Cloudflare R2

Cloudflare R2

S3-compatible object storage with zero egress bandwidth fees. Built on Cloudflare's global network for high durability (11 nines) and strong consistency.

When to Use This Skill

• Implementing object storage for applications
• Migrating from AWS S3 or other storage providers
• Setting up file uploads/downloads
• Configuring public or private buckets
• Integrating R2 with Cloudflare Workers
• Using R2 with S3-compatible tools and SDKs
• Configuring CORS, lifecycles, or event notifications
• Optimizing storage costs with zero egress fees

Prerequisites

Required:

• Cloudflare account with R2 purchased
• Account ID from Cloudflare dashboard

For API access:

• R2 Access Keys (Access Key ID + Secret Access Key)
• Generate from: Cloudflare Dashboard → R2 → Manage R2 API Tokens

For Wrangler CLI:

npm install -g wrangler
wrangler login

Core Concepts

Architecture

• S3-compatible API - works with AWS SDKs and tools
• Workers API - native Cloudflare Workers integration
• Global network - strong consistency across all regions
• Zero egress fees - no bandwidth charges for data retrieval

Storage Classes

• Standard - default, optimized for frequent access
• Infrequent Access - lower storage cost, retrieval fees apply, 30-day minimum

Access Methods

1. R2 Workers Binding - serverless integration (recommended for new apps)
2. S3 API - compatibility with existing tools
3. Public buckets - direct HTTP access via custom domains or r2.dev
4. Presigned URLs - temporary access without credentials

Quick Start

1. Create Bucket

Wrangler:

wrangler r2 bucket create my-bucket

With location hint:

wrangler r2 bucket create my-bucket --location=wnam

Locations: wnam (West NA), enam (East NA), weur (West EU), eeur (East EU), apac (Asia Pacific)

2. Upload Object

Wrangler:

wrangler r2 object put my-bucket/file.txt --file=./local-file.txt

Workers API:

await env.MY_BUCKET.put('file.txt', fileContents, {
  httpMetadata: {
    contentType: 'text/plain',
  },
});

3. Download Object

Wrangler:

wrangler r2 object get my-bucket/file.txt --file=./downloaded.txt

Workers API:

const object = await env.MY_BUCKET.get('file.txt');
const contents = await object.text();

Workers Integration

Binding Configuration

wrangler.toml:

[[r2_buckets]]
binding = "MY_BUCKET"
bucket_name = "my-bucket"
preview_bucket_name = "my-bucket-preview"

Common Operations

Upload with metadata:

await env.MY_BUCKET.put('user-uploads/photo.jpg', imageData, {
  httpMetadata: {
    contentType: 'image/jpeg',
    cacheControl: 'public, max-age=31536000',
  },
  customMetadata: {
    uploadedBy: userId,
    uploadDate: new Date().toISOString(),
  },
});

Download with streaming:

const object = await env.MY_BUCKET.get('large-file.mp4');
if (object === null) {
  return new Response('Not found', { status: 404 });
}

return new Response(object.body, {
  headers: {
    'Content-Type': object.httpMetadata.contentType,
    ETag: object.etag,
  },
});

List objects:

const listed = await env.MY_BUCKET.list({
  prefix: 'user-uploads/',
  limit: 100,
});

for (const object of listed.objects) {
  console.log(object.key, object.size);
}

Delete object:

await env.MY_BUCKET.delete('old-file.txt');

Check if object exists:

const object = await env.MY_BUCKET.head('file.txt');
if (object) {
  console.log('Exists:', object.size, 'bytes');
}

S3 SDK Integration

AWS CLI

Configure:

aws configure
# Access Key ID: <your-key-id>
# Secret Access Key: <your-secret>
# Region: auto

Operations:

# List buckets
aws s3api list-buckets --endpoint-url https://<accountid>.r2.cloudflarestorage.com

# Upload file
aws s3 cp file.txt s3://my-bucket/ --endpoint-url https://<accountid>.r2.cloudflarestorage.com

# Generate presigned URL (expires in 1 hour)
aws s3 presign s3://my-bucket/file.txt --endpoint-url https://<accountid>.r2.cloudflarestorage.com --expires-in 3600

JavaScript (AWS SDK v3)

import { S3Client, PutObjectCommand } from '@aws-sdk/client-s3';

const s3 = new S3Client({
  region: 'auto',
  endpoint: `https://${accountId}.r2.cloudflarestorage.com`,
  credentials: {
    accessKeyId: process.env.R2_ACCESS_KEY_ID,
    secretAccessKey: process.env.R2_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY,
  },
});

await s3.send(
  new PutObjectCommand({
    Bucket: 'my-bucket',
    Key: 'file.txt',
    Body: fileContents,
  })
);

Python (Boto3)

import boto3

s3 = boto3.client(
    service_name="s3",
    endpoint_url=f'https://{account_id}.r2.cloudflarestorage.com',
    aws_access_key_id=access_key_id,
    aws_secret_access_key=secret_access_key,
    region_name="auto",
)

# Upload file
s3.upload_fileobj(file_obj, 'my-bucket', 'file.txt')

# Download file
s3.download_file('my-bucket', 'file.txt', './local-file.txt')

Rclone (Large Files)

Configure:

rclone config
# Select: Amazon S3 → Cloudflare R2
# Enter credentials and endpoint

Upload with multipart optimization:

# For large files (>100MB)
rclone copy large-video.mp4 r2:my-bucket/ \
  --s3-upload-cutoff=100M \
  --s3-chunk-size=100M

Public Buckets

Enable Public Access

Wrangler:

wrangler r2 bucket create my-public-bucket
# Then enable in dashboard: R2 → Bucket → Settings → Public Access

Access URLs

r2.dev (development only, rate-limited):

https://pub-<hash>.r2.dev/file.txt

Custom domain (recommended for production):

1. Dashboard → R2 → Bucket → Settings → Public Access
2. Add custom domain
3. Cloudflare handles DNS/TLS automatically

CORS Configuration

Required for:

• Browser-based uploads
• Cross-origin API calls
• Presigned URL usage from web apps

Wrangler:

wrangler r2 bucket cors put my-bucket --rules '[
  {
    "AllowedOrigins": ["https://example.com"],
    "AllowedMethods": ["GET", "PUT", "POST"],
    "AllowedHeaders": ["*"],
    "ExposeHeaders": ["ETag"],
    "MaxAgeSeconds": 3600
  }
]'

Important: Origins must match exactly (no trailing slash).

Multipart Uploads

For files >100MB or parallel uploads:

Workers API:

const multipart = await env.MY_BUCKET.createMultipartUpload('large-file.mp4');

// Upload parts (5MiB - 5GiB each, max 10,000 parts)
const part1 = await multipart.uploadPart(1, chunk1);
const part2 = await multipart.uploadPart(2, chunk2);

// Complete upload
const object = await multipart.complete([part1, part2]);

Constraints:

• Part size: 5MiB - 5GiB
• Max parts: 10,000
• Max object size: 5TB
• Incomplete uploads auto-abort after 7 days (configurable via lifecycle)

Data Migration

Sippy (Incremental, On-Demand)

Best for: Gradual migration, avoiding upfront egress fees

# Enable for bucket
wrangler r2 bucket sippy enable my-bucket \
  --provider=aws \
  --bucket=source-bucket \
  --region=us-east-1 \
  --access-key-id=$AWS_KEY \
  --secret-access-key=$AWS_SECRET

Objects migrate when first requested. Subsequent requests served from R2.

Super Slurper (Bulk, One-Time)

Best for: Complete migration, known object list

1. Dashboard → R2 → Data Migration → Super Slurper
2. Select source provider (AWS, GCS, Azure)
3. Enter credentials and bucket name
4. Start migration

Lifecycle Rules

Auto-delete or transition storage classes:

Wrangler:

wrangler r2 bucket lifecycle put my-bucket --rules '[
  {
    "action": {"type": "AbortIncompleteMultipartUpload"},
    "filter": {},
    "abortIncompleteMultipartUploadDays": 7
  },
  {
    "action": {"type": "Transition", "storageClass": "InfrequentAccess"},
    "filter": {"prefix": "archives/"},
    "daysFromCreation": 90
  }
]'

Event Notifications

Trigger Workers on bucket events:

Wrangler:

wrangler r2 bucket notification create my-bucket \
  --queue=my-queue \
  --event-type=object-create

Supported events:

• object-create - new uploads
• object-delete - deletions

Message format:

{
  "account": "account-id",
  "bucket": "my-bucket",
  "object": { "key": "file.txt", "size": 1024, "etag": "..." },
  "action": "PutObject",
  "eventTime": "2024-01-15T12:00:00Z"
}

Best Practices

Performance

• Use Cloudflare Cache with custom domains for frequently accessed objects
• Multipart uploads for files >100MB (faster, more reliable)
• Rclone for batch operations (concurrent transfers)
• Location hints match user geography

Security

• Never commit Access Keys to version control
• Use environment variables for credentials
• Bucket-scoped tokens for least privilege
• Presigned URLs for temporary access
• Enable Cloudflare Access for additional protection

Cost Optimization

• Infrequent Access storage for archives (30+ day retention)
• Lifecycle rules to auto-transition or delete
• Larger multipart chunks = fewer Class A operations
• Monitor usage via dashboard analytics

Naming

• Bucket names: lowercase, hyphens, 3-63 chars
• Avoid sequential prefixes for better performance (e.g., use hashed prefixes)
• No dots in bucket names if using custom domains with TLS

Limits

• Buckets per account: 1,000
• Object size: 5TB max
• Bucket name: 3-63 characters
• Lifecycle rules: 1,000 per bucket
• Event notification rules: 100 per bucket
• r2.dev rate limit: 1,000 req/min (use custom domains for production)

Troubleshooting

401 Unauthorized:

• Verify Access Keys are correct
• Check endpoint URL includes account ID
• Ensure region is "auto" for most operations

403 Forbidden:

• Check bucket permissions and token scopes
• Verify CORS configuration for browser requests
• Confirm bucket exists and name is correct

404 Not Found:

• Object key case-sensitive
• Check bucket name spelling
• Verify object was uploaded successfully

Presigned URLs not working:

• Verify CORS configuration
• Check URL expiry time
• Ensure origin matches CORS rules exactly

Multipart upload failures:

• Part size must be 5MiB - 5GiB
• Max 10,000 parts per upload
• Complete upload within 7 days (or configure lifecycle)

Reference Files

For detailed documentation, see:

• references/api-reference.md - Complete API endpoint documentation
• references/sdk-examples.md - SDK examples for all languages
• references/workers-patterns.md - Advanced Workers integration patterns
• references/pricing-guide.md - Detailed pricing and cost optimization

Additional Resources

• Documentation: https://developers.cloudflare.com/r2/
• Wrangler Commands: https://developers.cloudflare.com/r2/reference/wrangler-commands/
• S3 Compatibility: https://developers.cloudflare.com/r2/api/s3/api/
• Workers API: https://developers.cloudflare.com/r2/api/workers/workers-api-reference/