[Amazon Simple Storage Service (AWS S3)](https://aws.amazon.com/s3/) is an object storage service widely used for storing and retrieving large amounts of data, such as images, videos, backups, and application assets. 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](/guides/object-storage-index). This guide demonstrates how to integrate AWS S3 with Lakebase Postgres by storing file metadata (like the object key and URL) in your database, while using S3 for file storage. ## Setup steps :::::steps :::step{title="Create a Neon project"} 1. Navigate to the [Neon Console](https://console.neon.tech/) to create a new Neon project. 2. Copy the connection string by clicking the **Connect** button in the Console nav. For more information, see [Connect from any application](/guides/postgres-connect-connect-from-any-app). ::: ::::step{title="Create an AWS account and S3 bucket"} 1. Sign up for or log in to your [AWS Account](https://aws.amazon.com/). 2. Navigate to the **S3** service in the AWS Management Console. 3. Click **Create bucket**. Provide a unique bucket name (for example, `my-neon-app-s3-uploads`), select an AWS Region (for example, `us-east-1`), and configure initial settings. Create S3 Bucket 4. **Public Access (for this example):** For simplicity in accessing uploaded files via URL in this guide, we'll configure the bucket to allow public read access _for objects uploaded with specific permissions_. Under **Block Public Access settings for this bucket**, _uncheck_ "Block all public access". Acknowledge the warning. Public Access Settings :::callout{intent="note" title="Public buckets"} Making buckets or objects publicly readable carries security risks. For production applications, it's strongly recommended to: 1. Keep buckets **private** (Block all public access enabled). 2. Use **presigned URLs** not only for uploads but also for _downloads_ (temporary read access). This guide uses public access for simplicity, but you should implement secure access controls in production. ::: 5. After the bucket is created, navigate to the **Permissions** tab. Under **Bucket Policy**, you can set up a policy to allow public read access to objects. For example: ```json { "Version": "2012-10-17", "Statement": [ { "Sid": "PublicReadGetObject", "Effect": "Allow", "Principal": "*", "Action": "s3:GetObject", "Resource": "arn:aws:s3:::my-neon-app-s3-uploads/*" } ] } ``` Replace `my-neon-app-s3-uploads` with your actual bucket name. 6. **Create IAM user for programmatic access:** - Navigate to the **IAM** service in the AWS Console. - Go to **Users** and click **Add users**. - Enter a username (for example, `neon-app-s3-user`). Select **Access key - Programmatic access** as the credential type. Click **Next: Permissions**. - Choose **Attach policies directly**. Search for and select `AmazonS3FullAccess`. Attach S3 Policy - Click **Next**, then **Create user**. - Click on **Create access key**. Create Access Key - Click **Other** > **Create access key**. Copy the **Access key ID** and **Secret access key**. These will be used in your application to authenticate with AWS S3. :::: :::step{title="Configure CORS for client-side uploads"} If your application involves uploading files **directly from a web browser** using the generated presigned URLs, you must configure Cross-Origin Resource Sharing (CORS) on your S3 bucket. CORS rules tell S3 which web domains are allowed to make requests (like `PUT` requests for uploads) to your bucket. Without proper CORS rules, browser security restrictions will block these direct uploads. In your S3 bucket settings, navigate to the **Permissions** tab and find the **CORS configuration** section. Add the following CORS rules: ```json [ { "AllowedHeaders": ["*"], "AllowedMethods": ["GET", "PUT"], "AllowedOrigins": ["*"], "ExposeHeaders": [], "MaxAgeSeconds": 9000 } ] ``` > This configuration allows any origin (`*`) to perform `GET` and `PUT` requests. In a production environment, you should restrict `AllowedOrigins` to your application's domain(s) for security. ::: ::::step{title="Create a table in Neon for file metadata"} We need a table in the database to store metadata about the objects uploaded to S3. 1. Connect to your database using the [Neon SQL Editor](/guides/postgres-get-started-query-with-neon-sql-editor) or a client like [psql](/guides/postgres-connect-query-with-psql-editor). Create a table including the object key, URL, user ID, and timestamp: ```sql CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS s3_files ( id SERIAL PRIMARY KEY, object_key TEXT NOT NULL UNIQUE, -- Key (path/filename) in S3 file_url TEXT NOT NULL, -- Publicly accessible URL (if object is public) user_id TEXT NOT NULL, -- User associated with the file upload_timestamp TIMESTAMPTZ DEFAULT NOW() ); ``` 2. Run the SQL statement. Add other relevant columns as needed (for example, `content_type`, `size`). :::callout{intent="note" title="Securing metadata with RLS"} If you use [Row Level Security (RLS)](https://neon.com/blog/introducing-neon-authorize), remember to apply appropriate access policies to the `s3_files` table. This controls who can view or modify the object references stored in the database based on your RLS rules. Note that these policies apply _only_ to the metadata in the database. Access control for the objects within the S3 bucket itself is managed via S3 bucket policies, IAM permissions, and object ACLs. ::: :::: :::step{title="Upload files to S3 and store metadata in Neon"} The recommended pattern for client-side uploads to S3 involves **presigned upload URLs**. Your backend generates a temporary URL that the client uses to upload the file directly to S3. Afterwards, your backend saves the file's metadata to Neon. This requires two backend endpoints: 1. `/presign-upload`: Generates the temporary presigned URL. 2. `/save-metadata`: Records the metadata in Neon after the client confirms successful upload. We'll use [Hono](https://hono.dev/) for the server, [`@aws-sdk/client-s3`](https://www.npmjs.com/package/@aws-sdk/client-s3) and [`@aws-sdk/s3-request-presigner`](https://www.npmjs.com/package/@aws-sdk/s3-request-presigner) for S3 interaction, and [`@neondatabase/serverless`](https://www.npmjs.com/package/@neondatabase/serverless) for Neon. First, install the necessary dependencies: ```bash npm install @aws-sdk/client-s3 @aws-sdk/s3-request-presigner @neondatabase/serverless @hono/node-server hono dotenv ``` Create a `.env` file: ```bash # AWS S3 Credentials & Config AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID=your_iam_user_access_key_id AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY=your_iam_user_secret_access_key AWS_REGION=your_s3_bucket_region # for example, us-east-1 S3_BUCKET_NAME=your_s3_bucket_name # for example, my-neon-app-s3-uploads # Database Connection String DATABASE_URL=your_database_connection_string ``` The following code snippet demonstrates this workflow: ```javascript import { serve } from '@hono/node-server'; import { Hono } from 'hono'; import { S3Client, PutObjectCommand } from '@aws-sdk/client-s3'; import { getSignedUrl } from '@aws-sdk/s3-request-presigner'; import { neon } from '@neondatabase/serverless'; import 'dotenv/config'; import { randomUUID } from 'crypto'; const S3_BUCKET = process.env.S3_BUCKET_NAME; const AWS_REGION = process.env.AWS_REGION; const s3 = new S3Client({ region: AWS_REGION, credentials: { accessKeyId: process.env.AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID, secretAccessKey: process.env.AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY, }, }); 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'); await next(); }; // 1. Generate Presigned URL for Upload app.post('/presign-upload', authMiddleware, async (c) => { try { const { fileName, contentType } = await c.req.json(); if (!fileName || !contentType) throw new Error('fileName and contentType required'); const objectKey = `${randomUUID()}-${fileName}`; const publicFileUrl = `https://${S3_BUCKET}.s3.${AWS_REGION}.amazonaws.com/${objectKey}`; const command = new PutObjectCommand({ Bucket: S3_BUCKET, Key: objectKey, ContentType: contentType, }); const presignedUrl = await getSignedUrl(s3, command, { expiresIn: 300 }); return c.json({ success: true, presignedUrl, objectKey, publicFileUrl }); } catch (error) { console.error('Presign Error:', error.message); return c.json({ success: false, error: 'Failed to prepare upload' }, 500); } }); // 2. Save Metadata after Client Upload Confirmation app.post('/save-metadata', authMiddleware, async (c) => { try { const { objectKey, publicFileUrl } = await c.req.json(); const userId = c.get('userId'); if (!objectKey) throw new Error('objectKey required'); await sql` INSERT INTO s3_files (object_key, file_url, user_id) VALUES (${objectKey}, ${publicFileUrl}, ${userId}) `; console.log(`Metadata saved for S3 object: ${objectKey}`); return c.json({ success: true }); } catch (error) { console.error('Metadata Save Error:', error.message); return c.json({ success: false, error: 'Failed to save metadata' }, 500); } }); const port = 3000; serve({ fetch: app.fetch, port }, (info) => { console.log(`Server running at http://localhost:${info.port}`); }); ``` **Explanation** 1. **Setup:** Initializes the Neon database client (`sql`), Hono (`app`), and the AWS S3 client (`s3`) configured with region and credentials. 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 endpoints:** - **`/presign-upload`:** Generates a temporary secure URL (`presignedUrl`) using `@aws-sdk/s3-request-presigner` that allows uploading a file directly to S3. It returns the URL, the generated `objectKey`, and the standard S3 public URL. - **`/save-metadata`:** Called by the client _after_ successful upload. Saves the `objectKey`, `file_url`, and `userId` into the `s3_files` table in Neon using `@neondatabase/serverless`. ::: :::step{title="Testing the upload workflow"} Testing the presigned URL flow involves multiple steps: 1. **Get presigned URL:** Send a `POST` request to your `/presign-upload` endpoint with a JSON body containing `fileName` and `contentType`. **Using cURL:** ```bash curl -X POST http://localhost:3000/presign-upload \ -H "Content-Type: application/json" \ -d '{"fileName": "test-s3.txt", "contentType": "text/plain"}' ``` You should receive a JSON response with a `presignedUrl`, `objectKey`, and `publicFileUrl`: ```json { "success": true, "presignedUrl": "https://.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/.....&x-id=PutObject", "objectKey": "", "publicFileUrl": "https://.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/" } ``` Note the `presignedUrl`, `objectKey`, and `publicFileUrl` from the response. You will use these in the next steps. 2. **Upload file to S3:** Use the received `presignedUrl` to upload the actual file using an HTTP `PUT` request. **Using cURL:** ```bash curl -X PUT "" \ --upload-file /path/to/your/test-s3.txt \ -H "Content-Type: text/plain" ``` A successful upload typically returns HTTP `200 OK` with no body. 3. **Save metadata:** Send a `POST` request to your `/save-metadata` endpoint with the `objectKey` and `publicFileUrl` obtained in step 1. **Using cURL:** ```bash curl -X POST http://localhost:3000/save-metadata \ -H "Content-Type: application/json" \ -d '{"objectKey": "", "publicFileUrl": ""}' ``` You should receive a JSON response indicating success: ```json { "success": true } ``` **Expected outcome:** - The file appears in your S3 bucket (check the AWS Console). - A new row appears in your `s3_files` table in Neon containing the `object_key` and `file_url`. You can now integrate API calls to these endpoints from various parts of your application (for example, web clients using JavaScript's `fetch` API, mobile apps, backend services) to handle file uploads. ::: ::::step{title="Accessing file metadata and files"} Storing metadata in the database allows your application to easily retrieve references to the files hosted on S3. Query the `s3_files` table from your application's backend when needed. **Example SQL query:** Retrieve files for user 'user\_123': ```sql SELECT id, object_key, -- Key (path/filename) in S3 file_url, -- Publicly accessible S3 URL user_id, -- User associated with the file upload_timestamp FROM s3_files WHERE user_id = 'user_123'; -- Use actual authenticated user ID ``` **Using the data:** - The query returns metadata stored in the database. - The `file_url` column contains the direct link to access the file via S3. - Use this `file_url` in your application (for example, `` tags, download links) :::callout{intent="note" title="Private buckets"} For private S3 buckets, store only the `object_key` and generate presigned _read_ URLs on demand using a similar backend process. ::: This pattern effectively separates file storage and delivery concerns (handled by S3) from structured metadata management (handled by Postgres), leveraging the strengths of both services. :::: ::::: ## Resources - [AWS S3 documentation](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/s3/index.html) - [AWS: Sharing objects with presigned URLs](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/AmazonS3/latest/userguide/ShareObjectPreSignedURL.html) ## Need help? Join our [Discord Server](https://neon.com/discord) to ask questions or see what others are doing with Neon. For paid plan support options, see [Support](/guides/postgres-introduction-support). ## Related pages - [File storage](./integrations-tooling-guides-file-storage.md) - [File storage with Azure Blob Storage](./integrations-tooling-guides-azure-blob-storage.md) - [File storage with Backblaze B2](./integrations-tooling-guides-backblaze-b2.md) - [File storage with Cloudflare R2](./integrations-tooling-guides-cloudflare-r2.md) - [Media storage with Cloudinary](./integrations-tooling-guides-cloudinary.md) - [Media storage with ImageKit.io](./integrations-tooling-guides-imagekit.md) - [Media storage with Uploadcare](./integrations-tooling-guides-uploadcare.md) # Agent Instructions Cite this page’s canonical URL and keep its documentation version. Follow Link headers to discover available agent guidance and tools. 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