replace this with your actual user authentication logic, by validating JWTs/Headers, etc.
def get_authenticated_user_id(request):
    return "user_123"  # Example: Get user ID after validation

uploadcare = Uploadcare(
    public_key=os.getenv("UPLOADCARE_PUBLIC_KEY"),
    secret_key=os.getenv("UPLOADCARE_SECRET_KEY"),
)

app = Flask(__name__)

@app.route("/upload", methods=["POST"])
def upload_file():
    try:
        # 1. Get User ID and File from the request
        user_id = get_authenticated_user_id(request)
        file = request.files["file"]

        if file:
            # 2. Upload the file to Uploadcare
            response = uploadcare.upload(file)
            file_url = response.cdn_url

            # 3. Save Metadata to Neon
            # Uses file_id (Uploadcare UUID), file_url (CDN URL), and user_id
            conn = get_database()
            cursor = conn.cursor()
            cursor.execute(
                "INSERT INTO uploadcare_files (file_id, file_url, user_id) VALUES (%s, %s, %s)",
                (response.uuid, file_url, user_id),
            )
            conn.commit()
            cursor.close()
            conn.close()

            return jsonify({"success": True, "fileUrl": response.cdn_url})
        else:
            return jsonify({"success": False, "error": "No file provided"})
    except Exception as e:
        print(f"Upload Error: {e}")
        return jsonify({"success": False, "error": "File upload failed"}), 500

if __name__ == "__main__":
    app.run(port=3000, debug=True)

    Explanation

    1. Setup: Initializes the Flask web framework, Uploadcare client, and the PostgreSQL client (psycopg2) using environment variables.
    2. Authentication: A placeholder get_authenticated_user_id function is included. Replace this with real authentication logic.
    3. Upload Endpoint (/upload):
      • It expects a POST request with multipart/form-data.
      • It retrieves the user ID set by the authentication function.
      • It extracts the file data from the form data.
      • It uploads the file content directly to Uploadcare.
      • Upon successful upload, Uploadcare returns details including a unique uuid and a cdnUrl.
      • It executes an INSERT statement using psycopg2 to save the uuid, cdnUrl, and the userId into a uploadcare_files table in your database.
      • It sends a JSON response back to the client containing the fileUrl from Uploadcare.
    4. In production, you should use a global PostgreSQL connection instead of creating a new one for each request. This is important for performance and resource management.

  5. Testing the upload endpoint

    Once your server (Node.js or Python example) is running, you can test the /upload endpoint to ensure files are correctly sent to Uploadcare and their metadata is stored in Neon.

    You'll need to send a POST request with multipart/form-data containing a field named file.

    Open your terminal and run a command similar to this, replacing /path/to/your/image.jpg with the actual path to a file you want to upload:

    Bash
    curl -X POST http://localhost:3000/upload \
    -F "file=@/path/to/your/image.jpg" \
    -F "fileName=my-test-image.jpg"
    • -X POST: Specifies the HTTP method.
    • http://localhost:3000/upload: The URL of your running server's endpoint.
    • -F "file=@/path/to/your/image.jpg": Specifies a form field named file. The @ symbol tells cURL to read the content from the specified file path.
    • -F "fileName=my-test-image.jpg": Sends an additional form field fileName.

    Expected outcome:

    You should receive a JSON response similar to:
    {
  "success": true,
  "fileUrl": "https://ucarecdn.com/xxxxxx-xxxxxx-xxxxx/"
}

    You can now integrate calls to this /upload endpoint from various parts of your application (for example, web clients, mobile apps, backend services) to handle file uploads.

  6. Accessing file metadata and files

    Storing metadata in Neon allows your application to easily retrieve references to the files uploaded to Uploadcare.

    Query the uploadcare_files table from your application's backend when needed.

    Example SQL query:

    Retrieve files for user 'user_123':

    SQL
    SELECT
    id,              -- Your database primary key
    file_id,         -- Uploadcare UUID
    file_url,        -- Uploadcare CDN URL
    user_id,         -- The user associated with the file
    upload_timestamp
FROM
    uploadcare_files
WHERE
    user_id = 'user_123'; -- Use actual authenticated user ID

    Using the data:

    • The query returns rows containing the file metadata stored in Neon.
    • The crucial piece of information is the file_url. This is the direct link (CDN URL) to the file stored on Uploadcare.
    • You can use this file_url in your application (for example, in frontend <img> tags, API responses, download links) wherever you need to display or provide access to the file.

    This pattern separates file storage and delivery (handled by Uploadcare) from structured metadata management (handled by Neon).

Resources

Section titled “Resources”

Need help?

Section titled “Need help?”

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