Payload Storage File Explorer

A Payload CMS plugin that adds a file explorer for Remote file storages (S3-compatible for now) to the Payload admin. It mounts an admin view and registers small Payload endpoints to list, preview, download, upload (presigned POST), create folders, and delete objects or prefixes.

Overview

• Admin UI: Adds a configurable admin route (default /explorer) with list/grid views, previews, drag & drop uploads, bulk actions and folder navigation.
• Server endpoints: Registers Payload endpoints under /api/s3-explorer for listing, presigned uploads, presigned downloads, folder creation and deletion.
• S3-compatible: Uses AWS SDK for S3 but supports custom endpoints (MinIO, LocalStack) and path-style URLs.

Features

• Browse buckets: paginate and show folders/files with sizes and last-modified.
• Preview & download: presigned GET URLs for preview/download of objects.
• Direct uploads: presigned POST (browser → S3) with size and MIME constraints.
• Folder create: creates zero-byte "folder" placeholder objects (key ends with /).
• Delete: delete single objects or recursively delete a prefix (folder).
• Bulk actions: select multiple files to download or delete.
• Configurable: enable/disable uploads, deletes, downloads; set root prefix, max upload size, presigned expiry, navigation label and admin route and access-level per actions.

Quick Install

1. Install the package in your project (example using pnpm):

pnpm add payload-storage-file-explorer

2. Add the plugin to your Payload config (payload.config.ts):

import { payloadStorageFileExplorer, s3ExplorerPluginOptions } from 'payload-storage-file-explorer'

export default buildConfig({
  plugins: [
    payloadStorageFileExplorer({
      adapterOptions: s3ExplorerPluginOptions({
        bucket: process.env.S3_BUCKET!,
        credentials: {
          accessKeyId: process.env.S3_ACCESS_KEY!,
          secretAccessKey: process.env.S3_SECRET_KEY!,
        },
        endpoint: process.env.S3_ENDPOINT!,
        region: process.enn.S3_REGION,
        forcePathStyle: true,
        storageType: 's3',
      }),

      // Optional: custom route & label
      adminRoute: '/explorer',
      navigationLabel: 'File Explorer',

      // Optional overrides
      maxUploadSize: 50 * 1024 * 1024, // 50 MB

      // Optional: disable features
      enableDelete: true,
      enableDownload: true,
      enableFolderCreate: true,
      enableUpload: true,

      // Optional: presigned URL expiry (seconds)
      presignedUrlExpiry: 3600,

      // Optional: scope to a subfolder
      // rootPrefix: 'uploads/',

      // Optional: limit files types to be uploaded, also by extension
      allowedMimeTypes: [
        'image/*',
        'application/pdf',
        'video/*'
      ],
      allowedExtensions: [
        'png',
        'pdf',
        'mp4'
      ],

      // Optional: scope operation per users
      access: {
        canUpload: async ({ req }) => {
          'use server'
          return Boolean(req.user) && req?.user?.role === 'admin';
        },
        canDelete: async ({ req }) => {
          'use server'
          return Boolean(req.user) && req?.user?.email === 'super-admin';
        }
      },
    }),
  ],
})

• Configuration options

Option	Description	Default
adapterOptions	Required adapter configuration. Currently the plugin supports an S3-compatible adapter; see S3ExplorerPluginOptions.	Required
adminRoute	Admin path where the view is mounted.	/explorer
enableDelete	Allow deleting objects/prefixes.	true
enableDownload	Enable presigned downloads.	true
enableFolderCreate	Allow creating folders.	true
enableUpload	Allow uploads.	true
maxUploadSize	Max upload size in bytes.	50 * 1024 * 1024 (50 MB)
navigationLabel	Label for admin sidebar.	File Explorer
presignedUrlExpiry	Presigned GET expiry in seconds.	3600
rootPrefix	Optional root prefix to scope explorer to a subfolder.	''
access	Optional access callbacks to control per-operation permissions. Supported callbacks: canList, canDownload, canUpload, canDelete, canCreateFolder. Each callback receives an object with { req, key?, prefix?, item? } and may be async; return true to allow the operation for the current user/item. If omitted, global enable_X booleans control behavior.	-
pageTitle	Optional naming to page title	S3 File explorer
allowedMimeTypes	Allowed files to be upladed by their MIME type	* (Any)
allowedExtensions	Allowed files to be uploaded by their extension	* (Any)

API Endpoints

All endpoints are registered on the plugin and available under /api/s3-explorer.

• GET /api/s3-explorer/list?prefix=<prefix>&token=<continuationToken>
  • Response: { success: true, data: S3ListResult }
• GET /api/s3-explorer/download?key=<objectKey>
  • Returns a presigned GET URL: { success: true, data: { key, url } }
• POST /api/s3-explorer/upload
  • Body: { prefix, filename, contentType }
  • Returns presigned POST details: { success: true, data: { url, fields, key } }
• POST /api/s3-explorer/folder — create new folder placeholder
  • Body: { prefix, name } → { success: true, data: { folderKey } }
• DELETE /api/s3-explorer/delete
  • Body: { key } deletes a single object OR { prefix } deletes all objects under that prefix (recursive)

Examples (list & download):

curl 'http://localhost:3000/api/s3-explorer/list?prefix=media/'

curl 'http://localhost:3000/api/s3-explorer/download?key=media/example.jpg'

Adapters

This plugin is built to support interchangeable storage adapters. At present it ships with an S3-compatible adapter. Future releases may add additional adapters (e.g., Vercel Blob, Google Cloud Storage, Azure Blob).

S3 (current)

Use the s3ExplorerPluginOptions() helper to build S3 adapter options. Supported S3 adapter options:

• bucket (string) — required S3 bucket name.
• region (string) — AWS region.
• credentials — optional { accessKeyId, secretAccessKey, sessionToken? }.
• endpoint — optional custom endpoint (MinIO, LocalStack).
• forcePathStyle — boolean for path-style URLs (MinIO/local testing).

The plugin will fall back to environment credentials / IAM role if credentials are omitted.

License & support

This repository is provided as-is. For questions about Payload integration, contact the Payload team or open an issue in this repository.