---
title: "S3"
description: "Store books in AWS S3 or any S3-compatible bucket — MinIO, Backblaze B2, Cloudflare R2."
---

> Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.bookhoarder.dev/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# S3

The `s3` driver works with real AWS S3 and any S3-compatible store — MinIO,
Backblaze B2, and [Cloudflare R2](/storage/cloudflare-r2) (see that page for
R2-specific values). The container itself never needs a volume; state
lives entirely in the bucket, so this is the backend to reach for once
you're running more than one instance.

1. **Create a bucket and access keys**

   On AWS, MinIO, or B2 — whichever S3-compatible store you're using.
2. **Set STORAGE_DRIVER=s3**

   Plus `S3_BUCKET`, `S3_ACCESS_KEY`, `S3_SECRET_KEY`, and `S3_ENDPOINT`
   for anything other than real AWS.
3. **Start the container**

   No volume needed — every instance reads and writes the same bucket.

## Configuration

| Variable | Required | Notes |
| --- | --- | --- |
| `STORAGE_DRIVER` | Yes | `s3` |
| `S3_BUCKET` | Yes | Bucket name |
| `S3_ACCESS_KEY` | Yes | Access key ID |
| `S3_SECRET_KEY` | Yes | Secret access key |
| `S3_ENDPOINT` | No | Required for MinIO/B2/R2; leave unset for real AWS S3 |
| `S3_REGION` | No | Must match the bucket's real region on AWS; leave unset for MinIO/R2 (they use `auto`) |
| `S3_PREFIX` | No | Scope all of Bookhoarder's data under a subdirectory, so the bucket can be shared with other apps |

## Docker

```sh
docker run -d \
  --name bookhoard \
  -p 3000:3000 \
  -e STORAGE_DRIVER=s3 \
  -e S3_BUCKET=bookhoard \
  -e S3_ACCESS_KEY=<YOUR_ACCESS_KEY> \
  -e S3_SECRET_KEY=<YOUR_SECRET_KEY> \
  -e S3_REGION=<YOUR_BUCKET_REGION> \
  ghcr.io/bookhoard/bookhoarder:latest
```

> **Testing locally with MinIO**
>
> Bookhoarder's own repo ships a `docker-compose.yml` that starts the app
> alongside a local MinIO instance and creates the bucket automatically —
> a quick way to try the S3 path without a real cloud account. Clone
> [the repo](https://github.com/bookhoard/bookhoarder) and run
> `docker compose up`.

See [Deploy with Docker](/deployment/docker) for the full container
setup, or [Deploy on Kubernetes](/deployment/kubernetes) for a manifest
using this driver.

Source: https://docs.bookhoarder.dev/storage/s3/index.mdx